16 - Four recurring themes in histories of Chinese music

Summary

Historical writings are not only long-established, but are also richly diverse. There have been very significant shifts in the contexts surrounding and impelling the writing of fresh histories of music over the long period of Chinese cultural identity, and historians at any single time have taken multiple and divergent approaches to their subject. This chapter compares how selected histories present four key themes that include music's origins, a connection between a nation's musical pitchscape, the contributions of specialist musicians, and China's music history as an account of culture contact, within and across China's national boundaries. Many historians have documented the importing of foreign sounds throughout the long history of Chinese music, most notably the entertainment orchestras brought to the court from numerous other states during the Tang Dynasty. The writing of musicologist Shen Zhibai offers examples that illustrate what is at stake in the writing of music history.