The Accordion in Twentieth-Century China A
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AN UNTOLD STORY: THE ACCORDION IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY CHINA A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN MUSIC AUGUST 2004 By Yin YeeKwan Thesis Committee: Frederick Lau, Chairperson Ricardo D. Trimillos Fred Blake ©Copyright2004 by YinYeeKwan iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My 2002 and 2003 fieldwork in the People's Republic ofChina was funded by The Arts and Sciences Grant from the University ofHawai'i at Manoa (UHM). I am grateful for the generous support. I am also greatly indebted to the accordionists and others I interviewed during this past year in Hong Kong, China, Phoenix City, and Hawai'i: Christie Adams, Chau Puyin, Carmel Lee Kama, 1 Lee Chee Wah, Li Cong, Ren Shirong, Sito Chaohan, Shi Zhenming, Tian Liantao, Wang Biyun, Wang Shusheng, Wang Xiaoping, Yang Wentao, Zhang Gaoping, and Zhang Ziqiang. Their help made it possible to finish this thesis. The directors ofthe accordion factories in China, Wang Tongfang and Wu Rende, also provided significant help. Writing a thesis is not the work ofonly one person. Without the help offriends during the past years, I could not have obtained those materials that were invaluable for writings ofthis thesis. I would like to acknowledge their help here: Chen Linqun, Chen Yingshi, Cheng Wai Tao, Luo Minghui, Wong Chi Chiu, Wang Jianxin, Yang Minkang, and Zhang Zhentao. Two others, Lee Chinghuei and Kaoru provided me with accordion materials from Japan. I am grateful for the guidance and advice ofmy committee members: Professors Frederick Lau, Ricardo D. Trimillos, and Fred C. Blake. Fred Blake, a respected anthropologist, spent many hours discussing ideas concerning China and anthropology with me, shaping my academic thinking, and teaching me writing skills. Ricardo Trimillos provided insightful comments and positive encouragement. Frederick Lau, my advisor, gave me an opportunity to study at the UHM, an initial idea for this thesis, and 1 She passed away on 30 March 2004. IV opened my eyes to academics. lowe my deepest debt ofgratitude to Barbara Smith for her never-ending support and patience in the past three years at the UHM. My thanks also go to the professors in the Music Department, including Douglas Bomberger, Byong Won Lee, and Jane Moulin. I am also grateful to my fellow classmates at UH who treated me with kindness and respect. Special thanks to Randie Fong, Yoko Kurokawa, Katie McClellen, Shinwan Moon, Kevin Olafsson, Sun Hee Koo, Teri Skillman-Kashyap, Valeria Wenderoth, and Barbie Wong. As a 'leftover' from the class of2001, I would have been most lonely without their encouragement. While studying in Hawai'i, I missed very much the beautiful campus ofChung Chi College, the Chinese University ofHong Kong (CUHK), where I spent my undergraduate days. Thanks to my former teachers: Chan Sau Yan, Chan Wai Kwong, Chan Wing Wah, Cheong Wai Ling, David Gwilt, Law Ping Leung, Michael McClellan, Greta Olson, Harrison Ryker, Tsao Pen Yeh, 1. Lawrence Witzleben, and Yu Siu Wah, for giving me such a strong foundation for my musical training. Many thanks to all my fellow classmates at the CUHK and to my friends in the Delightful Baptist Church. It would be a lie for one to say there is no stress in graduate school, but my religion, my source ofstrength, helps me reduce that stress. The International Baptist Fellowship (IBF) is a place full ofhappiness and encouragement where I meet people ofdifferent nationalities and learn their languages, traditions, and cultures. I am grateful to have support from all my lovely and wonderful friends in the IBF: Roger & Joy Turner (the pastor and the director ofthe IBF respectively), Ken & Alice Newman, Stanley & Joan Togikawa, Andy & Maryann Young, Chris & Ashley Campbell, Travis & Sarah v Westerfield, Frankie and her family, Cadye and her parents, Na's family, Pan Linlin & Xiaohua, Wang & Song, Joseph & Joy, Ben & Noel, Shuhui and Chen, Rachel, Darla, Leanne, Amy, Nancy, Yang Liu, Kaoru, Jeong Heejeong and others. Their smiles and love have been a constant support for me, encouraging me keep working when facing difficulties. Special thanks go to Rupert for his help and continuous prayers until the day arrived to submit my thesis. It is difficult to convey the significant roles ofRoger Turner and Tia Ballantine. Both ofthem are proof-readers who, at a very crucial stage, helped me complete my thesis. Roger is a full-time teacher at Hawai'i Baptist Academy and the pastor ofthe IBF. Despite his busy and tight schedule, his willingness to read tons ofdrafts at the early stages deserves special tribute. Tia is a Ph. D candidate ofthe English Department at the UHM. Her help, insightful comments that helped me polished my writing are greatly appreciated. Thanks also go to Edward Bubl, who helped to computerize the transcription manuscripts. Last but not least, my family, especially my mother, deserves the greatest thanks as they set me free for these past years ofconcentrated study. I appreciate the patience and support ofmy mother so much, especially as she has no idea what I have been working on. Nonetheless, she tries to understand and gives me unlimited support and love. vi ABSTRACT China has a long history ofimporting foreign cultures. Western music, including its instruments and performance practices, became popular following its importation in the late ninetieth century, and Chinese people have been fervently studying it ever since. Throughout the twentieth century, European musical instruments, such as the piano and the violin, were well received in Chinese society, but the accordion has a very different history. Its reception in China is drastically different from that ofother imported European instruments. This thesis explores the role ofthe accordion in modem Chinese music history and culture focusing on the music and performance practice ofthree types of accordions: diatonic, chromatic (the keyboard and the button types) and free-bass accordions. Although similar in structure, these three models played crucial roles in the development ofmusic and the consequent function ofaccordion music in modem Chinese society. Each chapter ofthe thesis examines historical moments during which the accordion and its music was localized and the impact that localization has had on the socio-musical context ofthe accordion. Relying on data collected in archives in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Hong Kong, and the United States and also on interviews with accordion players, I argue that accordion's association with the working class may be posited as a reason why Chinese musicians and historians downplay the significance ofthe instrument in their writings and ignore its role in the history ofChinese music. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS AcknowledgJllents iv-vi Abstract vii List ofFigures x-xi List ofAbbreviations xii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Literature review 2 Research methodology and outlines 6 Chapter 2: The accordion in the world and in China--a brief history 10 The development ofthe accordion 10 Accordions in China 13 Chapter 3: The accordion as the icon of modernity 19 The Commercial Press '" , 21 The two published accordion manuals 23 Accordion in new education system 26 Summary 31 Chapter 4: The accordion as a political tooL 35 The accordions in propaganda teams (1930s-40s) 36 Russian influence 38 Accordions and accordionists in performing troupes and song and dance troupes 39 Accordionists during the Cultural Revolution , .42 Accordion factories in China ..43 Summary 47 Chapter 5: The accordion in the performing arts 55 The category oftraditional Chinese music (ya and su) and the concept ofHigh culture and Low culture in the West.. 57 The status ofaccordions in the West.. 58 fa and su in modem Chinese music context. 59 Music conservatories: the positioning ofWestern, Chinese, and accordion music in the 1950s 60 The bourgeois and proletarian instruments: the piano and the accordion in the 1960s 63 Episodes ofthe current accordion: an icon ofnostalgia 67 Vlll Accordion training in music conservatory: the change ofthe accordion images 69 The accordions in current Chinese society 70 Summary 72 Chapter 6: Notation systems and transcriptions ofaccordion music 75 Notation system 77 Accompaniment: three revolutionary songs , 84 Solo repertoire: The Butterfly Lovers' Concerto 90 Summary 95 Chapter 7: Conclusion 97 Appendices 102 Appendix A 102 Appendix B, 104 Appendix C 108 Appendix D 111 Appendix E '" .121 Appendix F 128 Appendix G 136 Appendix H, 138 Appendix I 139 Glossary 140 Bibliography 146 IX LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 The 17th Anniversary ofthe Chinese Harmonica Club in Shanghai in 1947 (from Wang Biyun) .18 Figure 2 Shoufengqin jiaokehsu (The textbook for playing the accordion) 1914 33 Figure 3 The posture for playing the accordion (Ye 1914:1) , 33 Figure 4 The ten-button, diatonic accordion (Ye 1914: 2) 33 Figure 5 Shoufengqin duxi (Teach yourself accordion) 1908 34 Figure 6 Tekukin dokukeiko 1894 (MaIm 1971: 290) 34 Figure 7 A Russian teacher teaching Wang Xiaoping to play the button (bayan) accordion (from Wang Xiaoping) '" .49 Figure 8 Wang Biyun accompanying the female chorus ofThe Song and Dance Troupe ofthe Chinese People's Liberation Army's General Political with accordion (from Wang Biyun) 49 Figure 9 A propaganda team ofthe Song-and-Dance Troupe ofthe Army's General Political Department ofthe Chinese People's Liberation Army (1958). Accordionist: Wang Biyuan, Soloist: Xu Youguang (Zhang 1998: 26)......50 Figure 10 Zhang Ziqiang in a performance ofthe Dance