Authenticity of Chinese Music

Rees does not think that the type of Naxi music that is played now in the Yunnan province is characteristic to the Naxi culture. Naxi music in the past was only played by a few people and had significant ritualistic meanings. Rees feels that tourism has wiped away this cultural significance that Naxi music once had. Performances are largely catered to the tourists. Commercialism calls for the same set of songs to be played over and over again for the new groups of people who come to see them. Because of this priority to mass market the music, the integrity of Naxi becomes lost. The way the music is experienced by tourists won’t be appreciated in the same way that it could be if fewer people knew about it. “Chinese-authored English literature” suggests that there is an attempt to market the music on a more global scale.

Scholars felt that authenticity was significantly lost from Chinese music because it incorporated Western elements of music. It took out the more “traditional” instruments of China and replaced them with the more Western instruments such as the flute and keyboard. The Chinese still consider it to be traditional music though since it is still a new form of music. It isn’t copying Western music directly. Rather it is fusing two styles of music together. Music, much like identity, exists on a continuum. It seems as though the scholars are trying to box Chinese music as consisting of only certain elements and nothing more or less. Mr. Fang, however, believes that music is being adapted and developed all the time. As the world becomes a greater global village, communities will find themselves being more and more influenced by outside cultures. I don’t think reinvention is something that can be considered fake. It builds itself on top of something else. Like all musicians, styles are derived from multiple people before them. Reinvention is an art form all on its own. I think when people tend to think of “traditional” they tend to think of it as being something old and not in heavy existence. For something to be “modern” it has to sound new and never been done before.