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Chinese Music During World War II And The Cultural Revolution

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There are many instances where Chinese Communist Party, CCP, used music to their advantage to assist in the dissemination of communist ideals throughout China. For example, after the Second World War, the world finally seemed to be at peace. However, the aftermath left a lasting wound on the countries involved such as Germany, Japan and China. Once Japan admitted defeat to the United States, American troops occupied Japan and China, and had begun spreading Western culture by 1945. In the eyes of the Chinese Communist Party, they feared something much worse to come from this Western indoctrination. China was left brutally scared from Japanese control during World War II, and were afraid of a Japanese revitalization from the influence of Western …show more content…

However before the revolution, Mao Zedong believed that music only served the bourgeoisie and elites. When Mao gave his famous ‘Talk at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art’ at the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts on 1942, he stated that music should serve the workers, peasants, and soldiers, not just the elitist class. This conference became something like commandments for future communist composers to follow. Everyone wants to be able to read and enjoy music. To do so, Mao wanted composers to turn to folk music that was popular in pastures. Mao Zedong understood that history and the past had a lot of information and knowledge to offer to the present. He stated that, “We should take over the rich legacy and the good traditions in literature and art that have been handed down from the past ages in China and foreign countries, but the aim must still be to serve the masses of the people.” These songs would go on to be taught in classrooms as well. In 1950, teachers in public schools were required to “’ensure that children understand the meaning of songs very well’ and should aid students in their understanding of ‘the unity between [musical] emotion and the text’”. Through this ideology and propaganda, everyone from the bourgeoisie all the way down to the peasants and farmers are given the chance to learn and experience the power that literature and music posses. This type of propaganda is more in tune with the definition given by Merriam-Webster rather than what Warren Taylor has provided. There is no sinister intent behind this creed. Mao Zedong wanted to give all of his people that chance to discover what literature and music have to offer. Propaganda like this enables everyone to learn about the facts, in this case music and literature, even if they do not know how to respond to such

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