The Development of Chinese School Songs
In its long history,Chinese music has made many contributions to the world's music culture.It has integrated a great deal of foreign music.From the Chinese nation to foreign nations,from neighboring countries and regions in Southeast Asia and Central Asia to faraway Europe,America and the entire world,the Sino-foreign exchange of music has lasted more than 2,000 years.Their changes mainly lie in two aspects:On the one hand,foreign music improves Chinese music;on the other,Chinese music has enhanced the culture of other countries.
After the founding of the Qing Dynasty,an increasing number of missionaries came to China from all over the world,introducing hymns and western musical instruments.But they merely spread to a limit scope and had little influence on the entire society.The first record of the western keyboard stringed instrument in China can trace back to 1601.In that year,Matteo Ricci came to Beijing for the second time and presented a western harpsichord to the emperor.The European-style harpsichord was called Atlantic qin (yaqin,fanqin,wired qin or tianqin).
The School Songs,originated in the early 1920s,played a crucial role in the rejuvenation of modern Chinese music.In 1902,Shen Xin'gong held a music seminar in Tokyo.He even called for composing new lyrics for some popular Japanese,European and American songs.In94,the Imperial Court of the Qing Dynasty approved the Authorized School Regulation and put it into effect.From then on,many new schools opened music and song classes in succession.
Along with the progress of school songs,western music was introduced and prevailed in various forms such as song,organ,piano and violin.Meanwhile,music notations like numbered musical notation and staff as well as basic music theory became popular among the people.For instance,the staff was introduced into China in the period under the reign of the Emperor Kangxi but became popular in the 19th century.In addition,books on basic western music like Yue Dian Da Zhang (chapters on music),Outline of Music Theory and Harmonics were published in large numbers.
After the Republic of China was founded in 1912,the government enlisted music and song class into required classes for primary and secondary schools.Since most schools songs advocated the patriotic essences of "study,progress and civilization,""making China rich and building up its military power"and "saving the nation from extinction,"they quickly became fashionable in the social and cultural lives of the time.As a matter of fact,school songs helped to lay the foundation for the mass chorus of China and foster a large number of native music education workers.
