Lisu Sanxian (pinyin: lì sù sān xián) is a plucked stringed musical instrument of the Lisu and Jingpo peoples. Some areas of the Lisu people are also called Qibo. The Jingpo people are called Ding. It is popular in Lushui, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, Tengchong in Baoshan Prefecture, Longchuan, Longling and Yingjiang in Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, Zhenkang in Lincang and Ximeng in Simao.
The Lisu sanxian is similar in shape to the sanxian of other ethnic groups in Yunnan. The body of the piano is mostly made of a whole piece of pear wood, walnut wood, tea wood, nanmu wood or other hard miscellaneous woods. Manufactured separately and assembled with the piano bar. The size of the piano body varies from region to region. The smallest piano is 50 cm long, and the largest is up to 95 cm. Generally, it is about 75 cm long.
During the Spring Festival, Torch Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Harvest Festival, the Lisu people celebrate singing and dancing. During the day, every family brews wine, butchers pigs and presents them to each other; at night, they hold happy "songs", and when the weather is cold, a bonfire is lit on the courtyard dam. People gathered around the bonfire to sing loudly, singing and dancing. The boys play the sanxian hanging on their chests and slap the ground with their feet, while the girls dance in circles between them. This is the cheerful "Sanxian Dance" of the Lisu people.