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26 November 2025, Issue 4
    

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  • Toward a Theory of Chinese Music Historiography: Positioning, Methods, and Structure
    LUO Qin
    Journal of Central Conservatory of Music. 2025(4): 3-24.
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    This paper is structured into four parts.Firstly,the proposal of “historiographical principles” stems from a critical reflection on the persistent structural issues within the long-term development of Chinese music historiography.Secondly,departing from the fundamental questions of the field,the paper explores the theoretical motivations and necessity behind constructing these principles.The third part clarifies the specific objectives of this constructive endeavor,emphasizing the enhancement of the discipline's standards and academic autonomy through a systemic reshaping.The fourth part systematically discusses the theoretical methods,modes of writing,and the expansion of research areas involved in establishing these principles.This includes defining the core concepts and methodologies of Chinese music historiography,advancing the study of document collation,compilation,and writing,and extending the research scope through the perspectives of cultural and social history.In the conclusion,the author summarizes that the construction of these principles signifies a pivotal shift for Chinese music historiography:from relying on “empirical knowledge” to formulating “theoretical knowledge,” and from mere “collection of historical facts” to active “historical interpretation.” This process represents not only a profound epistemological turn but also a crucial journey of academic cultural self-awareness and self-determination,ultimately aiming to establish Chinese music historiography as a form of historical thinking endowed with theoretical rigor and cultural depth.
  • Reflections on the Theoretical Discourse System of Traditional Chinese Music
    XIANG Yang
    Journal of Central Conservatory of Music. 2025(4): 25-43.
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    The formation of a theoretical discourse for traditional Chinese music necessitates reference the mature Western framework,representing an acknowledgment of the systematic development within Western music academia.With a distinct developmental trajectory spanning thousands of years,traditional Chinese music culture is best understood within its historical context from both artistic and cultural perspectives,must differentiate the two principal strands of ritual(礼)and secular(俗)music within the “unity of governance and music” civilization.This system was characterized by ritualistic and non-ritualistic emotional appeals,diverse functionalities,leadership from state-sponsored music,integration of foreign ensembles,and a comprehensive system for creation,maintenance,and performance guaranteed by institutions,administrative bodies,and the household registry system.Having progressed from disparate tribes,settlements,and fang-states to a unified nation,Chinese music culture transitioned from multiplicity to unity.This structure,characterized by an “integrated plurality” and dynamic interaction between state and local levels under the national framework,demonstrates both a coherent identity and regional diversity.Consequently,building a theoretical discourse for this tradition must capture the unique essence of its musical substance and cultural totality.The Western academic experience serves as a valuable reference point in this endeavor,facilitating deeper intellectual engagement and comprehension.
  • The Sinicization and Systematization of Chinese Music: Historical Inevitability and Contemporary Impetus
    CHEN Quanyou
    Journal of Central Conservatory of Music. 2025(4): 44-54.
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    Chinese music possesses a long historical lineage and has been enriched by diverse cultural exchanges,both of which have collectively shaped its unified yet pluralistic core.This article examines the shifts in Chinese perceptions of Western music since its eastward spread in recent centuries,alongside discourses on the development of traditional Chinese music.By tracing the evolution and cross-cultural integration of ancient musical civilizations,it seeks to identify the distinctive path of sinicization,evolutionary characteristics,and underlying artistic principles within Chinese music's historical trajectory.This understanding,in turn,frames the contemporary push for cultural development and an autonomous knowledge system as a catalyst that will provide the social momentum and contemporary impetus for a qualitative enhancement of Chinese music in the near future.
  • Review and Reflection on Research Methods in Chinese Music Historiography of the New Era
    FENG Changchun
    Journal of Central Conservatory of Music. 2025(4): 55-65.
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    The methodology of music historiography constitutes the theoretical framework concerning the methods and their application in historical musicology.The conceptual updating and practical implementation of this methodology have been a significant factor behind the progress in Chinese music historiography in recent decades.During this period,the diversification of research methods was primarily reflected in the integration of approaches drawn from music aesthetics including its speculative methods,ethnomusicology and music anthropology,as well as comparative historiography.
  • Multidimensional Transformations in New Chinese Musical Culture during the Period of the National Total Resistance Against Japanese Aggression
    TANG Siwei
    Journal of Central Conservatory of Music. 2025(4): 66-80.
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    During the Period of the National Total Resistance Against Japanese Aggression,Chinese new musical culture underwent profound and multidimensional transformations at a moment of acute national peril.Spatially,three distinct yet interconnected spheres took shape:the revolutionary base areas,the rear areas and the occupied zones.Although these differing political environments produced,respectively,modes of revolutionary mobilization,pluralistic coexistence and covert resistance,musicians in all three spheres used music to respond to the overarching theme of national salvation and survival,creating a pattern of mutual complementarity and co-existence.In terms of form and distribution,the center of musical activity shifted from east to west and from the cities to the countryside This drove musical communication down the social hierarchy,dismantling pre-war elite barriers and turning music into a spiritual bond that linked the entire nation in the war of resistance.At a deeper paradigmatic level,narratives of national salvation displaced purely personal lyricism.Creative practice turned towards an engagement with social realities and an articulation of the national spirit,while realist tendencies became increasingly marked.The aesthetic pursuit of a distinctive “national bearing” went beyond the traditional techniques associated with a generic “Chinese style” .Coupled with a new sense of theoretical self-awareness,this brought about a functional shift in music from aesthetic entertainment to social mobilization,completing a cultural restructuring that moved from imitation of the West to a condition of conscious national self-definition.
  • The Creative Evolution of QIN Wenchen's Four Concertos
    AN Luxin
    Journal of Central Conservatory of Music. 2025(4): 81-97.
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    This paper focuses on the four concertos by QIN Wenchen spanning over 20 years: Calling for Pheonix,Dawn,Across the Skies,and The Cloud River.Through a diachronic perspective,it reveals that his musical language evolved from melody to timbre and sound,the relationship between solo and ensemble changed from opposition to harmony,the cadenzas within the structure shifted from explicit to implicit,and even the focus of spiritual pursuit moved from Confucianism to Taoism.One consistent aspect throughout,however,is his creative philosophy centered around the concept of‘vivid charm’and his personalized expression.
  • The Principle of Symmetry in Music: How ANT Integrates into Musical Artificial Intelligence
    WANG Xiufeng, HONG Wei
    Journal of Central Conservatory of Music. 2025(4): 98-114.
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    The longstanding debate between “humanism” and “computationalism” persists in the field of music AI.Latour's Principle of Symmetry,which advocates placing human subjects and non-human objects on an equal footing,has led researchers to recognize that the human-machine relationship transcends a simple subject-object dichotomy.While traditional musical aesthetics often employs the dualistic framework of “autonomy-heteronomy” to conceptualize algorithms in music AI,this study adopts a “humanism-computationalism” continuum as an analytical lens to examine the philosophical stances of different practitioners.Through participatory observation and in-depth interviews conducted in the Department of AI Music and Music Information Technology at the Central Conservatory of Music,this research investigates the positionality of music AI practitioners and its transformation over time.The study identifies two critical points at which Actor-Network Theory (ANT) manifests its interpretation power in music AI: changes in the terminology used by practitioners to describe AI,and their awareness of user adaptivity.These points align with the concepts of “translation” and “quasi-object” proposed by the Paris School,indicating that Latour’s Principle of Symmetry holds methodological potential within the realm of music AI.
  • The Concept of Games in the Philosophical-Aesthetic Perspective of Western Music
    BI Kun
    Journal of Central Conservatory of Music. 2025(4): 115-134.
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    This paper centers on the concept of “Spiel/Play/Game” and reveals its dual nature as both a manifestation of human freedom and a critical tool for modernity.Play is interpreted as a non-utilitarian sensory practice that,through the dialectical tension between rules and chance,order and improvisation,becomes the prototype for artistic creation and social interaction.From ancient philosophical metaphors of cosmic genesis to medieval symbols of religious redemption,from Enlightenment-era negotiations between reason and sensibility to Romanticism's dissolution of subjectivity,play persistently engages with human nature to construct non-utilitarian communities.Music,as the highest form of play,materializes the dialectic of freedom and order through structural logic and acoustic expression,thereby envisioning a utopian field resistant to alienation.Play thus reconfigures primal vitality within the fissure between rationality and poeticity.It ultimately points toward the liberating potential of a primordial human condition.
  • A Preliminary Study on Minamoto no Tsunenobu Biwa Fu: The Evolution of Japanese Biwa Notation in the 11th Century
    WEN He
    Journal of Central Conservatory of Music. 2025(4): 135-159.
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    This study conducts a systematic examination of the 11th-century Minamoto no Tsunenobu Biwa Fu (源经信琵琶谱),held in the Archives and Mausolea Department of the Imperial Household Agency,Japan.Through codicological analysis,symbolic deconstruction,and comparative research with Tang-dynasty biwa tablatures and the Japanese Nangū Biwa Fu (南宫琵琶谱,920 CE),we reveal its role in the early Japanization of biwa notation,evidenced by innovations in pitch characters and performance symbols.Crucially,by identifying restoration errors in later conservation and conducting textual criticism,we concretely demonstrate its inheritance and development of the chōshikyoku (调子曲,modal preludes) from the Nangū Biwa Fu.These findings establish this manuscript as a chronological benchmark within the East Asian biwa lineage—positioned between the Nangū and Sangoyōroku (三五要录) traditions—while deepening scholarly understanding of Japan's transformative adaptation of Tang-Song musical systems during their eastward transmission.