"Ambush from Ten Sides" (Chinese: 十面埋伏; pinyin: shí miàn mái fú) is a classical piece written for the pipa.
"Ambush" is written in the "Wu" or martial style, and is about the Battle of Gaixia in 202 BC during which General Xiang Yu was defeated by Liu Bang.
A wide variety of performance techniques of pipa are brought into full play in this piece that produce a majestic and passionate narrative which is sharp in artistic image, exalting in melody, and ultimately thrilling.
An early treatment of this theme was a piece called "Chu Han" (楚漢) from the late Ming/early Qing period, described in Sizhao Tangji (四照堂集) by Wang Youding (王猷定, 1598-1662).
The main part of the music is played in a rapid manner, utilising a variety of pipa techniques to describe the furious battle between the armies of Chu and Han, such as flipping, sweeping, circular fingering, wringing, rolling, and halting.