A Review of the Development of Modern Chinese Music Education

Abstract

Modern Chinese music education emerged, evolved, took shape, and developed tortuously amid domestic turmoil, foreign aggression, and drastic social transformation, alongside the modernization of education. After the First Opium War, the traditional ritual-music education system gradually collapsed. Western music culture and educational models were introduced into China, giving rise to new-style music education represented by school songs. The Westernization Movement, the Hundred Days’ Reform, the New Policies of the Late Qing Dynasty, educational reforms in the Republican era, the rise of aesthetic education, the establishment of professional music conservatories, and music education practices during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression together form the historical thread of modern Chinese music education. Following a chronological approach, this paper examines the key stages, important figures, core ideas, and historical significance of modern Chinese music education from its inception to its initial systematization, summarizing its developmental logic of “Chinese essence with Western application—Integration of Chinese and Western—Aesthetic education for national salvation”. This study provides a reference for understanding the origins and development paths of modern Chinese music education.