Presenter 24

Multicultural Ethnic Music

Education in Communist China
(Zhang, 2017)

Louie Giray
Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Graduate School

Reference:
Zhang, W. (2017). Multicultural ethnic music
education in communist China. International Journal of Multicultural Education. 19(3), 65-84.
RESEARCH AIM

Discover how PRC presents ethnic musical traditions in

K1-9 national music textbooks.
Legend: PRC refers to People’s Republic of China
PERCENTAGE OF ETHNIC GROUPS IN PRC
55 ethnic minorities
6%

Han

Other ethnic
minorities
94%
1 ethnic
majority
BACKGROUND

PRC is a unified multinational country.

-Central Communist Party
 ZHONGHUA MINZU:
A SINGLE UNITED CHINESE NATIONALITY
 Authentic music should be created
or adopted by cultural insiders.

THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORKS
Authentic music must have a
Theory of musical authenticity
history of significant functions.

Authentic music should stress the

Theoretical accuracy of the music’s original
Frameworks cultural context.
Used by Zhang,
2017

Equal concern

Liberalism theory

Liberal neutrality
 METHODOLOGY: DOCUMENT ANALYSIS

18 K1-9 national music textbooks

3 Ministry of Education’s official documents pertaining

to national music standardization and instructional
outlines

3 PRC ethnic government policies

Findings and Discussion
67 pieces of ethnic music are included
in the 18 textbooks
(a) traditional music from an ethnic group (17 pieces),
(b) melodies adapted from an ethnic group traditional music
with newly created lyrics (21 pieces),
(c) both lyrics and melodies are newly created (26 pieces),
and
(d) music with questionable ethnic origins, meaning that
some pieces claim to be traditional music from certain
ethnic groups; however the details of their lyrics strongly
indicate they were created after the PRC was established
(3 pieces).
 17 out of 67
are genuine ethnic music
24 out of 56 ethnic groups are represented

75% of ethnic pieces were adapted or

composed rather than being traditional tunes

Majority (85%) of the ethnic works demonstrate

cultural and political ideologies
CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
The authorities responsible for the textbooks represent these Han cultural
standards and Communist ideologies.
This kind of music education limits students’ access to China’s diverse
cultural guises and diminishes individual rights to perceive truth from
different angles.
The authorities, however, have misused the word unity and confused it
with assimilation.
Music education could serve as a good starting point to forge a harmonic
united world, if it can truthfully, respectfully, and authentically diversify its
own ethnic cultures in the national education system.
COMMENTS AND
SUGGESTIONS
L. GIRAY
COMMENTS
1. Self-preserving maneuver for social stability and country’s
survival
2. Emphasis on the welfare of the state (Mohist
consequentialism)
3. The domino effect in altering musical pieces
4. Corrupted education and altered truth
5. Manifestation of the superiority and authoritarianism of the
ruling party (Instrumental Marxism)
6. Ideological remolding to establish loyalty and nationalism
(Theory of cultural hegemony)
Self-preserving maneuver for social stability
and country’s survival
In order to establish control over the country, PRC is making its self-
preserving maneuver. The tactic of changing or altering the lyrics of
traditional ethnic music with the goal of unifying the country through the
injection of patriotic lines, and praises to the Communist party and PRC
ensures social stability and survival of the country. Therefore, this
maneuver can be of help not to create disorder among people. Also, this
shall aid to the PRC to continue and exist.
Emphasis on the welfare of the state
Under the light of the Mohist consequentialism which “evaluates the
moral worth of an action based on how much it contributes to the welfare
of a state,” the conduct of lyrics-changing of ethnic music is right since the
intention is good—to promote nationalism. And when cost-benefit analysis
is applied, more of the consequences yield beneficial results such as
national welfare, ethnic friendship, and societal order. This is likewise
desirable because it develops loyal and nationalistic citizens which are
the country’s most valuable assets.
The domino effect in altering musical pieces
Vivid heritage of music is indeed part of the cultural landscape of an
ethnicity. This is surprising that the government is blatantly distorting the
reality which in this case are the musical pieces as depicted in national
textbooks. Music mirrors and is part culture and history. If anything in the
ethnic music is altered, even a little bit, its accompanied culture,
traditions, and history likewise will be affected. The realistic depictions of
the traditional ethnic music will be sacrificed then.
Corrupted education and altered truth
Schools should promote truth and educate using truth. But the a little bit
of alteration is not truth anymore. So the change in the musical pieces,
though miniscule, indeed present a bad faith. They present it as truth, but
it is really not. Schools are becoming agents of deception so that young
minds will see the country as a delightful place emphasizing unity among
diverse ethnic groups, and will reinforce nationalism. No matter how
desirable the objectives are, the students are still receiving education,
which is not founded on truth, but on altered truth which undeniably is a
lie. The learning on musical textbooks is presented as education. This
music education, as mandated by the authorities, is not a act of good
faith, and very perverted. They present it as education, but with forgery
and falsity of the ethnic musical pieces. This can be considered as
education with deception on the side—a corrupted education.
Manifestation of the superiority and
authoritarianism of the ruling party
Through the lens of Instrumental Marxism, which states that policy
makers “share a common class background, and that their decisions will
reflect their class interests,” one can view that the Chinese Communist
Party (CCP), being the prevailing party in the country, holds a strong social
and political power. The party’s interest is to cultivate the sense of
nationalism among the people, and hence the party uses its power to
carry out means to do it. This is exemplified in the intervention of the
government on the music education, specifically the insertion of patriotic
and praise-to-communism themes in lyrics. Such is the manifestation of
superiority and authoritarianism of the CCP.
Ideological remolding to establish loyalty and
nationalism
Applying the theory of cultural hegemony, which can be summed up into
the idea that the “ruling class can manipulate the value system of a
society, so that their view becomes the world view,” the indoctrination
happening on music education is a tool of CCP to manipulate the psyche
of the students which will later become loyal adult citizens. The CPP,
through the Ministry of Education, is deliberately engineering the music
education in accordance to their state-prescribed values to massively
condition the people be loyal and nationalistic. Schools are transmuted as
agents for ideological remolding, not of creative and critical thinking.
SUGGESTIONS
1. Conduct replication studies
2. Utilize another type of research designs (case study,
longitudinal, mixed methods, correlational), and data
collection methods (interviews, perception surveys,
classroom observations)
3. Attack the topic in the viewpoint of other disciplines or
perspectives: sociological, anthropological, psychological,
educational, philosophical, and/or political