The Concept of ‘Chinese Style’ Embedded in Chinese Piano Adaptations of the Guqin

Three Stanzas of Plum Blossoms, Farewell at Yangguan Pass and Flowing Water as Case Studies

Abstract

In early twentieth-century China, some intellectuals believed that the country’s modernisation required comprehensive reforms across politics, the economy and culture. These efforts were seen as essential to building a stronger nation and responding to the crisis of national identity caused by internal turmoil and foreign invasion. The field of music inevitably faced new contradictions and challenges in the process of modernisation, particularly in negotiating the balance between tradition and modernisation. Chinese piano composers have attempted to selectively absorb and integrate elements from the Western musical system, while simultaneously retaining traditional musical elements that might be able to represent nationality, such as configuring chords for the pentatonic scale. The aim was to find a soundscape that was in line with the modernisation process and could reflect the national identity — ‘Chinese style.’ This process of selective inheritance and adaptation of old culture has been called ‘invented tradition’ by Hobsbawm and Ranger, who claimed that in the process of rapid social change and modernisation, old social patterns and traditions may not continue to be able to adapt to the new demands, and that new traditions need to be invented to maintain social cohesion and identity. Therefore, based on the theory of ‘invented traditions,’ this study examines three piano compositions adapted from the guqin during the Culture Revolution (1966–1976) — Three Stanzas of Plum Blossoms (Wang Jianzhong), Farewell at Yangguan Pass (Li Yinghai) and Flowing Water (Chen Peixun) — as case studies to explore how the composers interpreted and expressed the notion of ‘Chinese style.’ This is achieved through an analysis of the cultural context and aesthetic perspectives involved, focusing on both the inheritance and transformation of traditional culture and the reception and adaptation of Western culture. This study ultimately reveals that Chinese style is not only a personal stylistic preference of composers, but also a concrete manifestation of the general national aesthetic consciousness: an attempt to construct a sonic landscape that reflects the newly emerging cultural identity of the nation.