China

 
An  Introduc+on  
Why  China?  
•  One  of  the  world’s  oldest  con+nuous  cultures  
•  Leader  in  arts  and  sciences  throughout  most  of  its  history  
•  Currently  reemerging  as  a  world  leader  a;er  a  couple  of  difficult  
centuries  
•  One  of  the  five  BRICS  na+ons  with  rapidly  growing  economies  
•  B  =  Brazil  
•  I  =  India  
•  R  =  Russia  
•  C  =  China  
•  S  =  South  Africa  
Confucius  
•  Philosopher  who  has  shaped  Chinese  thinking  for  2000+  years  
•  Lived  from  551-­‐479  B.C.  
•  His  philosophy  is  moral,  not  religious  
•  It  is  prac+cal,  not  esoteric  
•  He  was  an  early  pioneer  in  higher  ed  
His  ideas  
•  Personal  integrity  
•  Service  to  government  
•  Order  is  valued  
•  Respect  for  tradi+on  
•  Moral  obliga+on  and  duty  
•  Respect  for  parents  and  elders  
•  Ritual  keeps  everything  working  the  way  it  should  
•  Adherence  to  e+queVe/expected  behavior  
•  Renaissance  Man  –  a  true  gentleman  is  proficient  in  many  things,  
including  music  
A  really  brief  history  of  China  
•  China’s  history  is  that  of  dynas+es  un+l  the  20th  century  
•  Dynas+es  were  either  replaced  by  popular  demand  or  foreign  invasion  
Qing  Dynasty  ends  
•  This  was  the  final  dynasty  (interested  in  a  popular  culture  view  of  this  
event?    Check  out  the  movie  “The  Last  Emperor”)  
•  1911  mu+ny  overthrew  the  child  emperor  
•  May  4th,  1919  =  May  4th  movement  
•  Student  protest  of  the  way  China  had  handled  nego+a+ons  a;er  world  war  
1  
•  1921  –forma+on  of  the  Chinese  Communist  Party  (CCP)    
 People’s  Republic  of  China  
(PRC)  -­‐  1949  
•  Mao  Zedong  led  the  CCP  to  victory  over  the  na+onalists  (non-­‐
communists)  
•  Na+onalists  fled  to  Taiwan  and  declared  it  to  be  the  true  China  
•  Korean  War  –  PRC  felt  that  their  par+cipa+on  legi+mized  them  
•  In  other  words,  there  was  a  struggle  between  the  PRC  and  the  
Republic  of  China  to  see  who  would  emerge  as  the  true  China,  
par+cularly  interna+onally  
Communism  
•  Created  a  lot  of  havoc  at  first  under  Mao’s  rule  
•  Thought  Reform  camps  –  people  who  disagreed  with  Mao  were  sent  to  
work  camps  
•  Hundred  Flowers  Campaign  –  Mao  asked  for  construc+ve  cri+cism,  but  
then  punished  people  who  obliged  
•  Great  Leap  Forward  –  Mao’s  disastrous  aVempt  to  overhaul  China’s  
agricultural  system;  millions  died  of  starva+on  
•  Cultural  Revolu+on  1966-­‐76  –  Mao’s  aVempt  to  revolu+onize  Chinese  
culture;  resulted  in  much  tradi+onal  culture  being  banned  during  this  
+me  
•  Gang  of  Four  –  the  group  of  Mao’s  closest  confidants  (including  his  
wife)  who  took  the  blame  for  all  of  these  problems  a;er  Mao’s  death  
in  1976  
China  on  global  scene  
•  1978  –  U.S.  recognizes  PRC  as  the  true  China  
•  1980  –  open  door  economic  policy  meant  they  were  part  of  the  global  
economy  again  
•  Tiananmen  Square  Massacre  June  3,  1989  
•  The  result  of  another  student  protest  
•  Set  China  way  back  in  the  interna+onal  community  
•  1990s  –  difficult  rela+ons  between  U.S.  and  China  
Global  Presence  
•  2001  –  entered  World  Trade  Organiza+on  
•  2008  –  Beijing  Olympics  
•  Both  of  those  events  helped  them  regain  trust  in  the  interna+onal  
community  
•  A  return  to  na+onalism  and  Confucian  values  
Instruments  with  video  demos  
•  (You  don’t  have  to  watch  the  en+re  video  for  each…)  
•  Dizi  –  flute  
•  Pipa  –  strummed  string  
•  Erhu  –  bowed  string  
•  Yangqin  –  hammered  dulcimer  
•  Guqin  –  zither  
 
These  videos  are  all  linked  below  this  lecture  in  “modules.”  
Jiangnan  Sizhu  
•  Silk  and  bamboo  
•  Dizi,  erhu,  yangqin,  and  pipa  
•  Amateur  folk  music  
•  Watch  the  jiangnan  sizhu  video,  linked  below  this  
presenta+on  in  “modules.”  
 
 
Setting  for  jiangnan  sizhu  
•  Usually  played  in  informal  serngs  like  homes,  teahouses,  
gardens  
•  Usually  played  in  the  context  of  amateur  music  clubs  
•  They  get  together  just  to  play,  not  to  perform  
•  No  real  rehearsals  
•  A  perfect  example  of  music  played  for  Confucian  ideals  –  this  
music  is  to  beVer  oneself  and  to  connect  with  other  like-­‐
minded  people  
•  Today,  played  by  men  and  women  
•  Amateur  musicians,  though  they  may  be  quite  skilled  
Repertoire  
•  Eight  Great  Pieces  
•  These  8  pieces  are  played  over  and  over,  with  few  outside  pieces  
being  performed  
•  Heterophonic  texture  
•  Everyone  plays  the  same  melody,  but  each  person  embellishes  it  
differently  every  +me  they  play.    This  is  how  they  keep  the  music  
interes+ng,  since  they  play  the  same  pieces  all  of  the  +me.  
•  This  type  of  embellishment  is  called  “Adding  flowers”  
Music  and  Ideology  
A  look  at  two  dis+nct  tradi+ons  of  tying  music  to  a  specific  
ideology:  Confucianism  and  Communism  
Quotes  
•  “If  you  are  not  a  mandated  ruler,  you  cannot  regulate  ritual  
and  you  cannot  perform  music.”  
•  “If  a  man  lacks  benevolence,  what  has  he  to  do  with  the  rites?  
If  a  man  lacks  benevolence,  what  has  he  to  do  with  music?  
•  “To  be  a  complete  man,  one  has  to  rely  on  music.”  
Some  things  to  think  about…  
•  Is  music  posi+ve  or  nega+ve?  
•  How  is  music  beneficial?    What  types  are  most  o;en  
considered  to  be  beneficial,  and  how?  
•  How  is  music  considered  to  be  nega+ve?    What  types  are  
most  o;en  considered  to  be  nega+ve,  and  how?  
•  Can  you  think  of  any  types  of  music  that  are  directly  related  to  
philosophical  or  poli+cal  viewpoints?  
•  Can  you  think  of  any  type  of  music  that  is  primarily  
educa+onal  in  nature?  
•  Please  par+cipate  in  the  online  discussion  forum  on  this  topic.  
Confucianism  
•  Music  is  to  beVer  oneself  
•  Musical  rela+onships  represents  the  order  of  the  cosmos  
•  For  example,  the  Pythagorian  theorum  can  also  be  used  to  
explain  the  rela+onship  between  the  notes  of  a  major  chord.  
•  Music  can  affect  society  
•  Music  can  be  used  to  enforce  social  values  and  for  educa+on  
Proper  Music  
•  What  kind  of  music  did  Confucius  deem  appropriate?  
•  Ritual  music  
•  Systema+c  
•  Stylized  –  music  that  is  always  played  a  certain  way  
•  Renewed  interest  in  Confucian  ideals  today  
Guqin  
•  An  old  example  of  proper  Confucian  music  
•  Used  in  courts  
•  Played  by  scholars  for  introspec+on  
•  Careful  records  kept,  so  we  know  a  lot  about  it  
•  It  is  believed  that  Confucius  played  this  instrument  himself  
Established  as  elite  
•  People  thought  that  playing  the  guqin  could  lead  to  spiritual  
enlightenment  
•  “Playing  the  guqin  is  a  symbolic  manifesta+on  of  the  
Confucian  philosophy  of  self,  society,  and  cosmology.”  
Why?  
•  Complex/precise  nota+on  
•  Programma+c  
•  Subtle  
•  So;  +mbre  
•  In  summary,  it  required  a  lot  of  focus  and  concentra+on  to  
play  
•  Listen  to  the  example  “Liushui.”  
Amateur  Music  Clubs  
•  Another  example  of  Confucian  ideals  in  music  
•  Jiangnan  Sizhu  clubs  are  one  specific  example  
•  Group  par+cipa+on  represented  cultural  harmony  
•  Par+cipa+on  also  led  to  higher  social  status  
PRC  and  the  Communist  Party  
•  “In  the  world  today  all  culture,  all  literature  and  art  belong  to  
definite  classes  and  are  geared  to  definite  poli+cal  lines.  There  
is  in  fact  no  such  thing  as  art  for  art’s  sake,  art  that  stands  
above  classes,  art  that  is  detached  from  or  independent  of  
poli+cs.  Proletarian  literature  and  art  are  part  of  the  whole  
proletarian  revolu+onary  cause;  they  use,  as  Lenin  said,  cogs  
and  wheels  in  the  whole  revolu+onary  machine.”  
•  -­‐  Mao  Zedong  
Something  to  think  about…  
•  Does  art  exist  “for  art’s  sake”  in  our  culture?    Is  this  beVer  or  
worse  than  art  for  a  more  specific  purpose?  
Post-­‐1949  Revolution    
•  The  goal  was  to  dis+nguish  new  socialist  society  from  old  
dynas+es  
•  The  new  ideology  was  based  on  Marxist-­‐Lennist  doctrine  and  
Mao  Zedong’s  personal  ideas  
•  Mao  even  wrote  a  book  of  sayings  similar  to  those  published  
of  Confucian  sayings  
Kinds  of  Reforms  
•  Na+onalism  =  need  for  “emblems”  
•  Music  could  be  that  emblem  that  people  would  rally  around  
•  Promoted  tradi+onal  music  for  common  people  
•  New  styles  of  music  were  developed  as  propaganda  
•  The  state  =  “voice  of  the  people”  
•  Cultural  produc+on  was  monitored  to  make  sure  that  
everything  supported  Mao’s  ideas  
•  The  next  two  slides  describe  two  examples  of  music  that  Mao  
used  to  disseminate  his  ideas.  
1.    Revolutionary  Massed  
Songs  
•  Manipula+ve  
•  Disseminated  poli+cal  ideology  
•  Western  song  style  
•  strophic  
•  Hymn-­‐like  
•  Unison  
•  Upbeat  military  rhythm  
•  Watch  or  listen  to  “East  is  Red”  (linked  under  this  
presenta+on  in  “modules.”)  
 
2.    Model  Opera  
•  Modernized  the  tradi+onal  Beijing  opera  
•  Most  tradi+onal  music  banned  during  the  cultural  revolu+on  
•  Mao  realized  that  he  could  use  opera  to  influence  people  
•  New  plots  centered  on  common  people  
About  new  operas  
•  Featured  communist  struggles  
•  Disseminated  ideology  and  poli+cal  messages  
•  Mixed  Chinese  and  Western  instruments  
•  Less  percussion  –  tradi+onal  Chinese  opera  features  lots  of  
cymbals  and  gongs  
•  Bel  Canto  singing  –  this  is  used  in  Italian  opera  and  is  
completely  different  from  the  singing  style  used  in  tradi+onal  
Chinese  opera  
•  Listen  to  the  example  “Chinese  Revolu+onary  Beijing  Opera.”  
Conclusion  
•  There  is  a  long  history  of  music  used  to  influence  people  in  
China.  
•  Personal  beVerment  (Confucius)  
•  Poli+cal  manipula+on  (PRC)