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The murals in the Dunhuang Grottoes in northwest China's Gansu Province, depicting musical instruments used over a period of about 1,000 years, trace the evolution of ancient Chinese music, according to experts.

Depicting musical instruments from ten dynasties beginning with the Northern Wei (386-534) and ending with the Yuan (1271-1386), the Dunhuang murals reflect the changes in the Chinese musical instruments.

The musical instrument in the Northern Liang period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-581) was very simple, said Zheng Ruzhong, music teacher and Dunhuang expert. Apart from orchestral and percussion instruments, most were fairly primitive, such as a trumpet shell and a special Chinese flute, which were capable of emitting only simple sounds. The Northern Zhou (557-581) and Sui (581-618) Dynasties had a greater number and variety of musical instruments. Gourd-like string instruments and columnar horns appeared during this period. By the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and the Five Dynasties (907-960), the variety of musical instruments had become rich.

The musical instruments depicted in Dunhuang are more varied than the folk instruments in use today. The "pipa", a string instrument with a fretted fingerboard, is the most common in Dunhuang murals. There are over 700 pipas in over 50 forms in the Mogao Grottoes, one of the three major sections of Dunhuang. Some of the instruments which appear in Dunhuang no longer exist.

The murals' images of players show the ways that music was played, said Zheng. In the Northern Liang period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-581), the performances were mainly solos, while in the Sui Dynasty (581-618), ensembles and bands appeared. During the Tang Dynasty, bands composed of over 20 players appeared.

The Dunhuang Grottoes, composed of the Mogao Grottoes, the Ancient Caves of the 1,000 Buddhas, and the Yulin Grottoes, are the largest treasure-house of Buddhist art in the world.