Rock in China. Thesis. Korchuganova

Ðàçìåùåíî íà http://www.allbest.ru/

56

Ðàçìåùåíî íà http://www.allbest.ru/

Table of content

Introduction

Chapter 1. The history of Chinese rock music

1.1 Music in Chinese society: short overview

1.2 The Open Door Policy: new policy and new music

1.3 Yaogun - Chinese rock'n'roll

1.4 How much Chinese is in Chinese rock

Conclusion for the 1^st Chapter

Chapter 2. Official attitude towards changes in youth culture and spread of rock-music in China

2.1 Chinese youth culture in 1980s' and the attitude of the government to it

2.2 Democracy Movement and Yaogun

2.3 A turning point of 1989: Tiananmen Massacre and its influence on Chinese rock

Conclusion for the 2^nd Chapter

Chapter 3. The measure of American and European influence on Chinese rock: the cases studies of Cui Jian, Tang Dynasty and Black Panther

3.1 Tang Dynasty and Black Panther - how much Chinese is in Chinese heavy-metal

3.1.1 Tang Dynasty and Black Panther, Chinese heavy metal bands

3.1.2 Comparative visual analysis of music videos “A Dream Return to Tang Dynasty” by Tang Dynasty and “Shame” by Black Panther

3.2 Comparative analysis of Bob Dylan's “The Times They Are A-changin'” and Cui Jian's “Nothing To My Name”

Conclusion for the 3^rd Chapter

Conclusion

Bibliography

Appendix A. Interview with Wang Xiaofang, Cobra, drummer and vocals

Appendix B. Interview with Yu Weimin, drummer

Appendix C. “The Times They Are A-changin' lyrics”. Bob Dylan. (1964)

Appendix D. “Nothing to My Name” lyrics. Cui Jian. (1986)

Appendix E. Photo materials

 Introduction

The topic of the master's thesis is “The American and European Influence on Chinese Rock Music and its Sociopolitical Aspects in the Middle 80s'”. This topic was chosen because the author found it's interesting as well as important to trace the measure of the American and European influence on Chinese rock and was it important brunch of art in Chinese society in the middle 1980s' or not. Further in the text the term “Western” is used as it is used in literature but at the same time we should remember that geographical division on “The West” and “The East” is not relevant for China that has America on the East.

The rationale of the research comes from the statement that music has important place in society and Chinese society is not exclusion. It's necessary to understand how it can influence on people's minds and the example of rock in the second half of the 1980s' in China is a good example. It was written a lot about the nature of Yaogun, its relationship with government but the extent of influence is under research in the first time. The result of the study will show the extent of the recipiency of Chinese culture towards Western influences in the result of changes in the society in the 1980s'. Hence, the first aspect of the research is historico-cultural. The question of openness of one culture to another always has actuality. With the changes of economy society changed too and student activism of second half of the 1980s' in China proves this idea. The second aspect is socio-political and the author describes the relations between Chinese government and new phenomena in youth culture and tries to find any correlations between Democratic Movement and emergence of Yaogun in the second half of the 1980s'. Rock music was one of the symbols of protest in North America and Europe in the 1960s' and the question is did Yaogun have the same significance in Chinese society in the 1980s' or not?

The object of the research is changed Chinese society in the 1980s' and its cultural and sociopolitical spheres. The subject of the study is Yaogun, its relationship with government and ties with Democratic Movement.

The hypothesis of the study is that it was a certain extent of American and European influence on Chinese rock, which developed at independent music genre. As for sociopolitical aspect, the author assumes that the spread of Western ideas influenced on Chinese society in the second half of the 1980s' and Yaogun had the same importance for Chinese society as rock had in North America and Europe of the 1960s'.

To prove or disprove the assumptions of this hypothesis, the research has following goal: to learn out, first how much Chinese rock, Yaogun, was inspired by foreign music, and second, did it have the same weight in sociopolitical sphere in second half 1980s' as rock in America and Europe in the 1960s'?

To reach this goal, the research has following tasks:

1) To look at the historical and sociopolitical circumstances of emergence of Yaougun;

2) To know what was the reaction of the government to the spread of Western culture and Chinese rock-n-roll;

3) To learn out how much Chinese rock musician were inspired by American and European precursors on the example of such heavy metal bands Tang Dynasty and Black Panther and Cui Jian as well as sociopolitical fulfillment of their songs.

The chronological boarders of the research are the 1980s' years of the 20^th century. The most important place in the research has the middle of the 1980s' and second half of the decade, which is obvious from the topic, and events aftermath, till the year of 1993. To describe the process of changes in Chinese society, the author starts from the end the 1970s' - beginning 1980s' and in order to show the picture deeper, the author makes reviews from the ancient times in the first chapter.

The geographical boarder of the research is Peoples' Republic of China, and more specifically, the city of Beijing where Chinese rock music emerged.

This research is an interdisciplinary one. It has its place between culturology, musicology, history and international relations studies.

The theoretical framework of the research.

The author is going to explain the whole situation on the basis of the theory of postmodernism. Music of postmodernism can be characterized as a mix of different genres and also by wide-spread usage of new technologies. Postmodern music is not only a tool for self-expression as it was before; it is a part of the industry of entertainment and consumption of the products of the culture. At the same time, it is ironical because irony is one of the main features of postmodernism. Postmodernity doesn't distinguish “high” and “law” cultures. Jonathan Kramer, one of the main theorists of postmodern music, enumerates “16 characteristics of postmodern music, by which I mean music that is understood in a postmodern manner, or that calls forth postmodern listening strategies, or that provides postmodern listening experiences, or that exhibits postmodern compositional practices” [40, p. 16]. The author assumes that Chinese rock is a mix of Western and national indigenous traditions. In the 1980s' young musicians began to combine western instruments and way of stage behavior with the musical and poetic traditions of China. This combination of different traditions, just as usage of new technologies is one of the features of postmodern music too.

Also methods of post structuralism are used for the analysis of song lyrics. One of the main methodic of post structuralism is narrative analysis and deconstruction of contradictions of the meanings in the text by a critic. There is no unique true interpretation of the text; it should always be a place for the skepticism and query [59, p. 37]. Also, the circumstances the text was written in are very important and this statement is used in further work. The content analysis is a type of narrative analysis that is used to conduct comparison of the lyrics of songs by Bob Dylan and Cui Jian.

The correlation between Yaogun, Chinese rock and Democracy Movement can be explained with the help of theory on high and low context cultures by Edward Hall. He dedicated two books, “The Hidden Dimension” and “Silent Language” to the question, how people of different cultures communicate with each other. People of low context culture have a good feeling of time and space, but they have to speak out their ideas in order to be heard. For example, American and German are low context culture. In high context culture, Russian and Chinese, words are often omitted because people understand the meaning from the context (Hall, 1966). This difference is crucial as the author wants to explain the place of rock music in Democracy Movement in China of the 1980s' and how did it get this place. Moreover, this theory helps to describe the difference in performing the songs, which were anthems for social movements, by Bob Dylan and Cui Jian.

Methodology of the research. In order to conduct this study, a set of methods is used:

- Narrative Method to describe the history of Chinese rock;

- Genetic method to look at Chinese rock music in its evolution, from the first protorockers in 1980 to creation of new music style. Also the author looks at changing and very controversial relations of government and rockers;

- Method of comparative analysis: in order to trace the extent of the Western influence to compare two heavy metal bands Tang Dynasty and Black Panther and lyrics of Cui Jian and Bob Dylan;

- Method of visual analysis to analyze music videos “A Dream To Return To Tang Dynasty” by Tang Dynasty and “Shame” by Black Panther;

- Method of content analysis to analyze the content of lyrics of “Nothing To My Name” by Cui Jian and “The Times Are A-changin'” by Bob Dylan;

- Method of semiotic analysis to analyze the images, which was used in the lyrics and videos mentioned above.

The primary sources for the study are:

- Interviews with Wang Xiaofang, a drummer of first all-female punk band Cobra and Yu Weimin, a drummer who played in different bands conducted via Internet by the author;

- Official Internet sites of Chinese rock stars, as cuijian.com or tangchao.ent.163.com;

- Lyrics of the songs;

- Music video;

- Internet resources dedicated to rock music and musicians in Chinese language;

- Newspaper article in English-language periodic of the 1980s'.

The secondary sources for the research are the set of articles and books about Chinese rock that is described in more detail in literature review further, as well as literature about Chinese poetic and musical traditions and history, Democracy Movement, the significance of music in the society and the relationships between music and government.

This question always has been attractive for scholars. For example, Timothy Lane Brace dedicated a chapter of his PhD dissertation about popular music in common and Yaogun in particular. He wrote a chapter about popular music in China in the 1980s' and was the first who create a periodization of it. Jeroen de Kloet wrote a lot of articles about Chinese rock as a part of urban culture's postmodernist fulfillment. Hao Huang wrote about the relationship between Chinese rockers and the government. Andreas Steen wrote about the history of Yaogun and its evolution. Jonathan Matusitz analyzed the phenomenon of Chinese rock through semiotic perspective.

According to the tasks, the research consists of three parts, introduction, and conclusion, table of context, bibliography and appendixes.

- Chapter 1 is about the history of history of Chinese rock and circumstances of its emergence and tells if Yaogun indigenous form of art or not;

- Chapter 2 describes very controversial nature of relations between government and rock music starting from 1980 when it tried to fight with first evidence of emergence of rock music in China and spread of Western music to Post Tiananmen events;

- Chapter 3 is dedicated to two case studies. The first is comparative visual analysis of videos “A dream to return to Tang Dynasty” by Tang Dynasty and “Shame” by Black Panther. This case study proves the conclusions of the 1^st Chapter. The second case study is comparative analysis of “Nothing To My Name” by Cui Jian and “The times are a-changin'” by Bob Dylan. It describes the sociopolitical meaning of these songs and compares not only the meaning and literary devices the authors used but also historical context of their creation.

From my modest point of view, this study contributes a deeper understanding of the significance of Chinese rock in the 1980s' in cultural and sociopolitical context and the measure of American and European influence on it. The results of the research can be applicable in further studies and in education process. The novelty of the research is that at the first time the extent of the American and European influence on Chinese rock is tracked, and it made on the example of songs and music videos. Second, the attitude of the government towards Western culture and its implementations on Chinese land is showed in the dynamics from the start of the reforms.

Chapter 1. The history of Chinese rock music

This chapter is dedicated to the history of Chinese rock. It describes what is it, when it emerged and who the main artists of this music genre were. Before I start to talk about Chinese rock I need to tell why music is so important in society; what I mean by “rock music” and what Chinese music is.

So, music is a form of art that is a part of human's society as long as society exists. People want to create something, to express their feelings and thoughts, to share their ideas with the others and music is perfect for it. The combination of sound and silence, rhythm and melody tells a story that enthralls imagination. Music is very significant in socio-political sphere: it can be a tool of propaganda, a way to speak out the ideas and attitudes of a certain social group. “Music reflects and creates social conditions - including the factors that either facilitate or impede social change. It is powerful at the level of the social group because it facilitates communication which goes beyond words, enables meanings to be shared, and promotes the development and maintenance of individual, group, cultural and national identities” [24].

Rock music has a strong impact as on people's emotions on the individual level as on people's thought on the level of society. It emerged in 1950s' in the USA and the UK and has its roots in Afro-American music and rock'n'roll of the 1950s'. The “birthday” of rock is the year of 1954 when Elvis Presley had sessions at Sun Studios and Bill Haley released his song “Rock Around the Clock” [19, p. 1]. Rock music is deeply connected, first, with the youth culture and, second, with social movements, protest and rebellion [57, p.39]. Musically rock music is based on the sound of electric guitar, bass guitar, drums and sometimes keyboards [71]. It is and it was a part of youth culture, and a symbol of generation conflict, for example, in the 1960s' in Europe and North America. Young people were against racial discrimination, war in Vietnam, social inequity and “rock'n'roll lifestyle” was one of the way to demonstrate their attitude to the values of the older generation [56].

1.1 Music in Chinese society: short overview

Music was important part of Chinese society since ancient times. It has a close connection with ritual, which is one of the core Confucian concepts. According to the Confucian thought, it had a didactic role in the society. The aim of music is not only to entertain but also to teach, to show what is right and wrong. “Music in Confucianism is regarded as a device for self-cultivation, a vehicle of self-expression, a force of social stability, a political tool, and a medium of communion between man, nature and supernatural powers” [33]. According to Confucianism, music was one of six central arts that can educate people (Ji, 2008). “To the Chinese, music is never simply music, but it is something serving a greater purpose. Whether the purpose was for purification of the mind, or for motivating workers in their labors, or for increasing the knowledge about something, or to serve the society, the nation and greater political goals, Chinese music is never free from this ideological baggage” [28].

Music in China had a lot of forms: Chinese opera, minorities' music, folk music, imperial court music. Chinese met European music since missionaries and merchants came there (Law, Ho, 2012).

In the 20^th century, China faced a lot of changes and challenges. Music, which always reflects what is happening within the society, changed too. Shidaiqu, Chinese popular music appeared in Shanghai in 1920 - 1930s' was a mix of jazz, Hollywood ?lm songs, and popular Chinese urban ballads performed in the entertainment quarters, dance halls and nightclubs (Law, Ho, 2012).

Another music genre that reflected the situation in Chinese society, were patriotic and anti-war songs. “War against Japan (1937-1945) and the 4-year Civil War (1945-1949) gave an impulse to appearance of anti-war and patriotic songs with Western diatonic melodies” [41, p. 504] With establishment of People's Republic of China music got new tasks that were proclaimed even earlier during Yan'an Conference on Literature and Art, when Mao Ze Dong said that “Literature and art are subordinate to politics but in their turn exert a great influence on politics” [20, p. 44]. Tongsu yinyue, music for the masses, which emerged in the early 1970s, should “serve the people“. It was a socialist art that combined plain folk melodies with Western orchestral accompaniment and traditional Chinese instruments (Huang, 2001). “The CCP adopted songs as a propaganda vehicle to ?ght against their two enemies, the Japanese and the Guomingdang--and, more important, to reshape people's mind. The CCP attacked American “cultural imperialism” and “the alleged toxicity of Western music via propaganda cartoons that juxtaposed ugly, drunken, and lecherous Americans with jazz and dance halls” [42, p. 404]. Chinese government tried to fight with everything that was out of the main line of the Party at that time, and music was one of the spheres of this ideological fight. Ironically, musicians used Western instruments while performing music that was used in anti-Western propaganda.

1.2 The Open Door Policy: new policy and new music

The end of 1970s' brought to China new changes. The Open Door Policy launched by Deng Xiaoping marked a shift from control to market economy and more openness to other countries in economic sense. Establishment of private business, foreign investment and trade and more openness to foreign culture were promoted by reforms (Law, Ho, 2012). Of course, changes in economy influenced on culture and values (Law, Ho, 2009). Chinese music, with comparison with the previous period, got new tasks and ideas to serve. “By the 1980s, market forces converted state-owned music enterprises to `serve the people's money' (Wei Renminbi fuwu) with alternative pop music styles” [32, p. 2].

Opening of markets and thus, opening to technological innovations had a good impact to development of music. “New modern electronic appliances such as radios, cassette players, and television sets provided the necessary infrastructure that enabled the growing importance of popular music in China” [21, p. 231].

Another source for growing Chinese musical market was foreign investments from Polygram, JVC, and Rock Records from Taiwan. They were interested in it because it was the very beginning of industry of show-business in China and at that time it was perspective (Huang, 2001).

These reforms were like the open doors for new music genres. In the first middle of 1980s' the dominating music genre came abroad to mainland China was Cantopop originated in Hong Kong and Taiwan. “This music, known as Gangtaiyue typically had the following characteristics: smooth flowing melodies, usually without direct or obvious relationship with traditional Chinese melodic construction; a type of vocal production that was the "middle way" between Western full, ringing vocal style and the more nasal, pinched and higher pitched Chinese folksong style” [18, p. 137].

Chinese people got a chance to listen not only music not only from Taiwan and Hong Kong, but also European and American music. “Popular music--ranging from The Beatles to John Denver and from The Carpenters to Michael Jackson and Madonna--was among the forms of popular culture that have entered China since 1978, along with, for example, Telenovelas from Brazil, pop music from Taiwan, and cartoons from Japan” [21, p. 231]. Such bands as “Queensrÿche, King Crimson, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Rush, Guns `n' Roses, and Led Zeppelin were admired for their combination of instrumental brilliance and “hard” energy, which starkly contrasted with insipid contemporaneous mainland Chinese pop music” [18, p. 147] and had further influence on Chinese rock-music.

In the first half of 1980s' mainland Chinese musicians tried to copy Cantopop by performing lyric songs - shuqinggequ. They were characterized as yin rou - soft, feminine (Huang, 2003). From the second half of 1980s' the trend of imitation had evolved to distancing from light music. “During 1986-1990, a period of economic boom, mainland stars established more distinctive styles of jinge (energetic songs), which were characteristically Xibeifeng (Northwest Wind) emerged as an alternative to “soft” Gangtai music. By combining Western rock and roll instrumental accompaniment with Chinese northern folk-song melodies, a modern Chinese musical sensibility was explored in popular songwriting. A distinguishing feature was a hoarse vocal timbre suggesting rustic virility and sincerity; lyrics spoke of disappointment with limited life choices. This represented rock music's initial Chinese beachhead” [31, p. 185] Also Xibeifeng wasn't just an opposition to Gangtaiyue but also an attempt to come back to the cultural roots. “In some of the early Xibeifeng pieces the "roots seeking" led not so much to a sense of love and longing for one's hometown village (which could be interpreted as a kind of patriotism) but to a sense of alienation, loss and dissatisfaction (which could be interpreted as a kind of social criticism)” [18, p. 152] .

1.3 Yaogun - Chinese rock'n'roll

The next musical genre that appeared after Xibeifeng was Yaogunyue, Chinese rock'n'roll. It happened due to several reasons. “One such supposition is that China's emerging role in the global market carries with it an inevitable relaxation of social and political constraints. A second belief is that rock and roll rebellion, the subject of reification in the West, similarly applies to China. The third assumption, closely related to the second, is valorization of Chinese rockers as heroic nonconformists leading modern China towards “Western” globalization” [31, p. 183] As I've said earlier, one of the sources for inspiration for Chinese musicians was European and American music. It became possible because of spreading contacts between Chinese and foreigners, as a rule, exchange students who took tapes with Western music and share it with their Chinese friends (De Kloet, 2003). For example, a foreign student from Hungury Kassai Balazs and Madagascan guitarist Eddie Randriamampionona played with Cui Jian for a while [64]. Also Chinese who traveled abroad brought tapes with themselves [20, p. 30]. “A product of interactions between the foreign diplomatic community, foreign exchange students, and inquisitive Chinese university students, Yaogun yinyue began in Beijing in the mid-1980s. Mainland Chinese protorockers have admitted to early infatuations with mainstream heavy-metal bands favored by predominantly white and middle-class American overseas students, who interacted with Chinese youth” [31, p. 187].

Yaogun didn't emerge from nothing. The first rock band “Peking All-Stars” consisted only from foreigners lived in Beijing and gathered in 1979 and that played music in hotels, Beijing Foreign Languages Institute, embassies [69]. In the first middle of 1980s', there were founded several bands played covers of Western and Japanese songs. Group “Wan Li Ma Wang” that played covers of Western rock-songs was established in Beijing Second Foreign Language Institute in 1980. Wang Yong founded a band "Aris" in 1981 and they sang Japanese songs. In1982 Ding Wu sang in band called "Fu Chong Ji”. The band “Seven Plywood” was established. The seven members of this band with Cui Jian among them recorded an album of covers on rock-song and Chinese national songs. It is interesting, that at that time not only Chinese performed rock-music in China: foreigners were members of a band “Continent” [65]. I call the period from 1980 to 1985 a period of imitation when musicians just had met American and European rock and pop music and tried to copy it. The number of bands played covers of famous songs proves it. It was very difficult to get information about rock as well as instruments. Also, not so many people had a chance to listen to foreign music and meet with foreigners. As a rule, first protorockers were from Beijing, were students of big universities where exchange students came to study or students of music or art colleges.

A new stage began at 1986 when Cui Jian first came at the stage of Beijing Workers' Stadium and sang his most famous song “Nothing to My Name”. Cui Jian often may be called a “father” or even “grandfather” of Chinese rock. Cui was born in 1961 in musical family: his father was a professional trumpet player and mother was a dancer in Korean minority troop. In the age of 14 Cui Jian started to learn how to play trumpet and worked in Beijing Orchestra. Then he began to play rock music and left Orchestra [64]. Sometimes Cui Jian is considered as a representative of Xibeifeng, especially for his early songs. American researcher Hao Huang assumed that Cui Jian started as a writer of love songs that combined Xibeifeng with pop music in the middle 1980s' (Huang, 2001). He changed his sound and semantic content of his songs in the first album “Rock and Roll on the New Long March”, which was released in 1989. Timothy Brace described it as a sign of moods floating in the air at the time: “With the sound came a new ideology, as embedded in the rock mythology, which promises (bodily) freedom, masculinity, rebellion, and protest. The ideology of rock resonates closely with the perceived Zeitgeist of the 1980s, during which a ``cultural fever'' raged over urban China, questioning the con?nements of Chinese culture” [18, p. 176].

He combined Western way of performing music and Chinese musical tradition. He mixed up not only Chinese and Western approach to playing music but also used revolutionary images. It can be traced through the design of the cover of his album “Rock on Long March”. It is a reference to Mao's Great March of 1934 - 1935. He blinded himself with a red patch while performing his song “A Piece of Red Clothes” in the beginning of the 1990s' and this image was a critic on the government without words.

There two different opinions, when Cui Jian became popular. To Jeroen de Kloet's point of view, it happened just after performance of his most famous song in 1986. “Cui Jian came to fame in 1986 with his song ``I Have Nothing'' (yi wu suo you)--a song about a failed love affair, but widely read as a metaphor for the growing estrangement of Chinese youth from the political climate of China--he gave a popular sonic voice to this great cultural debate. His song became, quite unintended, one of the anthems of the student demonstrations in 1989” [21, p. 231]. Timothy Lane Brace assumes that it happened 3 years later: “Cui Jian shot to fame during the Tiananmen Square tragedy when his song, “Nothing to My Name,” Actually, “I have nothing” and “Nothing to my name” are different translations of the title of one song, Ò»ÎÞËùÓÐ (Yi Wu Suo You). became an anthem for students during the demonstrations” [18, p. 176]. To my mind, opinion of de Kloet is closer to reality because to the Tiananmen events Cui Jian was already well-known artist. Here is what on-line encyclopedia of Chinese rock tells: “In May 1986, at a Beijing concert commemorating the Year of World Peace, Cui Jian climbs onto the stage in peasant clothing and belts out his latest composition, "Nothing to My Nameý". As the song ends, a stunned audience erupts in standing ovation. Before long, young people all over China are banging out Cui Jian tunes on beat-up guitars in campus dormitories and coffeehouses” [74].

It wasn't that easy to be a rocker in China because of its social structure. “The musicians live outside the system of the danwei, or work unit, which allows them greater freedom, but offers none of the system's benefits, like housing and a guaranteed salary. In the beginning, most rock musicians lived at home practiced anywhere they could find, and spent whatever money they had on instruments and any rock tapes that were available” [52]. They could stay in danwei only if they had an official job at orchestras and troops [20, p. 78]. Also, it was very difficult to find information what is rock and how to play it. Musicians learnt everything by themselves and got knowledge from every source they met [1, 2]. In eighties, the practice of badai - transcribing music through repeating listening was widely spread and it was another way for people to learn the music [20, p. 73].

1.4 How much Chinese is in Chinese rock?

There is a question, how much Chinese was in Chinese rock'n'roll? Is it indigenous cultural form or a simply copy from the West? It quite obvious that Yaogun was inspired by American and European rock musicians, such as Led Zeppelin, U2, Sting and The Police, Pink Floyd, etc. [1, 2]. I think that during the first period, from 1980 to 1985 it was rather an imitation that creation of something new. But after 1986 when Yaogun came out to the big scene, a new period of creation of new music style started. It was a sort of confrontation between light and smooth music Gangtai from Hong Kong and Taiwan and rough music of North part of mainland China, as Xibeifeng as Yaogun (De Kloet, 2006). “Interestingly, too, Beijing rockers ``imitate'' Western rock aesthetics (rebellion and speci?c music scenes) in order to differentiate themselves from their Southern colleagues” [21, p. 250].

In my opinion, rockers of the second half of 1980s' took a form of rock music: guitar, bass and drum playing together, long hair and black colour dominating in clothes. If we look at the photos of 1980s' we will see typical rocker with Chinese face. At the same time, they filled this from with Chinese indigenous filling. They used Chinese traditional instruments and melodies, wrote songs in Chinese language. I am going to show it on the example of two most famous heavy-metal bands of China Tang Dynasty and Black Panther in the 3^rd Chapter. “Other Chinese rock bands have established their own style, combining Western rock and Chinese national styles. For example, He Yong's “Requiem March” ends with a Buddhist chant recited by a monk. The heavy metal band, Xin Qiji, sets a Sung dynasty song lyric (ci) “to wailing electric guitars.” Lao Wu, lead guitarist for the rock band Tang Dynasty, describes the use of traditional Chinese instruments and images in relation to cultural essentialism” [42, p. 405].

Culturally, Chinese rock is influenced by the Western music but has its own native features. Lao Wu, a bassist of metal band Tang Dynasty said: "We're going down two different roads at the same time, we are absorbing Western music, listening to Queensryche and King Crimson, reading new techniques in Guitar Player magazine. But we're also getting deeper and deeper into our own tradition. Rock is based on blues, and the blues isn't in our blood. We can imitate it, we can play it, but eventually we'll have to go back to the music that we grew up with, traditional Chinese music - folk music from all over China - and then come up with something that goes beyond all the boundaries" [35].

As a rule, rockers got a musical education; they learnt how to play traditional Chinese instruments. They used ancient Chinese music heritage in a varying degree. Cui Jian learnt how to play trumpet and was a member of Beijing Orchestra. Drummer of female punk band Cobra Wang Xiaofang played Yangqin, Chinese dulcimer [1]. “Many musicians studied in the beginning classical Western order Chinese instruments, such as e.g. Qin Qi, who started in the age of 13 with violin lessons, or Wang Yang, who already in the age of 9 played the Guzheng (finger board zither)” [54]. Some of them learnt by themselves, as drummer Yu Weimin [2] or members of Tang Dynasty Ding Wu and Lao Wu. A great passion for music and desire to invent a new sound pushed them forward. I assume that play rock instead of Chinese music wasn't as difficult for musicians as one may think. Rock and Chinese traditional music both are based on pentatonic, five notes scale [77].

The theory of postmodernism explains why it happened very well: in postmodern world everything is mixed up. This combination of different traditions, just as usage of new technologies is one of the features of postmodern music (Kramer, 2002). China occurred to be on a crossroad of its ancient music tradition and new genres that came to China with its opening in 1980.

One event divided the development of Chinese rock. It was Tiananmen Massacre in 1989. It is difficult to divide political and cultural consequences of suppression Tiananmen movement on yaogun and that's why it will be discussed in next chapter in more detail.

Conclusion for the 1^st Chapter

Music always was an important part of any society from the ancient time and Chinese society is not exclusion. For Confucianism, music is important due its didactic role in the society. Music reflects changes in the society and situation in 1980 in mainland China demonstrates it very bright - the Open Door Policy changed economy, society and culture as well. In comparison with previous period, when music should serve mass of people, peasant and workers, it got new fulfillment in 1980s'. Starting from this period, music can serve money and become a part of business. People got an access to foreign music from Gong Kong and Taiwan and from the West then. Such bands as U2, the Police, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Talking Heads had a strong impact on Chinese youth. The growing popularity of Cantopop gave an impulse for the development of mainland popular music in the 1980s' (Law, Ho, 2012). Hence, there were two steams of the influence to a new cultural landscape in China. The first steam, very tiny one, was music from Europe and America. I assume that not so many people could listen to it that time. Students of universities which had exchange programs, workers of embassies and businessmen took the music they listen to China and some of them shared it to Chinese friends. Also it was contraband of records from Hong Kong to mainland China [16]. The second steam was wider because more people have an access to it - Gangtaiyue, Cantopop, which was very popular in the first middle of the 1980s' in China.

Musicians started to play rock from the very beginning of 1980. First protorockers played cover version and number of people who played it was limited by students of universities with foreign exchange and music colleges. With the performance of Cui Jian in 1986 a new period started when Yaogun officially started. I define Chinese rock as music played Chinese musicians from the second part of 80s' in mainland China in mostly Chinese language. They combined Western form of rock - rock vocal, guitars and strong rhythm section with indigenous Chinese fulfillment.

As it demonstrated in the first chapter, it's rather difficult to divide culture from society. It is more difficult to divide society from the sphere of politics. Nevertheless, rather contradictive relationship between Yaogun and central government and its development will be discussed in the next chapter.

Chapter 2. Official attitude towards changes in youth culture and spread of rock-music in China

This chapter is about the relations between central government and rock music. In order to explain rather contradictive nature of these relations I will start from the changes in youth culture in early 1980s' and non-admission of them by the government. From the middle 1980s' a new stage began: rock music as well as new phenomena in youth culture was allowed and concert of foreign artist and mainland China rockers, TV and radio programs prove this statement. Also I look not only at changes at cultural sphere but also at socio-political one. The spread of liberal ideas led to the beginning of Democratic Movement in 1986-1987 and student activism. The question is any correlation between rock-music, which is a symbol of protest from 1960s' and people's demands for political changes in China in middle and the second half of the 1980s'? The aim of this part is to answer this question.

Music always was a sphere of art, which influences people's minds heavily. Control over masses is a thing that every government is very concerned about. For example, in Singapore government controls what sort of music should be in rotation on the radio. American censorship prohibits songs about drugs and violence towards women. Music was controlled by government in Soviet Union and it was only one company, named Melodiya that could produce and distribute music (Bernstein, Sekine, Weissman, 2013).

As it was described in the previous chapter government tried to control music that was a tool of propaganda during Mao's time. “Songs were controlled by the CCP and served to uphold state ideology. Communist China promoted a strong revolutionary orientation in the development of music as political propaganda” [41, p. 504]. Other genres of music, differ from Tongsu yinyue, common music, were not in favor. “Traditional Chinese music and Western music were both banned for carrying feudal and bourgeois messages, respectively, and Chinese composers and musicians were prohibited from researching either. Popular music was depicted as an inferior cultural form tainted by Western capitalist values and those Chinese who listened to American music or loved American commodities were deemed immoral. The musical repertoire during the Cultural Revolution was restricted to a very few songs, all of which were intended to increase popular enthusiasm for revolutionary ideology” [42, p. 404].

2.1 Chinese youth culture in 1980s' and the attitude of the government to it

The Open Door Policy led not only to the changes in economic sphere but also to new phenomena in social and cultural spheres. Business and education contacts with foreigners gave an impulse to the spread of American and European music in China.

I assume that not big amount of people had a chance to communicate with foreigners and listen to a foreign music. But at least it was possible. New type of time-spending emerged in the beginning of 1980s': it was discos, where young people could come and listen to music and dance. Obviously that such type of entertainment was new for youth and one can hardly imagine it during Mao's times. At the same time, officials didn't approve it. “The PRC authority is concerned about what it understands to be the moral pollution caused by popular music” [41, p. 510]. They didn't approve discos and there were precedents when young men were put in jail for several days for dancing. In some big cities dances and communication with foreigners were forbidden in order to stop “moral pollution” in 1980 (McNulty, 1980)

From the other hand, 1980 was a year when the very first rock concert of band from abroad happened in China. It was Japanese group Godiego with four Japanese and one American member. It was sponsored by Japanese companies and held place in Tianjin (St. Petersburg Times, 1980)

Professors of Peking University published a booklet “How to Distinguish Decadent Songs” in 1981 where was described why such genres as jazz, rock and disco are dangerous for listeners. Administration of several Beijing universities tried to manage what students listen to by obligate registration of their types (Wren, 1982). But at the same year Jean Michel Jarre, a French pioneer of electronic music had a concert in Beijing with 20 000 audience! (Ocala Star-Banner, 1891)

Long hair, tight trousers and interest in Western music - all this was an evidence of decline of morality of the young generation. “Rock was labeled and criticized by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as representing spiritual pollution from the West”[23, p. 235] In order to fight with it government started an “anti-spiritual pollution campaign” in October 1983. Deng Xiaoping made a speech on Second Plenary Session of the 12th CPC National Congress where he used the term “spiritual pollution” at the first time and said that art is in danger. Mass culture, which began to emerge in China in the beginning of the 1980s' were claimed as pornographic and controversial to socialist values. In particular rock music was treated as dangerous because it can pollute people minds by the ideas of rebellion and riot (Liu, 2014). But it was stopped in a few months because of a “fear a return to the xenophobia of the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution” [15].

The process of changes was very controversial. Ideology met economic benefits and this controversy showed that changes in economic sphere dropped behind changes in political one. State controlled music during the 1970s' but the 1980s' brought new rules. “Slowly but irreversibly, the state has changed from a monopolistic producer into a commissioner and regulator of a cultural market [26, p 10].

As I told in previous chapter, with the appearance of new music on Chinese cultural landscape, people tried to play this kind of music too. Several bands, which played covers on foreign songs gathered. In 1984 appeared the rock band Bu Dao Weng and it is remarkable that a work unit danwei helped musicians with the instruments (Steen, 1996). I assume that it shows a real shift in attitude towards rock music because danwei wouldn't help musicians without at least unofficial permission. But as it described above, in most cases rockers were out of the system of danwei and the case of Bu Dao Weng is rather exclusion than a rule.

Government understood that it cannot control outspread of Western culture among young people because the times had changed. From the beginning of the 1980s' rare foreign musicians came to China with concerts and this trend continued to grow in the second middle of the 1980s'. So, in 1985 the first concert of foreign superstars took place. It was British Wham! (Baum, 1985) This show was something people haven't seen before in China. The police tried to control the crowd and make them sit but people danced anyway (Lakeland Ledger, 1985). This concert had a strong impact on the Chinese youth because people saw what they only listen before.

A rock band from Europe performed in China for the first time in 1986. It was a band called Strax from Iceland. Official tried to control the behavior of the crowd: it was announced before the concert that all the forms of impolite behavior are prohibited as whistling and shouting, but it was ignored (Gainesville Sun, 1986). Also rock-music appeared in the rotation of radio stations. For example, rock was in a heavy rotation on commercial radio station of Guangzhou “Pearl River Economic Radio Station” (Gargan, 1987). The year of 1986 also marked a real breakthrough for the Chinese rock-music. It was the first time when Cui Jian appeared on the scene and sang his song “Nothing To My Name” on the concert at Beijing Workers' Stadium. Rock finally went out of underground and small clubs.

Words of General secretary Hu Yaoban illustrate how much official attitude towards rock had changed, who said: “What is wrong in rock'n'roll?” (Wilmington Morning Star, 1985) One of the reasons, why government tolerated Chinese rock-n-roll was an attempt to have domestic musicians versus foreign music, especially Cantopop [20, p. 53].

In the beginning, government didn't accept these changes and tried to fight with them but as it turned out, it couldn't do anything with the changes in youth culture. Chinese people got an access to new types of music: disco, rock, jazz from the West and Gantaiyue from the South. Young people had fun dancing at disco halls wearing strange clothes in eyes of older generations. In the very beginning of the 1980s' it was rather dangerous for them because such behavior as well as friendship with foreigner was condemned by officials. Anyway, even Anti-Spiritual campaign of 1983 couldn't stop it and governmental attitude towards Western culture became more tolerable. During the decade, musicians came to China with concerts - it brought money. Also, rock music appeared in the rotation of radio stations.

2.2 Democracy Movement and Yaogun

All the events described in the previous paragraph are evidences that official position towards rock-music changed. Live performances, TV and radio programs show that climate had changed in China. It was really so, and not only in socio-cultural sphere but also in the sphere of politics. Democratic Movement bloomed in the second half of the 1980s'. 1986 was a remarkable year not only for Yaogun, but also for Chinese society - it was a year of the beginning student activism in Anhui province that spread over the country. Astrophysicist Fang Lizhi introduced to students ideas of democracy and inspired the movement (Shell, 1988). Actually, pro-democratic moods appeared in 1978, when people put their ideas on Democracy Wall in Beijing. This movement existed till 1981 (Paltemaa, 2007). People who participated in the movement wanted officials to see that Chinese society needs further reforms “which substitute the deliberate rule of law for the arbitrary rule of men, not as alternative to socialism necessarily, so as to achieve a far more meaningful level of government-to-citizen accountability” [58, p. 332]. Students “demanded more rights, liberties and welfare” [30, p. 75] From the first glance, ties between Democratic Movement and Yaogun are not obvious, but Wu'er Kaixi, the student leader said in 1989 that “Yaogun influenced students' ideas more than any of the theories of aging intellectuals on democracy” [20, p.109]. It wasn't officially proclaimed as a symbol and “Nothing To My Name” of Cui Jian isn't a protest song from its content The analysis of this song is made in the 3^rd Chapter., but according to the theory of Hall, China is high-context culture, which means that many things are not said - people understand it from the context.

It was two groups of interest that understood the nature of the reforms in different extent. People from the second group were waiting for wilder and deeper changes and it's not surprising that the contradiction between expectances of people and official position finally transformed in an open conflict. “In the late 1980s, Chinese rockers advocated participation in a cosmopolitan internationalism, Kaifang (liberalized, open), as opposed to traditional culture, Fengbi (landlocked, closed). The older generation used it to refer to the “Open Door” official policy of intercultural contact limited to a tightly controlled selection of technology and trade, which is in actuality an exclusionary tactic. This second, dynamic concept of Kaifang contains the potential for redefining the homeland's cultural core, by suggesting that culture does not remain static” [31, p. 189]

People who listened to rock were opposite official position even they were allowed to do so. “Fans of Yaogunyue find in its brashness and boldness expressions of their own frustrations of feeling hemmed in by the political and cultural traditions in China and connect themselves with a rebellious and independent political ideology that they see as part of the "Rock and Roll lifestyle. Having fun and partying to popular music is in this sense an act of opposition. It is a refusal to participate in the perpetuation of a lie. Partying to specifically Yaogunyue focuses the oppositional component; and support of Cui Jian and his music is undeniably and obviously political. In particular, Yaogunyue and the social gestures surrounding it (yelling, dancing, etc.) serve to simultaneously bond an oppositional community and alienate it not only from the regime, but from mainstream society as well” [18, p. 200]. Also rock was a reason for fans to communicate and gather together. People indicated each other by appearance first and then - by taste in music. They spent their time at parties where people danced, listened to music and communicated. Rock gave them a feeling of community, which was very strong [20, p. 70]. “Yaogunyue has emerged as a marginal style, marked as different by virtue of its oppositional possibilities (both stylistically and lyrically). And it is in this margin - where it practices its expressive difference - that Yaogunyue finds its political power” [18, p. 166].

But it won't be right to say that every person who involved in the Democratic Movement listened to rock music and vice versa. I tried to ask musicians about it, but nobody answered. They rather prefer to “not understand the question” than to answer it [1]. I think it's understandable because these questions might be painful for them. In my opinion, rock music and spread of liberal ideas over China are parts of one process that started with the opening of Chinese economy in 1978.

Cui Jian became more and more popular for telling things that were important for Chinese youth and he influenced them a lot. The relationships between Cui Jian and officials became more difficult as he criticized a current situation in China by his songs (Matusitz, 2009). There was a dichotomy of political and economic aspect of these relations. From the one hand, Cui gained money through the distribution of his records and life performances. From the other hand, his music became a symbol of political opposition to an educated class and a rebellious youth (Brace, 1992). Central government put certain restrictions on Cui's activities. “Cui Jian was banned from performing in 1987 for a year after a Beijing performance on 14 January enraged one Party of?cial, just as the frenzied audience in his 1991 tour prompted the authorities to cut his tour short in Chengdu” [21, p. 231]. These facts reveal the contradictory nature of relationships between government and Cui Jian. For example, he was under attack when government launched new anti-spiritual pollution campaign against “bourgeois liberalization” in 1987 [20, p. 83].