While both genres will sound vastly different from music produced in the West, Chinese folk music is somewhat similar to Western folk music as both can evoke the flavor of local culture and have a great degree of focus on instrumentation instead of voice and lyrics. There are many ways to categorize Chinese music, but in a general sense, they can be divided into Folk Music and Opera. However, the government did not support this new form of music and thus limited the exposure and airtime of the Chinese rock genre. In 1989, a new fast tempo “Northwest Wind” style of music became popular among some groups of protesters and this music would progress into Chinese rock, which gained popularity in the 90s. After many years, they came to mostly define mainland Chinese music, and in some ways, still do today. In 1949, after the Kuomintang relocated to Taiwan and the People's Republic of China (PRC) was established, revolutionary songs became the most popular and dominate form of music since the government heavily promoted them as the only acceptable genre. The golden age of Shidaiqu came to an end when the Communist party denounced Chinese popular music as “yellow music” (loosely translated to ‘pornography’) as Maoists saw pop music to represent a decline in Chinese society. However, in a telling sign of times to come, music regarded as superstitious or anti-revolutionary were repressed. One example is the song, “The East Is Red”, a folksong from northern Shaanxi which was adapted into a nationalist hymn. In the 1940s, a large-scale campaign was initiated in the Communist controlled areas of the country to use folk music to create revolutionary songs and through those songs, educate the largely illiterate rural population about the party. In Shanghai, a popular genre of music called Shidaiqu, which is a fusion of Chinese and Western popular music, emerged in the 1920s and dominated the Chinese music scene for three decades. Many musicians added jazz influences to traditional music, through the addition of xylophones, saxophones and violins, among other instruments. Symphony orchestras played to a wide audience in the concert halls of most major cities and on the newly invented radio. Nie Er, a Chinese composer best known for "March of the Volunteers" The uber-famous Chinese instrument, the Qin, became famous during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), while European music arrived in China as early as 1601 when a harpsichord was given to the Ming imperial court by a visiting Jesuit priest, who also trained several eunuchs to play it. Other Asian instruments and musical styles – such as the erhu and the pipa from Central Asia and the Heptatonic scale from India – were introduced in subsequent dynasties (although the heptatonic scale was later abandoned in China). Qin to Qing dynasty – (from 500 BC to 1900 AD) Another famous Chinese philosopher, Mozi, condemned music and argued that it was an extravagance and indulgence that served no usefulness for society and may actually be harmful. The entire Confucian philosophical system considers formal “Yayue” music to be morally uplifting and a symbol of a good ruler and stable government while other popular, non-Yayue, forms of music were considered to be a corrupting influence. Confucius believed that “correct” music was important for the growth and civil refinement of the individual. During this time, Chinese music established a foundation built on the 5-pitch pentatonic scale and was in fact derived from the musical concept “Cycle-of-Fifths theory”.Ĭhinese philosophers approached music differently. "Correct" music in the Zhou concept involved instruments connecting the five elements of nature (water, fire, earth, air, and space/emptiness) and bringing harmony to nature. The Zhou Dynasty (10th to 7th century BC), established a formal system of court and ceremonial music (later called “Yayue” - meaning "elegant music") which embraced the concept of music as a cosmological manifestation of sounds found in nature and integrated into the dual universal order of yin and yang. Music began in China 1000’s of years ago as evidenced by excavations in Henan uncovering bone flutes dating back 8,000 years, and clay music instruments in Xi'an dating back 6,000 years. The ancient chime bells produce melodious tune.
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