How did China's traditional music develop and what stages did it go through?

Three stages of the development of China's national music

1. The formation period of China traditional music (about 2 1 century BC to the 3rd century AD).

This period includes Xia, Shang, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn, Warring States and Han Dynasty. In music genre, it experienced the evolution from primitive music and dance to court music and dance. In terms of melody, tone and scale form, it has experienced a system from the initial tenor to "(just page)" and "Zeng", emphasizing the three degrees of palace, up and down, righteousness and depression, and initially establishing the five-tone characteristics of China traditional music rotation by the "three-point profit and loss method". In the aspect of music aesthetics, a hundred schools of thought contended in the pre-Qin period laid the theoretical end of their respective theories. During this period, the most representative music art form was the bell and drum band.

2. The new period of China traditional music (about 4th century to10th century).

This period includes from Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties to Sui and Tang Dynasties. The political turmoil in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, northerners' southward migration and ethnic minorities' inward migration constituted the impact on China's traditional music: First, the impact of metaphysics on Confucianism caused changes in musical thoughts; The second is the introduction of minority music and foreign music, and the introduction of new factors such as musical instruments, music rules, music theory and so on. Due to its influence, China's traditional music has changed and created a new generation of musical styles. On the one hand, it is the China of world music, including the China of foreign music, the use of foreign musical instruments, the introduction of foreign tunes, the nationalization of foreign bands, and the contribution of foreign musicians to the development of China music. On the other hand, it is the globalization of China's music, that is, China's music has exerted an important influence on many countries in the world (especially neighboring countries, such as North Korea and Japan) with its brilliant achievements.

3. China traditional music arrangement period (about10th century to19th century).

Including Liao, Song, Jin, Ming and Qing. Its political characteristics are: from chaos and division to relative unity, from north-south opposition to the establishment of a unified political power in a multi-ethnic country, and it has remained relatively stable for a long time. Music culture is secular and social. The so-called secularism means keeping close contact with the ordinary civilian class. The traditional music of this period has a broader social foundation in performers, audiences and listeners. In the aspect of music theory, it shows the tendency of inheriting and cleaning up the early stage. Musical morphological characteristics gradually tend to solidify and finalize the design. Its representative musical art form is opera art and its music. This art form connects the past with the future, absorbs the new achievements of contemporary music extensively, and becomes a music treasure house integrating ancient and modern music.

The Development of National Music in China

Pre-Qin: chimes rewrite the history of pre-Qin music

Professor Li believes that the chime bells of the Warring States Period unearthed in Hubei Province of China are the most representative musical instruments in the pre-Qin period. Its excavation changed the view that pre-Qin music had only five tones in the field of national music for a period of time and completely rewritten the whole history of pre-Qin music.

It is understood that after the excavation of the tomb of Zeng Houyi, there were 64 bells buried with him. Judging from the contents reflected by the chimes and the inscriptions on them, China was able to make seven chimes with complete laws of 12 more than 2,000 years ago, and they could also rotate in the palace. Therefore, these chimes are regarded as historical symbols in archaeology and national music. In the society at that time, chimes had many social functions, which were not only a symbol of social status, but also a sacrifice to peace.

Tang dynasty: the gorgeous and romantic folk music era with plucked music as the main body

With the improvement of social living standard and the impact of foreign culture, the manufacture of musical instruments has also undergone profound changes. The music of the Tang Dynasty is characterized by plucked music. Professor Li believes that, as an important cultural period in the history of China, the economic level of the Tang Dynasty has been improved unprecedentedly compared with that of the Qin Dynasty. Correspondingly, in the field of national music, the relatively rough chimes played outdoors in the pre-Qin period gradually declined, while the romantic and gorgeous plucked music and song and dance bands developed rapidly. In addition, under the influence of foreign cultures, the music from Korea, Hu people and the Western Regions began to spread to the Central Plains, greatly enriching the varieties of China's national musical instruments.

After entering the Song Dynasty, plucked music began to decline and orchestral music developed, which was also related to the historical background at that time. This trend has a lot to do with the constant war in Song Dynasty. "In fact, music is actually a microcosm of economy, culture and society." Professor Li reached the above conclusion.

Yuan Dynasty: the Prosperous Yuanqu Era Driven by Scholars

There was no imperial examination system in Yuan Dynasty, so a large number of literati turned to the creation of folk art. Yuanqu therefore has a strong story, attracting a large number of audiences and further promoting its prosperity. On this issue, Professor Li particularly emphasized that the difference between China's Yuanqu and foreign operas is that China's Yuanqu has formed a series of brand names, and each new creation uses the brand names that have been formed. There is no such "format" in foreign operas, and all the creative structures are brand-new.

After the Qing Dynasty, China's national musical instruments flourished. Erhu, which appeared in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, is a microcosm of the development of national musical instruments in this era. China's music has always been dominated by "single words", such as the familiar Xiao, flute, piano and clock. The two-character musical instruments that usually appear in musical instruments are mostly imported from foreign countries into Chinese folk music, such as the familiar suona and erhu.

Modern Times: The development of national music is difficult.

A Bing, a blind man, is familiar to most audiences with Two Springs Reflecting the Moon. However, Professor Li believes that in the modern development period of China, the development of national music has entered a faltering stage, and the two iconic figures in this period are Liu Tianhua.

Liu Tianhua is the younger brother of China famous national musician, Professor Peking University and poet Liu Bannong. He and the blind A Bing are both famous erhu players and composers. His classic masterpieces include Moonlit Night, Birds in the Empty Mountain, Good Night, Walking in the Light and so on. Professor Li particularly emphasized the contribution of this master of national music to China's national music and thought that he was the first person to develop China's national music. Since then, China's national music has entered a period of genre development, which has brought about a qualitative change in China's national music.

After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), national music developed rapidly.

After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), a new atmosphere of prosperity appeared in China society. China has created an atmosphere of war between heaven and earth, which has aroused great feelings from all walks of life, and the development of China folk music has reached an unprecedented height. With the development of the revolutionary cause and the extensive development of agricultural production, a large number of folk music with the characteristics of the times appeared, such as Horse Racing, Watching Thousand Waves in the Wheat Field and other works that many people are familiar with are representative works of this period. This period eliminated some old ideas of national music and borrowed some new elements from many western music.

In the Spring Festival of 2005, Tianjin Song and Dance Theatre held the "China Folk Concert in the Year of the Rooster" in the Vienna Golden Hall, which was a great success. The concert was not only transmitted to China via satellite live broadcast, but also provided free of charge by Houston Audio & Video Company of the United States, and will be made into a CD and distributed around the world.

Since 1998, the Central Folk Orchestra has represented China folk music on the stage of the Vienna Golden Hall for the first time. In the past eight years, the "China Spring Festival National Concert" held in the "Golden Hall" has become a famous brand of China national music.

From the performance of jasmine and erhu at the closing ceremony of Athens Olympic Games, to the rave reviews of modern folk music groups such as Southeast Asia 12 Women's Troupe, and to the increasing activity of China National Orchestra in the international and domestic performance markets, the accumulation of economic strength is gradually transforming into national self-confidence in China with sustained and rapid economic growth, which also brings the return of national music-Chinese folk music is being revived through communication and innovation.