Chongming was called Yingzhou in ancient times. Yingzhou school pipa, also referred to as "Chongming school pipa", a pipa music and playing technique originating in the Chongming Island, was handed down according to pipa music of "Yingzhou ancient tune". Up to 45 Yinzhou Gudiao tunes have been passed down so far. As one of the famous schools in China, Yinzhou Gudiao school pipa, which inherits both the vigorous and majestic strength from the north school pipa and the grace and gentle essence from the south school pipa, has integrated its benchmark features of significance, simplicity, freshness and beauty.

Jia Gongda, founder of Yingzhou Gudiao pipa, lived in the Chongming Island during the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty. After Jia Gongda were other musicians like Fan Zhengkui, Li Liancheng and Song Chuyu. Famous artists in that period blended performance style of north and south pipa, and gradually formed Yingzhou Gudiao pipa under the influence of Chongming customs. In the reign of Emperors Daoguang and Xianfeng, there were also outstanding pipa masters in the Chongming Island, such as Wang Dongyang, Lu Mingzhang, Jiangtai and Huang Xiuting. Thanks to their sustained effort and promotion, tunes and performance techniques of Yingzhou have been improved, which laid a foundation for establishing their own style of performance. During the years of the Republic of China before 1949, pipa masters Shen Zhaozhou, Fan Ziyun, Liu Tianhua, Xu Lisun, Shi Songbo, Fan Shaoyun played an important role in inheriting and developing Yingzhou Gudiao. Among them, Shen Zhaozhou and Liu Tianhua stood out for introducing Yingzhou Gudiao pipa into music halls of colleges and universities, which made Yingzhou Gudiao pipa famous all over the world.

In June 2008, the State Council announced to list Yinzhou Gudiao pipa into the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.