The Cultural Politics of Introducing Popular Music into China's Music Education

Abstract

Since embarking on its course of economic reform and opening up to the world in the late 1970s, China has moved from a planned economy to a socialist-market economy; the resulting social and cultural changes have been many, and are reflected in the country's school music curriculum. This paper first introduces the historical background of popular music in the community and in school music in China in the 20th century. Second, it explores the reformation of music education that has, from the turn of the millennium, included popular music in school music education. This is followed by a discussion of the integration of popular music into the school curriculum in terms of how music education and cultural politics are shaped by the social and political relationships between (1) contemporary cultural and social values and traditional Chinese ideologies; (2) collectivism and individualism; and (3) nationalism and globalism. It is argued that, despite the introduction of popular music and the emphasis put on it in some areas of school music education, the Chinese state still uses traditional Chinese culture and values to enhance its legitimacy and consolidate its authority.

Acknowledgment

This research project was funded by a Faculty Research Grant from Hong Kong Baptist University. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the editors and anonymous reviewers for their challenging and insightful comments and advice.

Notes

 [1] The company left Shanghai in 1952 after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took over the mainland.

 [2] The principal influence on Buck Clayton was Louis Armstrong (1901–71). Clayton is credited with bridging the gap between traditional Chinese music and Mandarin pop. In 1934, the Clayton band performed at the palatial Canidrome Ballroom in Shanghai. It was one of the first bands to play in the Orient. Clayton left Shanghai before the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937.

 [3] Zhou Xuan first sang this song in 1937. It then became a number one hit in Japan, where it was translated and recorded by Watanabe Hamako (1910–99) in 1940. In 1941, the song was recorded again, this time by the Japanese film star Yoshiko Yamaguchi (Shirley Yamaguchi), better known in China as Li Xianglan.

 [4] Yan'an is one of the most famous cities in China's modern history and the history of Chinese Communist Party. It is located in the Shanbei region of Shaanxi province in China, about 350 km from Xian. Yan'an is famous for its cave dwellings, folk songs, drum art, cut-paper work, and many other folk crafts.

 [5] Lei Feng (1940–62), a 22-year-old soldier who died in a tragic accident in 1963, was thought to exemplify the communist role model by doing good deeds or favors for people, and became a symbol of China's communist spirit.

 [6] The eight revolutionary musicals were planned and promoted by Jiang Qing, the wife of Chairman Mao Zedong. The title Shajiabang was adopted for both the symphonic and opera works.

 [7] Cui Jian, who established himself as China's first rock performer in the mid-1980s, is a most important figure who has confronted contradictions between the orientation of Chinese authorities and democratic convictions in China. Originally a trumpeter in the Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra (Beijing Jiaoxiang Yuetuan), in 1985, he formed his own band, Building Block, with six orchestral colleagues and recorded covers of Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson hits. In the late 1980s he performed the first Chinese rock song, “Nothing to My Name” (Yi Wu Suo You), described as the first time an electric guitar was used in performance in China. Following Cui, two bands, Hei Bao (Black Panther) and Tang Dynasty, became famous in the late 1980s and the early 1990s.

 [8] Na Ying, an ethnic Manchu, is considered one of the most famous female singers in China. In 2010, she was named the mainland's most popular woman artist of the year for the sixth time.

 [9] Liu Huan, a graduate with a major in French language, a university teacher, and a famous pop singer and songwriter in China, performed the official Olympic theme song, “You and Me,” with British singer Sarah Brightman at the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in Beijing on 8 August 2008.

[10] In 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008, Jay Chou was named the Best-Selling Artist in China by World Music Awards, for his albums Common Jasmine Orange, Still Fantasy, and On the Run. Chou's Internet-based fan club is one of the biggest Chinese networks visited by Chinese youths (Fung “Fandom”).

[11] Astro Boy is a Japanese manga series first published in 1952, and first broadcast in Japan in 1963. The story is about a young robot named Astro Boy, who has incredible powers and who was created by a brilliant scientist named Dr. Tenma. China's Film Bureau, which regulates foreign films seeking distribution in China, awarded Astro Boy co-production status in 2009. Astro Boy (2009) was an American, Japanese, and Chinese co-production, but was not successful at the box office in the former two countries, despite setting box-office records for a computer-animated 3-D film in China.

[12] Yu Dan, a famous media expert and professor at Beijing Normal University, attracted national attention with her televised lecture series on the Analects of Confucius, written by his disciples around 475 bc, at China Central Television in 2006. The transcript, edited into a book titled Yu Dan's Notes on the Analects, sold 10,000 copies on the first day of release. The English edition of her work Confucius from the Heart: Ancient Wisdom for Today's World (trans. Esther Tyldesley and published by Pan Macmillan in collaboration with Zhonghua Book Company) was released in 2009.

[13] In the last decade, Beijing officials have banned only those Taiwanese singers who performed at the inauguration of President Chen Shui-bian, a fierce advocate of Taiwanese independence. Taiwan's top pop singer, Chang Hui Mei, performed Taiwan's national anthem at Chen Shui-bian's May 2000 inauguration ceremony, and was consequently banned from performing or selling records in China, and from advertising in the Chinese media. China also stripped Taiwanese rock singer Wu Bai of his title of “Best Taiwanese Male Singer” in retaliation for his singing at the inauguration party.

[14] Blue and white porcelain (literally “blue flowers”) is thought to have originated in China in the North Song dynasty (960–1127). It was perhaps at its most impressive in the second half of the 14th and early 15th century. The term designates white pottery and porcelain decorated under the glaze with a blue pigment; the decoration is commonly applied by hand, stenciling, or transfer-printing.