Square Dancing in China: Music Past and Present

Music is ubiquitous in China.

When you walk through the park, you see a gathering of people doing Shaanxi karaoke—either a contemporary C-pop song or an ancient piece from the local traditional opera. You see a group of older folks practicing their traditional instruments. You see a lone saxophone player, who has been banished from his tiny apartment, and so has moved to the park to practice his scales, or a contemporary jazz riff. You see couples “square” dancing", grannies dancing, young people exercising to music. (Each highlighted word is a link.) It's actually so common, it is a phrase that I learn in my language listening class: "Old retired people often dance on street corners. Young people don't have the time." 😂

Small apartments and beautiful parks seems to be a recipe for creating music!

I asked my students to tell me a little bit about how Chinese traditional music compares to contemporary music, and this is what they came up with.

(Note: I have two Tina’s who both chose this topic, so it is a bit confusing. I’ll call one Tina Friday and the other Tina Monday, since that is when they had their class.)

When introducing the subject, all of my students noticed a profound difference between the two genres. Tina Friday notes:

Chinese classical music and contemporary music are two kinds of music that are both enjoyed by many people. Although they can both relax people, there're many differences between them. The major differences are melody, the use of musical instruments and the effect.

Tina Monday agrees:

Various genres of music constitute the charming art world: Chinese classical music and contemporary music are the precious parts of it. They are two representative music types of traditional music and modern music, and both of them entertain millions of audiences and have a rich cultural foundation. Despite the commonality between them, their music theory, playing method and developing history are utterly different.

Mary elaborates on the differences:

Moreover, people’s attitude towards the two kinds of music also seems to be different. Compared with classical Chinese music, more young people would like to listen to contemporary music which is popular and easily accepted. With the fashion of square dance and the popularization of the short video applications in China, many middle-aged or old people also have come into contact and fallen in love with popular music. On the contrary, there are relatively few people who would like to spend time on classical Chinese music. Generally, the ones who are fond of classical music are considered people with high musical taste, because a lot of people think that contemporary music is a public art while classical music is an advanced art.

All of them were good at describing the technical differences between the two. Tina Monday writes:

Chinese classical music is the typical five-tone music, which contains “do re mi so la” --five sounds. Only through these five sounds, classical Chinese music is good at rendering harmonic atmosphere. And this kind of musical instruction is the legacy of ancient China. All of the East Asian countries maintain this character. However, contemporary music is the product of western modern music tone system which has all seven tones. Obviously, this kind of music adds two more sounds “fa”“xi”, and these two sound bring the intensive dramatic conflicts in the melody. In addition, it has the function of hitting the passion of fans.

Ursula speculates on these differences. Contemporary society is more fast-paced, and thus our society may be more conducive to listening to music that relies on faster beats:

Classical Chinese music and contemporary music have different rhythms and different ranges of tones. When it comes to the contemporary music, it has a wide vocal range [7 notes]… Contemporary music usually has a fast rhythm and drums. Nowadays, it’s hard for people who live in a fast-paced era to admire some slow-rhythm music. ... Most of the classical Chinese music has slow rhythm. After all, the ancient people lived in a slow pace.

She continues, explaining the difference in the way the two are organized:

Chinese classical music and contemporary music have different organizational forms. Chinese classical music‘s organization of its movement is very logical, and the development of music focuses on unity and coherence. Most Chinese classical music has a long movement, expressing complex and complete ideas. Contemporary music …is relatively simple in logic and short in length. Contemporary music pays more attention to the expression of emotion, and it lacks rational structure.

Tina Friday also tries to explain the organizational differences:

Contemporary music is the music which is created with new composition techniques and music theory. Contemporary music’s melody is always smooth, undulating and regular. Famous modern music are “Yesterday” and “Linkin Park." As for the instrument, contemporary music often uses stringed instruments. It emphasizes the extreme sound area and noise, highlights percussion, and seeks new sound colors and sound instruments. What’s more, contemporary music reflects modern life, and it always keeps up with the trend of the times.

Katherine speaks of the different instruments used:

The instruments used by Chinese classical music and modern music are also very different. Chinese classical music usually uses traditional Chinese instruments, such as erhu, guzheng, yangqin and so on. It seeks unity and harmony among instruments. Contemporary music may combine Chinese and Western instruments, such as electroacoustic instruments, percussion instruments and so on. It sometimes emphasizes individual instruments and pursues new musical colors.

Tina Monday elaborates:

As for the playing method, classical Chinese music is usually played by the local traditional instruments. Basically, each one typical instrument may have an individual notable song to express the unique timbre. Such as “Horse Racing” is the most famous song played by erhu; “The Fernleaf Hedge Bamboo in The Moonlight” only can be played by cucurbit flute so that the audience could feel the ethnic style of Dai people who live in the southwestern part of China. And another standard for measuring classical Chinese music is the fluency. Usually, a musician of Chinese classical music must experience a long-time practice. Contemporary music, on the other hand, is usually played by the complicated band and most of the instruments are the electrical instruments which follow the trend of the fashion young generation. For example, country music is not attractive for the youth, but Taylor Swift bring this niche style to the main music stage. Moreover, contemporary music contains different styles of music like jazz, Latin or country music, which is the mixture or combination of global culture. As for the performance, I have to admit that contemporary music is much easier to absorb the audience into the player’s spiritual world because the standard is to let people feel the passion instead of the fluency of the melody.

Here are some YouTube examples of the music and instruments that she describes. The Guzheng is a beautiful string instrument that rests on your lap. It reminds me of a harp or guitar, Here is someone playing “Mountain Stream,” a piece that she mentions. . For a more energetic piece, here is an Erhu, which is about the size of a viola, but is played like a cello. Here is an example, the piece that she mentions, called “Horse-Racing.” It however doesn’t always have to be aggressive, and athletic. Here is a full concerto for Erhu, called “Butterfly Lovers.” It is accompanied by many traditional Chinese musicians and traditional instruments. Finally, there is the piece that she speaks of, above, “Fern leaf Hedge in Moonlight” which has a Hulusi (cucurbit flute) solo. Since the video doesn’t show the instrument, here is a picture of it – sort of a flute, pan-pipe type instrument.

Many of my students also spoke of the history. Katherine provides some historical background:

Chinese classical music originated in the Zhou dynasty. It has been popular for thousands of years. Some ancient music is still often played today. Modern music appeared at the beginning of the 20th century. Its history is short and the music is popular for a relatively short time. Chinese classical music usually expresses the author's personal feelings, so it is difficult to understand. People have to spend much time and make efforts to understand it. However, contemporary music expresses the feelings of most people, so it is easy to appreciate.

Tina Friday provides more:

Chinese classical music refers to Chinese traditional music, which has a long history and can be traced back to Xia and Shang Dynasty. Many of Chinese classical music pieces are familiar to us, such as “Mountain Stream” and “The Moon over a Fountain.” The instruments of Classical music are often Chinese traditional instrument like Bamboo Flute and Gu Zheng. When composing Chinese classical music, Chinese musicians optimize the combination of instruments, and lay emphasis on balance of the tone. So this kind of music always has beautiful or peculiar melodies, fun-filled music, and sincere emotion. Additionally, the main purpose of Chinese classical music is to mold character, and it’s also the precious historical material which records the customs of the past.

[Here is an nontraditional, but beautiful rendering of “Moon over a Fountain” performed on the ukulele]

Tina Monday adds:

Classical Chinese music definitely has a longer life in world art development history. It has been performing its charm for thousands of years. As time passed by, Chinese classical music absorbed other ethic music elements and include the diversity of Chinese ethnic minorities. Contemporary music, on the other hand, flourished in recent decades and this kind of music grew in popularity in America and Korea. Its development is so fast that this kind of music could cross the language barriers and spread all over the world. Nowadays, the majority of the world’s music market is held by this newborn music. It is really common to find that teenagers’ idols are pop music stars.

Ursula also reflects on these historical differences

Classical Chinese music and contemporary music have different functions. Nowadays, most of the contemporary music are used to express personal feelings. Nearly every composer writes the music to tell others one of their unforgettable experiences. Contemporary music is dominated by individualism. Nevertheless, classical Chinese music is different. The earliest classical Chinese music was created in order to sacrifice to the gods. Some of them were written to commemorate splendid wars or important ceremonies. Others were considered as a significant part of the ancient etiquette. Seldom were they created for individual feelings and experiences. In the ancient time, collectivism was greater than individualism.

Along the same lines, Mary notices the difference in how the two are produced. Chinese music developed as a means to communicate emotions, whereas contemporary music is more of an economic phenomenon, built on market forces:

The creative intention and the effect of the music also deserves to be explored. Actually, most of the classical Chinese music is created in a relatively pure environment with the purpose of expressing emotions and creating an artistic conception. In other words, they pay more attention to emotional resonance instead of any business factor. As a result, a large number of classical Chinese music can move a lot of people and echo down the centuries. Conversely, some of the contemporary music are created for profit or for reputation. Some people would cater to the mass-market and make songs which are easy to understand and remember in order to become popular or earn more money. Actually, these songs can be accepted by the public in a short time, but they will soon be replaced by the new songs and usually cannot last for a long time. However, there are still some excellent or famous contemporary songs that are of great importance to the people in our period of time.

To conclude with Tina Friday’s words:

The famous Hungary musician Liszt said: “Music is not with the aid of any external force, direct refreshing the purest emotional flame; It is the air drawn in by the mouth, it is the blood that circulates in the veins of life.” Although Chinese classical music and contemporary music have their own characteristics, it’s common knowledge that they all can make people relax and enjoy and are the precious spiritual wealth of mankind.

What I’ve discovered from my students and a simple walk through the park is: music—past and present-- is central to contemporary Chinese society. It is a group activity: something that you do with friends and neighbors, a gift that you give to random strangers walking through the park. It is a celebration of a healthy lifestyle and a long and proud history. I’m not sure there is an equivalent in Western culture. Music in the West is instead shared by like-minded people. You go to concerts with friends and dance to music that you know and love. You use earbuds and compile a personal playlist that sometimes you may share with friends, and like-minded friends. Western sports are competitive, not collaborative and music-based. (Yoga and Tai Chi come from Asian cultures.) In the West, there doesn’t seem to be a shared space for all music-lovers. Maybe that does have something to do with our individualism. Maybe it has something to do with competition over collectivism. Perhaps it has something to do with market forces, as well. It is something that I will miss when I leave China.

Written with aid from Tina (M81), Tina (Fam), Ursula (EF81), Mary (EF81) and Katherine (Fam)

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Here are some more examples of park "square" dancing: