The Rise of Contemporary Chinese Music Culture

China has undergone tremendous changes in the 20th century, including the culture of the whole society, social value orientation and people's way of thinking. This is also a phase of East-West cultural collision and fusion. Under the impact and influence of western culture,Chinese musicians have written a new chapter in modern music culture in China through learning from and referring to western music and adhering to music creation with a strong will.

Speaking of the Chinese music in the 20th century, we must first mention the"School Songs." At the beginning of the 20th century, with the introduction of the western culture,the capitalist culture in the near-modern history of China developed.School music education also evolved gradually with the development of new types of schools. Some foreign missionaries opened music classes in their own church-run schools. They open a music course with rich content, called"Qin Ke," not only learning about the piano,but also vocal music, stringed music, music history,and music composition theory and so forth. Some well-known intellectuals, such as Kang Youwei,Liang Qichao,Cai Yuanpei,and Yang Du also had new understanding in the meaning of music education. This not only led to the beginning of music and singing courses in schools, but also comnposing lyrics and tunes for dissemination. Some Chinese students returning from studying abroad in Japan, such as Shen Gongxin and Zeng Zhizhai,promoted singing activities in schools through opening singing classes, composing and teaching campus songs in common primary and middle schools,publishing magazines,contributing and spreading their works to some well-known domestic and international magazines,and advocating the development of new school music education.With the efforts of these pioneers, the School Songs were gradually promoted across China.