Michael Dunn
Zest
"I don't know exactly when the loudspeaker woke me up, but it was early, and the song was "Without the Communist Party There Would Be No New China""(Pg 5).
I was interested in what role music played in Chinese Communism. According to Music in China (Oxford University), Pro-communist propaganda is a given in any socialist state, but nothing was better at reaching peasants but music. In China, this kind of patriotic music is called "Guoyue", and is typically performed in a grand presentation to encourage national pride. Since 1949, Guoyue has been aggressively promoted by the Chinese government, causing Guoyue to become popular throughout the country. The first popular pro-communist song was written in 1934 called "The March of the Volunteers" and was debuted in a Shanghai play. "The March of the Volunteers" was later adopted by the Chinese government as the national anthem in 1949.
Another popular pro-communist song written in 1950 is "Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China", a song that celebrates the Communist Party. A popular theme in Guoyue is a reverence to Mao Zedong, the songs either praising him or honoring his exploits. An example of this is the song "The East Is Red", a personal anthem for Mao Zedong, celebrating his birth and the birth of Chinese Communism. "The East Is Red" was sung in place of the Chinese national anthem during the 1960's in order to build a personality cult for Mao Zedong.
Guoyue songs have been updated through out the years in order to reflect popular culture in the world. In 1991, Mao Zedong anthems were remixed to a disco theme in the album 'The Red Sun', an instant best seller in China. This poster issued in 1986 called 'Youthful Dance Steps' was in response to the popularity of Disco in China. This poster and others like it were put up in government buildings and public meeting areas to show Chinese people that they are allowed to dance to Disco without fear of being reprimanded for dancing in a Western style.
Fabulous post, Michael. I was curious about Chinese Revolutionary music also, so I'm glad to learn a bit more here. And I bet you look just like the photo above when you dance. I know I do.
ReplyDeleteMichael, I enjoyed learning about Chinese Revolutionary music through reading your blog post. Music has always been very powerful in conveying emotion and points. Jimmy Hendrix once said, "Music doesn't lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music." For example how you pointed out how in the 1960's the Chinese national anthem was composed in order to build a personality cult for Mao Zedong or how it was used to convey propaganda and feelings of national unity. This is still true in China today in it's new cultural revolution, according to an article published in the Guardian in 2013. The article described how the south-western Chinese city had launched a musical campaign to mark it's 90th anniversary of the Communist party's birth. "'Red' doesn't only represent revolution, communism or socialism. It also includes elements that represent happiness, harmony, being positive and healthy. The term is actually quite inclusive." Aside from this article, the chinese government had propaganda in the form of music to help legitimize the state and the policies of leaders in the mind's eye of it's citizens during the Mau Zedong Era.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for your interesting post, Michael.
Sincerely,
Aria
After reading this post, I wondered myself if Chinese Revolutionary music also has the same customs surrounding it that any other kinds of Chinese music does.
ReplyDeleteOn page 123, Mark's Chinese friend states, "for the majority of the chinese who are peasants and laborers, music is enjoyed as a sort of background entertainment and is intended as an accompaniment to renao, which means literally "heat and noise."
His friends also states that the Chinese word renao means good fun, as in having large amounts of fun while being noisy and moving around.
According to the Han Trainer dictionary, renao mean populous, lively, prosperous, to liven up, bustling, mirthful, flourishing, and to have a jolly time. In other words, it means to have lots of fun.
But, according to the MDBG Chinese dictionary, it can also mean to offend.
This definition probably was entered because of other culture's belief that people have to be silent and still to be a good audience.
Chinese seems like a very complicated language to learn because of the fact that they not only have a different letter system, they have and entirely different way of life.
Renao may mean one thing to the Chinese, but it means the opposite in other cultures.