The top of the resonator body is covered with a tightly stretched deer hide, heavily lacquered in red with four small circular sound holes.

The whole of the harp body is decorated with pieces of mica ("Mandalay pearls"), glass, gilt, and red and black lacquer.

Stopped tones are produced by using the left thumbnail to press against the string from the inside to increase its tension.

[12] The earliest archaeological evidence of the harp is at the Bawbawgyi Pagoda of the Sri Ksetra kingdom of the Pyu people, near present-day Pyay (Prome).

[13] Contemporaneous Chinese chronicles from the same period cite Pyu musicians playing the arched harp.

The current Burmese word for the harp, "saung", has been recorded in Bagan temples, as well as in pictorial representations.

Burmese chronicles describe the presence of harps in ceremonial ensembles at medieval Pagan, and female harpists who performed for royals.

[8] After a period of decline before World War II, in 1947, Hmat Kyi, who descended from royal woodcarvers, created 7 harps for the State Schools of Fine Arts.

[13] In the 18th century the instrument was introduced to Qing dynasty China, becoming known as zonggaoji (总稿机, a transliteration of "saung-gauk").

[10] After World War II, the State School of Fine Arts received newly made harps by Burmese craftsmen.

The principal playing techniques in Mandalay include let-kat (လက်ကပ်), kaw (ကော့), zon-hswe-gyin (စုံဆွဲခြင်း), and tat (တပ်).

The lineage of today's harpists can be traced directly back to the Dewa-Einda and other musicians from the court of Mandalay.

However, the sound of the saung is removed from the soundtrack and replaced with an overdub of a Western classical pedal harp.

[citation needed] Ichikawa also directed a remake of the film in 1985, which was also a major commercial and critical success.