Keywords: modern Chinese music; Shanghai; status
Shanghai is one of the five earliest ports of commerce opened in modern times and the largest city in modern China. Its position in modern Sino-Western cultural exchanges and the formation of new culture in modern China has received widespread academic attention. As an aspect of modern new culture, Shanghai played a pivotal role in the formation and development of music in modern China, which is closely related to the unique cultural background, historical tradition, and economic and social conditions of the city. Therefore, the study of Shanghai's position in the formation and development of modern Chinese music will not only give us an in-depth understanding of the history of the development of modern Chinese music, but also, through one side, enable us to have a deep appreciation of the individuality of the city of Shanghai1.
I. Pioneer of modern music dissemination
Shanghai, due to its unique historical causes and unique cultural environment, has become a bridgehead for the dissemination of modern western culture to China, and a hotbed for the brewing of new culture in modern China. The formation of new music in modern China is one of the important aspects. The development of modern music includes two aspects: the spread and popularization of modern Western music and the inheritance and transformation of traditional music. Among them, the spread and popularization of Western music in particular was the main driving force and content of the formation of modern Chinese music.
The spread of Western music in modern China came about through the following channels: 1) Western religious music brought by Christian churches; 2) Western military music imported into the new army; 3) Western music brought back by foreign students from overseas; and 4) the popularization of Western music in modern schools. These four ways appeared successively, and the fourth factor in particular had the most far-reaching influence on the face of modern Chinese music. Shanghai has long been a pioneer in modern China, and this is also true of the spread of modern Western music, the main manifestation of which lies in the fact that it has become the earliest testing ground for the popularization of Western music in modern new schools.
Shanghai has been the base camp for overseas Christian missions in China since the opening of the five trading ports, so the music brought by the Christian churches had a particularly profound influence on the believers in Shanghai. However, the contribution of church music to the formation of modern music in China was limited, and the formation of new music depended more on the development of a new style of music education. Since the Protestant Church regarded education as an important means of missionary work in China, a great deal of energy and financial resources were devoted to the running of schools, and one of the important elements of the schools was the teaching of Western music. According to the current data, Shanghai was the earliest place for missionaries to run schools in China, and Shanghai was also the earliest place for schools to set up music education subjects. For example, the Qingxin Girls' High School, which was founded in Shanghai in 1861, already compared music with language, arithmetic and Bible in its teaching. The Shanghai Chinese and Western Girls' School, founded in 1892, also organized concerts to show the results of their usual teaching. The scale of the concerts was not only limited to the students' interaction with each other, but also to the parents once every six months and to the general public once a year.
Shen Xinguang, a native of Shanghai, was the first Chinese to engage in the new style of music education in modern China. Born into a merchant's family, he studied in Japan in 1902 and returned to China in 1903, where he taught at the elementary school attached to the Nanyang Public School, offering the earliest singing lessons in China, and in 1904, he published "School Singing Collection", which pioneered the form of "School Songs". School songs were the earliest songs written in Western scales, and became the beginning of modern music history. Shanghai's Buben Girls' School, Nanyang Middle School and other schools, as well as the Shanghai Society and other organizations have invited Shen Xinguong guidance singing. After the publication of Shen Xinguong's School Singing Collection, many schools offered music and song classes, and through the successive publication of music textbooks, the initial knowledge of music was widely popularized. Against this background, the Zao Ding Charter, published in 1907, stipulated that music class was a compulsory subject in elementary school. Therefore, Li Shutong once praised Shen Xinguong as "the first person who opened the music world in our country" ②.
Another Shanghainese, Zeng Zhiman, also contributed greatly to the spread of Western music in modern China. Zeng Zhiman was the son of a famous Shanghai merchant, Zeng Cast, who went to Japan in 1901 to study. In Japan, he participated in the "Music Seminar" initiated by Shen Xin Gong. In Japan, he participated in the "Music Seminar" initiated by Shen Xinguo and published "Theory of Music Education" in Xinmin Congbao, which was the earliest systematic exposition of modern music education in China, and returned to China in 1907, when he and Gao Yanwei, Feng Yaxiong and others founded the "Summer Music Seminar" in Shanghai. In 1908, Zeng Zhiyan followed his father's order and founded the Shanghai Poor Children's Home, which set up a music department and the Poor Children's Home Orchestra, which was the first Western-style orchestra in modern China. This was the first Western-style orchestra in modern China. Although the Music Department ceased to operate in 1912, and the Poor Children's Home ended around 1921, it was the first attempt by the Chinese to establish a Western-style orchestra. It can be said that the new style of music education in China started in Shanghai and gradually spread to the whole country.
II. Musical Life in the Concession and the Cultivation of Musical Talents in Modern China
Since the main impetus and content of the formation of music in modern China were the importation and dissemination of Western musical concepts and techniques as well as the remodeling of traditional Chinese music according to Western music, the overseas students became the earliest pioneers of the formation of modern music in China. However, the popularization and establishment of new music still depended on the emergence of local musicians and a regular consumer and appreciation market in China. Due to its unique historical opportunity and cultural tradition in modern China, Shanghai was the first place where a wide consumer market for modern music was formed and a large number of musical talents emerged, providing a good breeding ground for the formation of modern Chinese music. And tracing back to the roots, and the Shanghai Concession, especially the public **** Concession Bureau of Public Works band has a close relationship.
1. Musical Life in the Concession and the Cultivation of the Modern Music Consumption Market in Shanghai
According to the relevant provisions of the Treaty of Nanjing, Shanghai was opened as a trading port in 1843, and at that time a piece of land for foreign merchants to reside outside the county of Shanghai was delineated, which became the origin of the Shanghai Concession. Later on, the Concession continued to expand and set up its own municipal organizations, and gradually developed into a "country within a country" on Chinese territory, which became the best witness to the invasion of China by foreign powers. However, it also brought some by-products - it provided a place for the Chinese public to enjoy the charm of Western music. In order to enrich their spare time, foreign merchants in the Concession gradually formed some cultural and entertainment organizations. As early as 1850, the British set up an amateur theatrical troupe, which needed musical accompaniment for its performances, and organized a band, which gradually developed into the Shanghai Gong*** Band in 1879, and in 1881, the Gong*** Band was taken over by the Bureau of Public Works of the British Concession Municipal Administration, which set up the Music Committee of the Bureau of Public Works. 1907 saw the expansion of the brass band into an orchestra, and the band hired the famous Italian musician Mei Baiqi as its conductor in 1919. After 1919, the orchestra hired the famous Italian musician Mei Baiqi as the conductor and recruited many famous musicians from Europe, ushering in its glorious period and gradually ushering in the reputation of "the first oriental" orchestra. 1922, the band was renamed Shanghai Ministry of Public Works Bureau Orchestra. At that time, the Bureau of Public Works gave the orchestra an annual budget of 280,000 taels. The orchestra held regular concerts on Sundays from October to May every year. At first, the orchestra performed mainly in the concert hall of the City Hall, which was limited to foreign audiences. However, according to the research of British scholar Bickers, since 1928, the Shanghai Public Works Bureau Band gradually focused on serving the Chinese residents. The band director's "annual reports" increasingly noted the presence of Chinese audiences. The band director's "Annual Reports" increasingly noted the attendance of Chinese audiences and began to advertise performances in Chinese-language newspapers. "In 1928, 3/4 of the audience was Chinese, and in 1930 Chinese interest was reported to be very high. 20% of the audience at the band's indoor performances in 1931 was Chinese, and the percentage has steadily risen since then." So much so that by 1933, at the Shanghai Works Bureau Orchestra and Wind Band Committee, it was noted that Chinese taxpayers wanted the Works Bureau to continue to fund the band because of its high cultural value in the city. And, after 1928, Chinese began to be absorbed into the M.I.B.'s music committee.2
The Shanghai Bureau of Public Works Band played chamber concerts inside the Bureau of Public Works Administration Building until 1930.
In 1929, the building was sold to a developer, and the Shanghai Bureau of Public Works Band moved into the Daguangming Cinema, Shanghai's commercial and public ****space, and then later relocated to the Lanshin Grand Theater. "At City Hall, the Shanghai Bureau of Public Works Band seemed to be merely a cultural appendage of the Bureau of Public Works, serving only the expatriate community. And throughout the Shanghai entertainment scene, the orchestra became an increasingly important cultural asset for the city." (3) At the same time the orchestra moved from indoors to the open air, and in the summer the orchestra would hold open-air concerts, playing on stages in Zhaofeng Park (now Zhongshan Park), French Park (now Fuxing Park), and the Bund Park (now Huangpu Park).4 After 1928, with the availability of Chinese access to public ****entertainment venues in the Public***** Concession, there were undoubtedly more opportunities for Chinese audiences to view Western music.
Through the above account, it can be seen that although the musical life in the Concession was at first confined to the expatriate community, with the development of the situation, the Chinese audience gradually increased, and it can be said that a group of consumers of Western music was gradually formed among the Chinese. The formation and expansion of this consumer group undoubtedly provided a good foundation and atmosphere for the growth of Chinese musical talent.
2. Influence of the Bureau of Industry and Commerce Band on the National Conservatory of Music
For the development of modern music in China, the creation of the Chinese people's own music academy as an institution for research and training of talents was undoubtedly an important move. In the fall of 1916, Peking University established a student society called "Peking University Music Ensemble", which was renamed "Peking University Concert" in the winter of the same year, and was renamed "Peking University Music Theory Research Institute" in 1918. In 1918, it was renamed the "Peking University Music Theory Research Society", and in 1922, the Music Training Institute attached to Peking University was established on the basis of the "Music Theory Research Society", which became the first modern music professional education institution in China. Subsequently, Beijing Women's Higher Normal School, Beijing Art College and other colleges and universities set up music departments and sections, which seemed to indicate that Beijing would become the center of modern music education in China. However, Beijing under the rule of the Beiyang government was not a good soil for the growth of new music in China, and in July 1927 the Minister of Education Liu Zhe, believing that "music is an obstacle to education and has nothing to do with the hearts and minds of the society," ordered the closure of all the music departments of Peking University, the Women's Higher Teachers' Normal University, and the College of Fine Arts, and only the music department of the Women's Normal University was retained as a result of the struggle of the faculty and students. After a struggle between teachers and students, only the music department of the Women's Normal University was preserved. The National Conservatory of Music, China's first music college, was established in the southern city of Shanghai shortly thereafter.
The founding of the National Conservatory of Music was inseparable from the efforts of Xiao Youmei, who was originally a leader of the music education community in Beijing, and who in June 1927 moved south to Shanghai. According to Tan Lizhen's recollection, he resigned from his job in the music department of the Beijing school. On the one hand, he felt that the level of the teachers was low and did not fit in with his own ideas, and on the other hand, because of the abundance of talent in Shanghai and the presence of foreign musicians, he came to Shanghai himself1. Xu Buzeng went further and believed that the reason why the National Conservatory of Music was located in Shanghai was due to the existence of the Shanghai Ministry of Public Works Bureau Orchestra.
On November 27, 1927, China's first music school, the National Conservatory of Music (in 1929, it became the Shanghai Music College) was founded in Shanghai. The growth of the National Conservatory of Music was closely related to the influence of the Kobo Band. First of all, in addition to returning students, the National Conservatory of Music had long recruited teachers and research guides from the Shanghai Ministry of Industry Bureau Band. At the time of its founding, foreign teachers made up half of its ten music faculty members, most of whom were members of the Bureau of Industry Band; in 1929, Boris Zakharov became head of the piano department, while Fu Hua, a longtime bandleader, remained head of the violin department. There were also cellist Shevkov, and refugee musicians such as Fleisskel and Volzhin Yoyakin who also taught here. The contribution of these foreign teachers to the teaching at the National Conservatory was enormous. For example, Zakharov taught piano in Shanghai until his death in 1943. So much so that some scholars say that there is hardly a single first-generation pianist or musician in China who has not taken piano lessons from him.
Secondly, the band and the Conservatory, though not organizationally linked, worked very closely together. The band offered discounted tickets to students at the Conservatory, performed concerts with the Chinese Philharmonic Society, and gradually began to perform works by Chinese musicians and to include Chinese players. 1929 saw the band's first concert with the Chinese soloist Ma Sicong, and 1930 saw the first performance of a symphonic work written by a Chinese composer, Huang Zi's In 1931 Huang Zi, a teacher at the Shanghai Institute of Music, was elected a member of the Music Membership Committee of the Bureau of Public Works; in 1927 the Band of the Bureau of Public Works asked a Chinese musician, Tan Lizhen, to replace a member who was on vacation; and in 1935, five Chinese first participated in the performance of the Band of the Bureau of Public Works as trainees. Thereafter, students from the National College of Music performed more and more frequently in the Shanghai MAB Band.2 During this period (1934-1945), the Chinese band performed in the Shanghai MAB Band for the first time. During this period (1934-1942), Chinese continued to join the band, and in 1938, four Chinese, Tan Lizhen, Huang Yijun, Chen Yixin and Xu Weilin, officially became members of the Shanghai Bureau of Public Works Band. By 1941 the number of Chinese in the orchestra had reached five iii. Chinese soloists also performed frequently, such as pianists Shen Yaqin, Li Weining and Wu Leyi, violinist Wang Renyi, and singers Huang Youkui, Hu Ran, Zhao Meibe, and Si Yigui in the 1930s.4 In 1937, Ying Shangneng was a member of the Shanghai Ministry of Public Works Bureau Band. Ying Shangneng pointed out in 1937, "For the young generation of aspiring musicians in Shanghai, to play or sing with the orchestra is their greatest success." ⑤ As he put it, performances did not always bring economic benefits, but they provided opportunities to listen, watch, and play that were not available anywhere else in China. Not only does the Bureau of Public Works Band have historical merit, but as far as the institution is concerned, it was also the predecessor of today's Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.
3. The gathering of musical masters and the cultivation of Chinese musical talents.
Shanghai, due to its unique historical chance, became a place where international music masters gathered in modern China, which provided a rare and good opportunity for the cultivation of Chinese modern music talents. First of all, the Bureau of Industry bands brought to China such musical masters as Burke, Mei Baiqi and Fu Hua, who would never have lived in this country without the bands. In addition, Shanghai's international status made it a haven for refugees. After the Russian October Revolution, a large number of Russian musicians went into exile in Shanghai. After the outbreak of World War II, numerous Jewish musicians went into exile in Shanghai. They either served as members of orchestras, became private music teachers, faculty members of the National Conservatory of Music, or all three. For example, there were as many as eighteen private music schools set up by Russian expatriates after 19246 . This provided Chinese students with the opportunity to learn from these masters, and although many did not become teachers at the National Music Academy, the prevalence of tutoring made it possible. For example, from 1943 until his death in l946, Mei Baiqi personally taught Bo Cong, Fu Hua mentored Dai Zuilun, who later became director of the Conservatory, Walter Joachim taught Szeto Zhiwen, and Fleischmann taught Ding Shande, Sang Tong, and Qu Xixian.
Shanghai's favorable musical atmosphere and the presence of high-level orchestras also attracted a large number of famous musicians to make Shanghai a stop on their global tours. From the 1920s to the 1930s, world-famous musicians visited Shanghai, such as violinists F. Kreisler, Joseph Szigeti, Jascha Heifetz, and Din Thiebaud, and pianists Artur Rubinstein and B. Moyevich1. The visits of international musicians to Shanghai have undoubtedly opened up the horizons of Chinese musicians. For example, it is recorded that Li Jinhui listened to symphonic music in Shanghai as if it were a "lesson", and read the program of the day's concert of the Orchestra of the Bureau of Public Works, which appeared in the newspaper "The Declaration", before going to the concert. From 1920 to 1929, he went to the concerts every Friday, rain or shine, without interruption for eight years. For the performances of the opera and dance troupes that came to China at that time, such as the opera and light opera performed by the opera troupe from Milan, the large-scale dance dramas and various dances performed by the Danis-Shawn Dance Troupe, the opera and dance dramas performed by the Russians in Shanghai, and the performances of the Duncan Dance Troupe and Takarazuka Dance Troupe that came to China from Europe, America and Japan, he tried his best to find a way to attend the performances of them. Performances, he was trying to find an opportunity to observe, even if the tickets for observation, "each ticket is sold for ten dollars, not easy to raise", but also do not hesitate to ②.
The large number of music masters gathered in Shanghai provided Chinese musicians with the opportunity to be taught in person, and the touring performances of famous musicians provided Chinese musicians with the possibility of observing and watching, which were undoubtedly rare opportunities for Chinese musicians to rapidly grow and improve their skills, and were unparalleled in any other city in China at that time.
Three: Urban consumerism and the growth of popular music
The ancestors of popular music were jazz and rock 'n' roll, which originated in the U.S. In the 20th century, popular music grew rapidly around the world, and today it has become an integral part of global music culture. China's modern music is not only a process of spreading and rooting of Western refined music in China, but also includes the emergence of China's modern popular music. In this process, Shanghai is not only the cradle of modern Chinese elegant music, but also the birthplace of modern popular music. Although there are not many studies on popular music, and the phasing is not entirely consistent, music history researchers generally recognize that the popular songs of the 1980s are closely related to those of the 1920s and 1940s. At that time, Lai Jinhui wrote a number of songs catering to the public's taste, such as "Hairy Rain" and "Special Express", which were composed in Shanghai in the late 1920s under the name of "Time Songs", marking the emergence of Chinese pop music in the 20th century. The first generation of Chinese pop music composers and singers, represented by Lai Kam Fai and his "Mingyue Song and Dance Troupe", emerged during this period. Therefore, researchers refer to this first phase of popular music as the "Lai Jinhui Era" (3). The so-called "Lai Jinhui Era" can also be called the "Shanghai Era", because Lai Jinhui's whole activity was mainly in Shanghai, and the prosperity of pop music was closely related to the characteristics of Shanghai, which was the only place that could nurture the prosperity of the first pop music.
So why would it be Shanghai that gave birth to modern Chinese pop music? This is to find the reason from the unique history and cultural personality of the city of Shanghai. Some scholars have pointed out that the rapid development of popular music in the 20th century was the result of a combination of factors, such as the social-historical and cultural background of the 20th century, the development of modern science and technology, commercial hype, and the psychological needs of modern people4. These happen to have good soil in Shanghai.
First of all, due to Shanghai's special historical chances and cultural traditions, it has a very positive and open attitude in choosing and accepting foreign cultures, and this cultural tradition is called "Shanghai culture". This cultural tradition is known as "Shanghai culture", which is characterized by openness, flexibility, diversity and tolerance.5 This provides a cultural and psychological foundation for Shanghai to accept and accommodate the new form of popular music. In addition, the economic prosperity of the metropolis contributed to the flourishing of urban popular culture, which also provided and expanded the popular space for popular music. Shanghai at that time was undoubtedly the most prosperous city in China's modern entertainment industry, with numerous restaurants, bars, cafes, nightclubs and other service industries and entertainment venues, which provided a living space for the development of popular music.
Secondly, the emergence of commercial speculation and modern media greatly accelerated the spread of popular music. Shanghai is a commercial city, and any form of culture can't avoid the coloring of commerce. At the same time, Shanghai was the most modernized city in China at that time, and many modern forms of entertainment and consumption were most popular only in Shanghai, such as movies, records and radio stations. Shanghai in the 1930s was the center of the national record industry, the center of radio broadcasting, and the center of the film industry. The interaction of these three made popular music widely available.
Records and phonographs were introduced to Shanghai in the early 1900s, and by the 1930s, Shanghai had gradually developed into the center of China's record industry, with the largest and strongest number of record companies in the country, producing a large number of richly detailed records. At the beginning, records were still mainly printed with traditional Chinese operas. However, in the 1930s, new pop songs became popular among the public and soon became an important part of the record industry. 1928, "Hairy Rain", composed by Lai Kam Fai and sung by Lai Ming Fai, was recorded by Bai Dai and spread rapidly in the society. Some famous singers were born. Some powerful enterprises competed to record for the stars, and from then on, the recording of pop songs became the main business of each company. For example, Baidai launched the "Star Collection" to record pop songs for the most popular movie stars, including Hu Die, Chen Yumei, Lai Minghui, Wang Renmei, Li Lilian, Xia Peizhen, Hu Shan, Tan Ying, Chen Yanyan, Lili Lai, and Yan Yuexian, etc. In order to get the singers to record, all the big companies had to record for them. In order to get the singers to record, the companies "customized" the songs for them and paid them well, for example, Baidai once gave Zhou Xuan 6% of the royalties. Some young female singers earned as much as 20 to 30 dollars a month, making them the envy of the world. In the 1930s and 1940s, companies recorded a large number of pop songs. According to the statistics of the old record template catalog registered by the China Record Factory in 1964, among the records of popular songs made by Bai Dai, Li Ge, Harmony, Gao Ting, and Shengli, Zhou Xuan sang the most, with more than 150 records, Bai Hong had 125, Yao Li had 117, Gong Qiuxia had 67, Wang Renmei had 62, and there were also Bai Guang, Li Lihua, Li Lilian, Li Xianglan, Ouyang Feiying, Wu Yingyin, Zhang Lu, Li Li Li, Yan Hua, Li Lili, Li Lili, Li Lili, and Li Lili, as well as other female singers. There are also recordings by Bai Guang, Li Lihua, Li Lilian, Li Xianglan, Ouyang Feiying, Wu Yingyin, Zhang Lu, Li Lili, Yan Hua, Mei Xi, etc.1
Besides the recording industry, broadcasting also expanded the channels for popular music to spread, opening up a whole new market for it. The boom in radio stations led to the gradual popularization of radio among middle-class citizens, and more and more people began to enjoy popular music from the radio.
In the 1930s, the development of Shanghai's movie industry, especially talkies, contributed to the boom of popular music. 1931 saw the premiere of the first Chinese talkie, Red Peony, and the beginning of the boom of Chinese feature films in the 1930s. Movies needed soundtracks and interludes, which provided a new market for popular music to be composed and performed. The charm of the movies made the theme songs and interludes in them popular and popular. Originally, pop songs were mainly performed in dance halls, bars and nightclubs, while talkies expanded new development space for singers. Some members of song and dance troupes and singing clubs that used to sing pop songs and perform songs and dances entered the movie industry. For example, Wang Renmei and Lili Lili, who had been performing in Lai Jinhui's China Song and Dance Troupe and Mingyue Song and Dance Club, became two of the "Four Famous Dancers" in the 1930s at Lianhua Pictures; Zhou Xuan, before entering the movie industry, had been in the Mingyue Song and Dance Club, Crescent Opera Club and Xinhua Opera Club, and had already been a popular singing star. Others, such as Bai Hong, Bai Guang, Gong Qiuxia, etc., were also in the position of popular singers into the screen. Singers from the movie, continue to maintain the singing career, and often sing the starring film interludes, songs through the film and spread, the film is also due to the popularity of the song and more hot. As a result, some movie stars who were not originally singers also started to record, such as Hu Die, Chen Yanyan, Chen Yumei, Li Lilian, Xia Peizhen, Hu Shan, Tan Ying, and Yan Yuexian, etc.2 Whether it was a movie star who made a record or a movie star who made a record, it was a movie star who made a record. Whether it was a movie star who made a record or a singer who made a movie, the result was that both the movie and the record were equally loved by admirers. The impetus given to popular music by the emerging entertainment tool of the movie was immense. As Wang Yuhua said, "From the end of the 1920s, the development of Chinese urban song and dance music merged with that of Chinese movie music, especially movie songs, and became the main body of Chinese popular music for entertainment purposes. It is clear that the movie was a promotion for popular music at that time.
All in all, due to the strong commercial atmosphere in Shanghai, with a better market operation mechanism, and strongly supported by new entertainment media such as record companies, radio stations, and talkies, the momentum of the development of popular songs was extremely rapid, forming the first wave of modern Chinese popular music.
Thirdly, the huge citizen class provided the soil for the popularity of popular music. Popular music is characterized by its close proximity to real life, its amorous nature, its concise and complete format, its unconventional singing style, its emphasis on "self-feeling", its mass performance style, and its intensified exchanges.1 All of these are in line with the aesthetic demands of the modern urban citizen class. Most of the "family love songs" such as "Hairy Rain" express the love between a man and a woman, and their lyrics, melodies, and styles are loved by the public. Shanghai was the largest city in China at that time, with a large population of citizens, which provided a good soil for the popularity of popular music catering to the tastes of modern urban life.
Fourthly, many progressive or serious musicians in Shanghai in the 1930s and 1940s adopted a more positive attitude towards the creation of popular music. In addition to the extremely famous pop music composers such as Lai Kam Fai, Lai Kam Kwong, Yao Min, and Yan Hua, there were also "Fisherman's Song" and "Yan Yan Song" written by Ren Spectrum, "Early Morning Music" and "When Will You Come Again" composed by Liu Xue'an, and "The Singing Maiden at the End of the World", "The Song of the Four Seasons", and "Autumn Water and the Eyes of the People" composed by He Lu'ding, all of which were classical pop music works that were praised for a short time in Shanghai in the 1930s.
Fourth, there was a lot of progressive or serious musicians in Shanghai in the 30s and 40s, and they also adopted a more positive attitude towards pop music.
Four Concluding Remarks
Because of its superior geographical location and unique historical chances, modern Shanghai has developed from a small county into the largest metropolis in China, and has also become one of the economic, political and cultural centers of China. Shanghai's position in the formation of modern Chinese culture is important, not only as a window for the spread of Western culture to China, but also as a major town for the formation of new culture in modern China. The role of Shanghai in the formation of modern Chinese music culture described in this paper is only one aspect of Shanghai's contribution to modern Chinese culture.
In a nutshell, due to its geographical location along the river and the sea, and the social pattern of Chinese and foreigners living together, Shanghai formed a cultural tradition of daring to be the first, and thus became the initial stage for the importation of Western music into China and the testing ground for the new style of music education; and due to the existence of foreign tenements, in particular the existence of the orchestra of the Bureau of Industry and Commerce, it provided a valuable opportunity for the Chinese people to directly experience and learn Western music; The existence of a large civic class and a strong commercial atmosphere, and the flourishing of modernized media also gave birth to the first generation of Chinese popular music.
Of course, with the beginning of the Anti-Japanese War, a new content of music emerged in China, and although Shanghai, as an isolated island, still maintained a period of prosperity, its status as a center of music declined as it was detached from the main battlefield of the nation. By the time the People's Republic of China was established, Shanghai's influence in music took another turn for the worse. This will be the subject of a separate examination.