THE ROUGH GUIDE to the music of

MUSICROUGHGUIDES
THE ROUGH GUIDE to the music of
China
China, and the world’s perception of China,
has changed immeasurably since the first
edition of The Rough Guide To The Music Of
China, nearly ten years ago. Today China is
set to become the world’s largest economy,
probably within the next five to ten years. The
influence of China on everyone in the West
is obvious – we only need to take a look at
all the products in our homes that are made
there, and increasingly innovated there. In
Brazil, Australia and large swathes of Africa,
that influence is even more palpable as
China invests and imports huge amounts of
raw materials to fuel the economic miracle.
Yet despite this influence and arguable over
dependency, on China, most in the West know
little about China and its people. Hopefully,
this Rough Guide can offer an insight into the
ancient, modern and contemporary history
of China, and perhaps even a glimpse to the
future.
Instruments such as the erhu, pipa and
guzheng can be dated back some 3,000
years, and were introduced to China via
the Silk Road trading routes from ancient
Persia. These instruments are performed
in traditional style by the great masters,
and in contemporary style by radical new
innovators.
The music of pre-Communist 1930s to
1940s Shanghai reflected a large foreign
population, which allowed the city to become
known as ‘The Paris of the East’. Chinese
folk was mixed with jazz to create some of
the most evocative music in the country’s
history, this fusion laid the foundations for
much of today’s pop music.
The music of the Mao years, when nearly all
songs had a message about the revolution,
workers, peasants, soldiers, or the virtues of
Chairman Mao and the Communist system,
equally convey the sound of a bygone era.
This album features one of the greatest
tunes of this era, which is even still popular
today.
Following the death of Mao, under Deng
Xiaoping, China embarked upon a policy of
reform and opening up to the outside world.
This policy would have a direct effect on the
music scene in China, especially Beijing.
Included are artists from the 1980s rock
explosion and the 1990s punk boom.
The music of the Chinese minorities and the
autonomous regions of Inner Mongolia and
Xinjiang are represented by artists who are
updating their roots traditions, in much the
same way as artists in other parts of the
world, perhaps the nearest China has to
what is called ‘world music’.
There is also music made by the Chinese
expat communities around the world. It’s
usually these artists that have gained
most exposure outside of China, and have
collaborated with artists from other cultures.
Finally, this album spotlights new sounds
from the Chinese underground – artists
who are confident and proud of the Chinese
elements in their music, yet who are as
savvy as anyone about music from anywhere,
digesting
and
incorporating
diverse
elements, and creating something definably
‘Chinese’.
Like China itself, this Rough Guide, in
attempting to give an overview of Chinese
music over 3,000 years, is subject to many
contradictions, dichotomies and anomalies.
Just how does capitalist economy thrive
under Communism? How is it possible
to keep 1.3 billion people, a fifth of the
world’s population, with at least fifty ethnic
minorities, under a single government?
Or how did a 1980s rebellious rocker end up
experimenting with a traditional instrument
of the old China, the guzheng, and then
adding Jamaican reggae to it?
Appropriately, for the Middle Kingdom, the
answers probably lie somewhere in the
middle. Today China is both an economic
superpower and intrinsically unstable. Its
music is at once a moment in time, a product
of a complicated past and an uncertain
future.
La Chine, et le regard que le monde porte
sur elle, ont profondément changé depuis
la première édition du Rough Guide To
The Music Of China, il y a près de dix
ans. Aujourd’hui, la Chine s’apprête à
devenir la première économie mondiale,
vraisemblablement dans les cinq à dix
années à venir. Son influence sur les
Occidentaux est évidente – le nombre de nos
produits domestiques qui y sont fabriqués,
ou, de plus en plus, conçus, le prouve. Au
Brésil, en Australie et dans de larges pans
de l’Afrique, cette influence est encore plus
palpable, car la Chine investit et importe de
grandes quantités de matières premières
pour alimenter son miracle économique.
Mais malgré son influence, discutable en
termes de dépendance, la plupart des
Occidentaux connaissent peu la Chine et ses
habitants. Ce Rough Guide entend y remédier
en fournissant un aperçu de l’histoire
ancienne, moderne et contemporaine de la
Chine, et peut-être même un regard vers le
futur.
Des instruments comme le erhu, la pipa et le
guzheng, vieux de près de trois millénaires
ont été introduits en Chine par les voies
commerçantes de la Route de la soie, depuis
la Perse antique. De grands maîtres les
jouent aujourd’hui dans le style traditionnel,
et des musiciens innovent avec dans un style
contemporain radical.
Dans le Shangaï précommuniste des années
1930-1940, la musique reflétait le grand
nombre d’étrangers, qui faisait de la ville le
«Paris de l’Orient». Les mélodies populaires
chinoises ont été mêlées au jazz pour créer
une musique évocatrice et singulière, une
fusion qui a posé les fondements de la
plupart de la musique pop actuelle.
Sous Mao, presque toutes les chansons
véhiculaient un message sur la révolution,
les travailleurs, les paysans, les soldats ou
les vertus du Grand Timonier et du système
communiste. Elles laissaient également
entendre le son d’une époque disparue.
Cet album présente quelques succès de
cette période, qui sont encore populaires
aujourd’hui.
Après la mort de Mao, la Chine de Deng
Xiaoping s’est engagée dans une ère
de réformes et s’est ouverte au monde
extérieur. Ces mesures ont eu un effet
direct sur la scène musicale en Chine,
notamment à Beijing. L’album comprend
ainsi des productions de l’explosion rock des
années 1980 et du boom punk de la décennie
suivante.
La musique des minorités chinoises et
des régions autonomes de la Mongolie
intérieure et du Xinjiang est représentée par
des artistes qui innovent à partir de leurs
traditions, comme d’autres musiciens de
diverses régions du monde. A sa façon, la
Chine a aussi sa world music.
On trouvera également sur l’album la
musique des communautés chinoises
expatriées. Ce sont ces artistes qui ont
été le plus diffusés hors de Chine et qui
ont collaboré avec des musiciens d’autres
cultures.
L’album présente aussi les nouveaux sons
de l’underground chinois – des artistes
qui sont fiers des éléments chinois de leur
musique, mais qui se frottent comme tout
le monde aux musiques d’ailleurs, digérant
et incorporant différents concepts, pour
créer au final quelque chose de résolument
«chinois».
Comme la Chine elle-même, ce Rough
Guide laisse affleurer de nombreuses
contradictions, dichotomies et anomalies
dans sa tentative de donner un aperçu
de la musique chinoise sur plus de trois
millénaires.
Comment l’économie capitaliste a pu
prospérer dans un régime communiste?
Comment un même gouvernement peut-il
régir 1,3 milliard d’habitants, un cinquième
de la population mondiale, avec au moins
cinq minorités ethniques? Et comment un
rocker rebelle des années 1980 a pu aller
jusqu’à se saisir du guzheng, un instrument
traditionnel de la Chine ancienne, et le mixer
avec du reggae jamaïcain?
Comme il se doit pour l’Empire du même
nom, les réponses à ces questions résident
probablement quelque part au milieu.
Aujourd’hui, la Chine est simultanément
une superpuissance économique et un pays
intrinsèquement instable. Sa musique est
tout la fois un moment dans le temps, et le
produit d’un passé complexe et d’un futur
incertain.
ZHANG YI WEN – The music of 1920s to
1940s Shanghai, also called shidaiqu, mixed
Chinese folk with American jazz. During the
1930s some 70,000 foreign nationals resident
in Shanghai lived safely in prosperous parts
of the city – some shidaiqu songs reflect on
their extravagant lifestyles. Others relate to
events such as the second Sino-Japanese
War. Zhang Yi-Wen took part in the 1946
‘Miss Shanghai’ competition, placing second.
Like many of her peers, she emigrated to
Hong Kong in 1949.
SHANREN – Formed in Yunnan province
in 2000, Shanren, meaning ‘Mountain
People’, are a group from different ethnic
backgrounds – Han, Wa and Buyi. They play
and promote the music of the ethnic minority
groups of Yunnan and Guihzou provinces,
such as the music of the Yi people of Yunnan,
who play four-stringed plucked instruments
including xiangzi and qinqin and a type of
drum called xianggu. They have performed
at many events in China and Europe.
XIE TIAN XIAO – Xie Tian Xiao (or XTX as
he is commonly called) is one of China’s
biggest rock stars. He began playing guitar
as a teenager and played in various bands,
including the grunge-influenced Cold
Blooded Animals, who were the first Chinese
rock band to play the SXSW festival in Austin,
Texas. Here he combines the guzheng with
reggae, culminating in this new style of
music and his latest album.
JAH WOBBLE & THE CHINESE DUB
ORCHESTRA – Maverick UK bass player Jah
Wobble and guzheng (zither) player Zi Lan
Liao were originally asked to put together a
performance as one of the events of the 2008
Liverpool Capital of Culture. That project
soon mushroomed into something much
bigger, resulting in a full UK tour. Guzheng
and yanqin (dulcimer) are combined with
bass, keyboards, beats, and various pipes
and flutes.
RED CHAMBER – Red Chamber are four
Canada-based Chinese virtuosi of plucked
stringed
instruments.
Their
line-up
comprises zheng, pipa, ruan and sanxian.
‘Sunny Spring And White Snow’ is an ancient
piece that is thought to have been composed
during what is known as the Spring and
Autumn Period (722 BC – 481 BC) of Chinese
history.
MIN HUIFEN – Min Huifen is one of China’s
greatest exponents of the erhu, the twostringed bowed fiddle (erh means ‘two’ and
Xie Tian Xiao
hu, ‘barbarian’). The instrument, used in
classical and folk music, produces one of
the most instantly recognizable Chinese
sounds. Born in 1945, Min has enjoyed
success as erhu soloist with China National
Art Troupe and the Shanghai Chinese Music
Orchestra. She is also a prolific composer,
and ‘Yangguan Pass Melody’ is probably her
best-known piece.
Miyazaki in France, where they currently live.
Together, they push the boundaries of their
respective traditions in a combination that is
entirely natural; the koto itself was derived
from China. ‘Sai Ma’ (‘Horse Racing’) is a
well-known tune for the erhu, here it is given
a quite radical reworking yet still conveying
the energetic and majestic galloping of
horses.
SECOND HAND ROSE – Formed in Beijing in
2000, Second Hand Rose combine traditional
Chinese instruments, such as the suona
(oboe), with rock. Lead singer and guitarist
Liang Long is from Heilongjiang province in
northeast China, and is influenced by er ren
zhuan (storytelling from the northeast). They
are firmly part of the Chinese underground
scene, and have performed in Switzerland
and Holland.
CHANG JING – Guzheng player Chang
Jing is one of the leading lights of the new
generation of Chinese traditional musicians.
From Sichuan province, she graduated from
the China Conservatory of Music in 1995, and
soon after joined the China National Song &
Dance Ensemble. Later she began to explore
the possibilities of her instrument, adding
electronic sounds and rhythms and creating
videos for her songs more akin to a pop star.
URNA – Urna Chahar-Tugchi grew up
on the steps of the Ordos grasslands of
Inner Mongolia, one of the autonomous
regions of China. She started off learning
yanqin in the capital city, Hohhot, before
moving to Shanghai to study singing at the
Conservatory of Music. By using novel vocal
techniques and collaborating with musicians
from different cultures, her music still
evokes the grasslands of her homeland,
while creating an original and fresh sound.
LI GUYI – Li Guyi is sometimes referred to
as the first Chinese pop singer. However,
her career has not always been as smooth
for this unlikely rebel. Despite beginning
her career as a classical musician, in the
early 1980s she started to sing pop songs,
and became the object of much criticism
for being supposedly lewd and decadent.
Despite some songs being banned, she
continued to sing them due to overwhelming
public demand. Blending Western pop with
Chinese folk, she opened the doors for the
subsequent generation of pop stars, and
in 1999 received a Lifetime Achievement
Award at a gala organized by China Central
MIEKO MIYAZAKI & GUO GAN - Erhu
player Guo Gan, originally from Shenyang,
met Japanese koto (zither) player Mieko
Television and MTV.
PANJIR – Panjir predominantly play the
music of the Uyghurs from Xinjiang, the
largest administrative area of China, in
the heart of Central Asia. The Uyghurs
are a Turkic people whose music includes
influences from Persia, India and the Far
East. With its rich mix of percussion (qangdulcimer and dap), strings (tambur, dutar,
satar, saz) and wind instruments (ney), the
music lends itself well to the improvisation
that Panjir experiment with.
COLD FAIRYLAND – From Shanghai, Cold
Fairyland were put together in 2001 by female
pipa player, keyboardist and singer Lin Di.
She began playing pipa aged 4, and studied
traditional Chinese music at the Shanghai
Conservatory of Music. It was a shock to
those around her when, taking influences
from progressive rock and trip-hop among
others, she decided to accompany her pipa
with cello, bass, drums and keyboards,
within a sometimes dark framework. Cold
Fairyland became popular at all the Chinese
festivals and have performed in Europe and
Japan.
HANG ON THE BOX – Teenage classmates
Wang Yue and Yilana met like-minded Yang
Fan, and, without practising, announced
they were Beijing’s first all-girl punk band.
Shortly after, they embarked on their first
performance and left the audience at
Scream (China’s first underground club)
unsure whether to laugh or jeer. The group
recruited a drummer, rehearsed and were
soon wowing the audiences with their
audacious lyrics and fast-paced music.
THE SHANGHAI RESTORATION PROJECT –
This ensemble is the brainchild of ChineseAmerican musician Dave Liang, who draws
his inspiration from the 1930s to 1940s
Shanghai scene. On the album Remixed
and Restored Vol. 1, he set about remixing
some of the classic tracks that inspire him,
including the song sampled here. Originally
called ‘Ye Shang Hai’, it was recorded by
Zhou Xuan, one of the so-called ’Seven Great
Singing Stars’ of early twentieth-century
China.
BAI GUANG – Born in Beijing in 1921, Bai
Guang was one of China’s ‘Seven Great
Singing Stars’ who doubled up as the most
famous film stars of the day in Shanghai.
Known as ‘White Light’, she had a slightly
deeper voice than her contemporaries and
brought a seductive tone to her records. ‘Qiu
Ye (Autumn Night)’ was one of her biggest
hits. Bai moved to Hong Kong following the
Communist takeover in 1949, eventually
settling in Malaysia.
LIU FANG – Liu Fang was born in Yunnan
province and began playing pipa aged 6.
At age 22 she moved to Canada and began
to collaborate with other musicians from
other cultures. While remaining true to
tradition on her acclaimed trilogy of solo
pipa albums, a number of side projects have
seen her working with folk and experimental
musicians from around the world. ‘Dao Chui
Lian’ is her interpretation of a folk tune from
Guangdong, southern China.
GUO LANYING – ‘My Motherland’, sung by
Guo Lanying, is one of China’s best-known
songs. It was written for the 1956 film about
the Korean War, Battle on Shangganling
Mountain. The popularity of the song far
outstripped that of the film. Its relatively
subtle message, compared to other patriotic
songs of the time, reminded the soldiers of
the beauty of their homeland. Guo Lanying
first studied Shanxi opera style, and was
eventually elevated to chief performer in
the Song and Dance Theatre after Mao
proclaimed the People’s Republic of China
in 1949. This role took her to the Soviet
Union, Romania, Poland, Yugoslavia and
even Japan, where she was celebrated as an
example of Chinese musical talent.
01 ZHANG YI-WEN Shanghai Xiao Jie (Miss Shanghai)
from the album SHANGHAI DISCONTINUED
FAMOUS SONGS IN THE 1930S AND 1940S, VOL. 1
(LLK-15062000)
(words Xu Lang, music Wei Ke) pub Ancient Sound
Restore. Licensed from Ancient Sound Restore.
02 SHANREN 30 Years
from the album SHANREN
(Qu Zihan) pub 13 Month Records. Licensed from 13 Month
Records.
03 XIE TIAN XIAO The Tide, It Knows Not Why
from the album THE LAST MAN (O/VJ6)
(Xie Tian Xiao) pub Thirteen Month (Shisanyue Changpian).
Licensed from Xie Tian Xiao.
06 MIN HUIFEN Yangguan Pass Melody – Three
Variations
from the album MASTER OF TRADITIONAL
CHINESE MUSIC: ERHU ARTIST MIN HUIFEN
(100647-04)
(Liu Wenjin) pub CRC Jianian Publishing/BMI. Licensed
from China Music Group.
07 SECOND HAND ROSE Picking A Flower
from the album SECOND HAND ROSE (101792-06)
(Liang Long) pub CRC Jianian Publishing/BMI. Licensed
from China Music Group.
08 URNA Uran Tangnai
from the album HÖDÖÖD (TMCD-320)
(trad, arr Urna Chahar-Tugchi) pub Trees Music & Art.
Licensed from Trees Music & Art.
04 JAH WOBBLE & THE CHINESE DUB ORCHESTRA
L1 Dub
from the album CHINESE DUB (30HZCD30)
09 MIEKO MIYAZAKI & GUO GAN Sai Ma
from the album NEN NEN SUI SUI
05 RED CHAMBER Sunny Spring And White Snow
from the album REDGRASS (N-13)
10 CHANG JING In The Past
from the album INNER TRANQUILITY (PBD055)
(Jah Wobble) pub Music Sale. Licensed from 30 Hertz
Records.
(trad, arr Liu Guilian) pub ZaDiscs. Licensed from ZaDiscs.
Chang Jing
Urna
(Huang Haihuai/Guo Jun Ming/Wang Guotong, arr Guo
Gan) pub Daqui Records. Licensed from Daqui Records.
11 LI GUYI A Bosom Friend
from the album CENTENNIAL OF CHINESE FILMS
VOL. 7 (100605-16)
(Hua Ershi/Wang Ming) pub CRC Jianian Publishing/BMI.
Licensed from China Music Group.
12 PANJIR Panjir
from the album PANJIR
(A. Abliz, arr A. Abliz/D. Mitchell) pub Panjir. Licensed
from Panjir.
13 COLD FAIRYLAND Shadow Play
from the album SEEDS ON THE GROUND
(ACUSTRONIC MIX) (9787880886887)
(trad, arr Lin Di) pub 8621 Music Factory. Licensed from
Cold Fairyland/Seppo M. Lehto.
14 HANG ON THE BOX Koniqiwa Tokoy
from the album DI DI DI (101791-12)
(Wang Yue) pub CRC Jianian Publishing/BMI. Licensed
from China Music Group.
(Fan Yanqiao/Lin Mei) pub CRC Jianian Publishing/BMI.
Licensed from China Music Group.
16 BAI GUANG Qiu Ye (Autumn Night)
from the album SHANGHAI DISCONTINUED
FAMOUS SONGS IN THE 1930S AND 1940S, VOL. 1
(LLK-15062000)
(words Xiao Zhu, music Hou Xiang) pub Ancient Sound
Restore. Licensed from Ancient Sound Restore.
17 LIU FANG Dao Chui Lian
from the album THE SOUL OF PIPA - VOL. 3.
(PMPCD001-3)
(trad, arr Liu Dehai) pub Philmultic Management &
Productions Inc. Licensed from Philmultic Label.
18 GUO LANYING My Motherland
from the album 100 YEARS OF CHINESE CINEMA:
FEATURE FILM SONGS VOL. 1 (101385-12)
(Liu Chi/Qiao Yu) pub CRC Jianian Publishing/BMI.
Licensed from China Music Group.
(Qi Gang) pub Qi Gang. Licensed from Qi Gang.
Cold Fairyland
15 THE SHANGHAI RESTORATION PROJECT Night
Life In Shanghai (Shanghai Restoration Project
Remix)
from the album EXPLORE THE MUSIC OF CHINA
(101840-06)
Xie Tian Xiao
Red Chamber
Visit www.worldmusic.net/china
for music information, video clips and free tracks.
Liu Fang
MUSICROUGHGUIDES
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