Ancient Chinese Music and Filial Piety
Introduction
The musical tradition of ancient China is one of the most fascinating tales of musical evolution due to its strong tie to cultural values. For thousands of years, the Chinese music tradition remained resolute in its belief that the music should remain purely Chinese without the influence of outside styles. This desire to remain pure was closely tied to the idea of filial piety. Furthermore, the strong symbolic ties of cultural beliefs to the representation and creation of music creates a unique style. I had the wonderful opportunity over this past year to work closely with a professor from Shanghai University on the evolution and meaning of ancient Chinese music. With his help, I was able to conduct in depth research not only on the music itself, but the reasoning behind why it remained so pure despite the numerous attempts from westerners to fuse musical styles. The following papers are the culmination of my research over the past year as well as the basis to why I am creating this website and doing this new research.
