A Thousand Years of National Music, Creating a New “Sound”

  From the majestic music of the Jun Tian to the delicate silk-and-bamboo ensembles of Jiangnan, from the pipa—once a vessel for the aspirations of literati and refined scholars—to the melodious bamboo flute that echoes far and wide, China’s time-honored national music stands as a musical embodiment of our cultural heritage. It weaves together an enduring spirit and elegance, reflects a culture of inclusiveness and openness, and has accompanied generations of Chinese people through the ages. In recent years, with the revival of China’s outstanding traditional culture, this national music—once mired in challenges of transmission—has once again burst forth with vitality, continually giving rise to new legends.

The Lost National Instrument “Revived”

　　To do a good job, one must first sharpen one’s tools. To revive the ancient and exquisite traditions of national music, restoring the historic folk instruments is essential. In recent years, a notable sign of the revitalization of Chinese traditional music has been the “resurrection” of many long‑lost instruments. For example, the China National Ethnic Orchestra, in collaboration with the Dunhuang Academy and the Shanghai Musical Instrument Factory No. 1, has successively reconstructed and developed over fifty varieties—more than ninety individual instruments—of ancient Dunhuang musical instruments, including the bili, konghou, fengshou ruan, huluqin, lianhuaqin, se, and leigonggu, bringing these instruments from the murals of the Mogao Caves into the present day and allowing them to once again resonate with their timeless beauty. Drawing on these restored ancient instruments, artists of the China National Ethnic Orchestra have created such national‑music operas as “Impression: National Music” and “Revisiting National Music.”

　　In addition to the restoration of ancient instruments, traditional folk instruments have also undergone continuous refinement, and Chinese national music has advanced step by step precisely through this ongoing process of improvement. For example, Teacher Wang Huiran of the former Shandong Vanguard Cultural Troupe, drawing on the erxian liuqin used in opera accompaniment, developed the three‑string and four‑string high‑pitched liuqin, which have become indispensable plucked‑string instruments in the Chinese national orchestral repertoire. Similarly, the renowned Guangdong music master Lü Wencheng refined the traditional erxian into the gaohu, transforming it into an iconic instrument of Guangdong music.

　　With the restoration of numerous ancient instruments and the refinement of traditional folk instruments, a variety of instrumental theater forms have emerged. Since the world’s first folk‑instrumental opera, “Xuanzang’s Journey West,” premiered in 2017, performing arts troupes at all levels have gone on to create works such as “Setting Sail for the Greater Bay Dream,” “North and South of the Tianshan Mountains,” “Sails and Strings: A Thousand Layers of Melody,” and “Elegance Along the Huyuan River”—each distinguished by its own style and subject matter. Originally, Chinese folk instruments served merely as tools for musical performance, and throughout history, folk musicians have primarily focused on playing music. Yet in instrumental theater, instruments like the erhu, the guqin, and the bamboo flute are endowed with dramatic functions, becoming characters in their own right; folk musicians no longer confine themselves to mere performance but also embody distinct roles. In this art form, performers must not only possess exceptional technical mastery and profound musical insight but also strong acting skills. Despite the considerable challenges, it is undeniable that this approach has spurred innovation within the realm of Chinese classical music.

　　Cross-industry integration ushers in a new look.

　　Compared with musicals, dance dramas, and spoken plays, traditional Chinese music has long been a relatively “niche” art form, at one point even falling into decline. A key reason for this is that, for an extended period, traditional Chinese instruments were unable to integrate effectively with modern musical techniques.

　　In recent years, ethnic musicians have boldly embraced innovation, integrating Western instruments such as the piano, violin, cello, jazz drums, and electric guitar into dialogues with quintessentially Chinese instruments like the pipa, erhu, bamboo flute, and zhongruan, thereby giving rise to a wealth of new national‑music works that blend diverse stylistic influences.

　　For example, “Maritime Folk Music,” produced by the Shanghai National Orchestra and others, breaks with the traditional concert‑going model by integrating calligraphy, Chinese painting, and a host of other cultural elements. Leveraging digital multimedia technologies, it expands the boundaries of the performance space, blending sound and imagery to resonate with contemporary aesthetic sensibilities, thereby creating a multidimensional, immersive audiovisual experience that ushers in a new wave of Shanghai‑style folk music in the digital age. Moreover, “Maritime Folk Music” has taken a pioneering stance by launching the first-ever resident performance series in the field of Chinese traditional music.

　　In addition to “Sea‑Born Folk Music,” the previously mentioned works—“Impression: National Music,” “Seeing National Music Again,” and “Xuanzang’s Journey West”—are all successful examples of cross‑disciplinary fusion. Each seamlessly integrates multiple performance forms, reimagines traditional Chinese music, and ushers in a new chapter for national music, consistently embodying Chinese style, Chinese grandeur, and the Chinese spirit.

　　Traditional Chinese folk music has also merged with modern pop, giving rise to “guofeng” music that is deeply beloved by young audiences. In terms of artistic expression, guofeng compositions embrace a wide range of styles, with a predominant blend of pop and classical elements; their lyrics, melodies, and arrangements all exude a rich aura of traditional Chinese culture. According to the 2022 “Guofeng Music Content Ecosystem Report” published by a leading music research institute, between 2020 and 2021, there were 51 hit guofeng tracks each amassing over 100 million streams; total streams for guofeng songs more than doubled compared to the 2019–2020 period, while the number of works surpassing one million or even ten million streams continued to grow. The steady emergence of new guofeng pieces not only reflects creators’ strong cultural self-awareness but also underscores the enduring vitality of Chinese traditional music in contemporary society.

　　Online live streaming has opened up a “second stage.”

　　This August, more than a hundred artists from the China National Ethnic Orchestra collectively joined Douyin, striving to create an “online second stage” and breaking new ground for national-level ensembles—and indeed for professional arts troupes across the country. This marks just one example of traditional Chinese music’s proactive embrace of new digital platforms like live streaming.

　　In addition to national ensembles like the China National Ethnic Orchestra, a growing number of folk musicians have also begun streaming. According to TikTok’s recently released “2022 TikTok Traditional Music Livestream Data Report,” as of now, TikTok livestreams cover 87 types of traditional Chinese instruments, with total views surpassing 6.1 billion. Over the past year, the platform hosted more than 1.78 million traditional music livestreams, a 95% year-over-year increase; cumulative livestream duration reached 2.33 million hours, up 101% from the previous year. Assuming each performance lasts 1.5 hours, this translates to 4,270 traditional music concerts taking place on TikTok every day, with an average audience of 2,319 per show. By contrast, before the pandemic, a major first-tier city typically saw only about 100 live performances daily.

　　Online live streaming has opened up new opportunities for the development of traditional Chinese music. On the one hand, musicians can earn revenue through virtual tips, tapping into a largely untapped market. Over the past year, 87% of Douyin’s traditional‑music livestreamers have generated income from viewer donations. Even relatively niche instruments—such as the duoxianqin, the konghou, and the xun—have drawn audiences numbering in the tens of thousands. On the other hand, some lesser‑known, endangered intangible cultural heritage forms of traditional music have regained public attention thanks to livestreaming. For example, the duoxianqin, a distinctive instrument of the Jing ethnic minority, was once played by only a handful of people across China. Today, Zhao Xia, the inheritor of this intangible cultural heritage, has amassed more than 400,000 followers on Douyin. With earnings from livestream tips, she has established two teaching centers dedicated to preserving the duoxianqin, keeping its tradition alive.

　　Traditional Chinese music is gradually becoming a “national trend.”

　　“The genes in our blood are awakened—how could we not fall in love with this stirring, soul-stirring music?” Last year, the traditional‑music short video “The Ballad of General Lanling Entering the Battle” went viral across the internet as soon as it was released, racking up over 13 million views on Bilibili, where its primary audience is Generation Z.

　　It’s not just “The Ballad of General Lian” that has become a viral hit. On Bilibili, the traditional Chinese music section has been exceptionally popular in recent years. Young creators have reimagined anime, film scores, and pop songs using traditional instruments; many of these works have not only drawn massive attention but have also continued to break into wider audiences through enthusiastic shares by Generation Z. Meanwhile, mainstream practitioners of traditional Chinese music are actively promoting its creative transformation and innovative development. For instance, Zhao Cong, head of the China National Ethnic Orchestra, has blended Chinese cultural heritage with gaming, and the theme song he composed for a certain game, “Crimson Flame Tassel,” has both expanded the boundaries of traditional music and sparked a wave of enthusiasm for it among post‑90s and post‑00s generations. Beyond this, some pieces of Chinese classical music have even gained international acclaim—for example, a video of a young Chinese woman playing the guqin, titled “Left Finger Points to the Moon,” has racked up tens of millions of views on YouTube alone. In short, traditional Chinese music—once dismissed as “stale,” “conservative,” or “unappealing”—is now projecting a bold, cutting‑edge confidence to the world.

　　Of course, the inheritance and innovation of traditional Chinese music are endless. How to use original compositions to open up new possibilities for this art form and further invigorate the rich cultural heritage embedded in our national music should be the next pressing question for those working in the field.