China Wind Promoting One China and the Study One (Global) Chinese Culture
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10 China wind Promoting One China and The Study one (global) Chinese culture ‘Sonic Traveler’ is a jazz fusion band from Hong Kong China’s that combines Western and Chinese instruments. the piano concerto and combines this with Chinese idioms in its instrumentation, country music: melodies and other musical aspects. The Cultural Revolution (1966-76) saw the large scale destruction of cultural artefacts and a restrictive government that firmly controlled the public cultural domain. Popular China wind music was forbidden and all music had to serve an (ideological) purpose in forwarding the revolution. Around forty years later, however, it seems that China is learning to appreciate Milan Ismangil Chinese Pop music in greater China (Taiwan, HK and its historical heritage and uses it to wield China) saw a turn towards the traditional in the early soft power both domestically and abroad. State propagated programs that promote 2000s with the arrival of a new genre called China wind. the Chinese language and culture, such as This genre, created and popularized by Taiwan based the Confucius Institutes, or the One Belt One Road program, showcase a China that artists quickly grew in popularity and since its inception has is more than willing to promote its culture seen many artists emulate a similar style. China wind as a to the outside world. This (re)appreciation of Chinese idioms genre has a high political potential due to its depiction of can also be tied to an increasing nationalist Chineseness, which makes it an easy choice for promoting discourse propagated by the communist party in China. Examples include multiple popular the idea of One China and one (global) Chinese culture television series depicting the Three Kingdoms shared by all ethnically Chinese people. (a particularly bloody period in China’s history that has been greatly romanticized), as well as the many historical television dramas set in imperial China drawing on popular historical sagas and intrigues. Videogames and novels hina wind or Zhongguofeng1 in upon popular narratives surrounding the history, either doing away with it entirely or also play their part. While the Chinese video Mandarin, is known mainly for its conception of Chinese culture and history. trying to bring it in line with ‘the modern world’. game industry is still an up and coming market, Cmusic, but is sometimes used as an China wind is a musical pastiche that builds The time period from the late 19th century mobile games inspired by the Three Kingdom umbrella term to denotate a Chinese style upon cultural Chinese myths to (re)construct to the 1960’s saw great changes in China’s mythology are hugely popular throughout East applied to anything from cheerleading to a Chinese sound, a self-orientalist view of formal musical culture. The region that is now Asia. In addition, a thriving online literature the design of book covers. Most well-known what Chinese music (and China) is supposed China has a rich history of local folk music, scene has paved the way for numerous novels is the musical variant of China wind, which to be. It at once creates a unified past by which was and is an abundant source for mythologizing and historicizing China’s has its origins in the Taiwanese superstar glorifying depictions of ‘the ancient’, and formally trained composers to draw upon. imperial past. Jay Chou (Zhou JieLun) who popularized this unifies the present and future as all fall under Many musicians studied Western music Since China’s opening up, modern Chinese genre in the early 2000s. The songs released the umbrella of Chinese people or culture. or studied abroad (the Soviet Union was a pop music has taken a different path from around this period were demarcated by their In this article I compare different conceptions popular destination for a time). This had the other forms of popular media in China. While use of instruments, lyrics, singing techniques of China wind and situate these as being effect that many instruments were adapted to television and novels quickly adopted and and, in the accompanying video clips, the part of a growing Chinese confidence on an play in a Western style; for example, changing drew inspiration from the idea of ‘ancient usage of décor and costumes evoking a (inter)national stage since China’s opening the tuning system to be able to more smoothly imperial’ China, popular music artists have sense of Chineseness. up (Gaige Kaifang) in the late seventies. play with Western instruments or adapting engaged with this only fairly recently, since While it has been argued that different compositional and instrumental techniques. the mid 2000’s. This is not to say that popular depictions of this genre, hailing from Hong In the early 20th century, for example, the music (at its advent the mainland market was Kong for example, have the potential to disrupt Chinese popular music composer Liu Tianhua used different com- dominated by Taiwanese and Hong Kong the notion of a ‘Hegemonic’ mainland depiction To understand the popularization of positional forms and techniques borrowed from based artists) has not treaded this ground of Chinese culture,2 I argue that while multiple a Chinese style in recent years once must the violin to transform the erhu (a 2 stringed earlier. The immensely popular Taiwanese versions do exist they still contribute to the consider the past two hundred years. Starting Chinese bowed instrument) into a solo artist Teresa Teng (Deng LiJun) has featured overall notion of a unified Chinese culture. in the 19th century, China’s ‘century of instrument similar to the violin. Another famous songs that incorporate Chinese elements. Comparable to how, for example, the 16th humiliation’, in which it lost multiple wars and example that marries Chinese and Western Listen, for example, to the 1978 song ‘Story of century Italian composer Palestrina, and 19th faced great social upheaval, has had a great idioms is the Yellow River Piano Concerto. With a Small Town’ (Xiaocheng Gushi), for the fusion century Polish composer Chopin, are both influence on how the state of China defines idioms I refer to the way in which the piece is of Chinese instruments with smooth Western classified (at least in popular, common usage) itself. The subsequent period of modernization, composed to best suit the idiomatic qualities orchestral lines.3 In another case, one of as ‘(Western) classical music’ solidifying the starting during the late Qing dynasty of certain instruments, music traditions and China’s first heavy metal bands, Tang Dynasty, idea of a seemingly homogenous Western (19th century) and culminating in the Cultural other elements. This concert piece, written in formed in 1988, used song names and lyrics as classical music tradition. Revolution, saw a by and large consistently the 1960’s during the cultural revolution by Yin well as their music videos to evoke a mythical China wind constructs, corroborates and negative attitude of the Chinese government Chengzhong and Chu Wanghua, uses one of historicized China through the modern genre reinforces the idea of Chineseness, building towards pre-modern Chinese culture and the most popular Western concert formats of of heavy metal. They draw upon the past, The Newsletter No. 81 Autumn 2018 11 The Study and sometimes use Chinese musical idioms, everything from any music made by Chinese The immensely popular song ‘Blue and white while their music itself can be firmly placed people to a more liberal music made by anyone porcelain’ (Qinghuaci) is an ideal summation in the heavy metal camp. Nevertheless it could with Chinese instruments. Interesting to note of what characterizes the China wind style.9 be argued that this also constitutes a form that this article states that Hong Kong cannot Musically it features a mix of traditional pop of China wind, depending on the definition (and does not) use the term national music music and Chinese instruments, with the one might take. but rather Chinese or Sino music, which the Chinese instruments used for emphasis. It is There is no pre-defined set of features that author states is in fact just another term for still very much rooted in Western pop music make up China wind. There are many different national music. An article by Zhen frames though, both in the structure of the song as definitions and the term itself is contested as China wind within a trend of ‘traditionalization’ well as the musical content, with a famously well. Even though it is a recognizable genre in (chuantonghua) by which Chinese popular used key change utilized by the likes of Michael Chinese popular music since its popularization music can distinguish itself and develop Jackson at the end of the song to increase the (many would say creation) by Taiwanese a (unique) style of Chinese pop music.6 emotional impact. The music clip features Jay superstar Jay Chou, many ambiguities still China wind has been described as Chou singing interspersed with a dramatic remain. In several interviews held with Chinese constructing a global idea of what Chinese story resembling a classical Chinese drama, music listeners I asked about the particularities is supposed to be, building on popular and many literary allusions to create a sense of China wind, especially with regard to its (and often CCP sanctioned) narratives and of ancient China. The lyrics of this song were political potential in mainland China and the cultural ideas such as China’s long history, written by Vincent Fang (Fang WenShan), fact that it came from Taiwan, a region with the Three Kingdoms and the idea of an ‘ancient a well-regarded Taiwanese lyricist and writer. its own political and cultural history. One (imperial) China’.7 As de Kloet argues, however, Fang wrote many of the songs Jay Chou is interviewee said that China wind promotes the idea of Chinese wind is used by artists well known for and is acknowledged for the the idea of the (global) idea of Chineseness, in Hong Kong to ‘hybridize’ or challenge who literary quality of his prose.