Date of Submission

Spring 2024

Academic Program

Global and International Studies

Project Advisor 1

Robert Culp

Abstract/Artist's Statement

This historical research project explores the transformation of Chinese national music in the twentieth century and the reforms in traditional Chinese music, including its education and performance from 1911 to the present under different political and social backgrounds. It focuses on the impact of different ideologies of music reform, the fusion of Western music with Chinese national music in terms of compositional techniques, musical forms, and Western music theories, as well as the path of Chinese music reform. This inquiry takes as its primary example the Pipa, a traditional four string plucking instrument that has been played for thousands years in China, as it was gradually developed from folkloric to formalized, professionalized, and systematized over the past century.

This project attempts to examine the complex process of how Chinese music has reformed, developed, and innovated under the various political and social environments of different time periods. It also contributes to academic discussions on cross-cultural exchanges in musicology. In addition, the project emphasizes the role of music as an ideological expression and an enhancer of national self-confidence and cohesion during periods of major political and social change in China, that is, shaping and reflecting cultural and national identity through Chinese music. The project aims to answer several key questions: How did different contexts influence the development of Chinese music? How did Western musical techniques merge with traditional Chinese music? What role did music education and institutional support play in the spread of "New National Music"? What role did important figures in the music industry play in the evolution of music reform and music education in China? How did traditional Chinese music, such as the Pipa, make its way onto the global stage?

Open Access Agreement

Open Access

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

This work is protected by a Creative Commons license. Any use not permitted under that license is prohibited.

Share

COinS