British Forum For Ethnomusicology

British Forum for Ethnomusicology

Forever Red: The Invention of Solo dizi Music in Post-1949 China Author(s): Frederick Lau Source: British Journal of Ethnomusicology, Vol. 5 (1996), pp. 113-131 Published by: British Forum for Ethnomusicology Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3060869 Accessed: 01/10/2009 12:43 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=bfe. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

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JOURNAL OFETHNOMUSICOLOGY BRITISH

VOL. 5

Forever dizi music

Red:

the in

invention

post-1949

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1996

solo

China

Frederick Lau Thesolo repertoryfor thetraditionalChinesebambooflutedizi consistsmostlyof pieces composedin thepost-1949periodin thePeople'sRepublicof China.Despiteits relatively recentorigin,this musicis consideredby manyChinesemusiciansto be a centuries-old tradition.Focussingon the contributionsof dizi musicians,this paperexamines the processes by which this music has become canonised and the reasons behind its it describesthetransformation of diziperformers' status,musical emergence.In particular, of thepost 1949socio-politicalcontext. styleandrepertory againstthebackdrop

IHtE 1949 CHINESE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION marked a significant m turning point in the history of modem China. The attempt to establish a populist ideology based on the thoughts of Marx, Lenin and Mao has led to massive reforms in all domains of society. Essential to the establishment of images of national unity in socialist China was the use of emblematic cultural forms intended to articulate and maintain links between the party and the masses. Consequently, traditional cultural forms and styles associated with the "common people" were promoted largely by the creation and legitimization of new cultural genres by the State after 1949 (Perris 1983, McDougall 1984). Once new styles in domains such as music, literature, painting and dance were defined and materialized in practice, they clearly functioned as emblems for the State in representing itself and indeed creating itself in the popular perception. This cultural imagery, projected by the State, seems to have had some impact particularly on the recent generation in directing the internalized systems of meaning through which people understand and respond to their conditions of existence (Hall 1985). It is in this intensely politicized environment that new ideas emerged, fused with, and at times even replaced traditional ones, giving rise to new social and political forms. This trend undoubtedly affected musical practice and gave new meaning to the definition of "traditional music" (chuantong yinyue). 1 What follows is an account of the major transformations of the solo dizi tradition since the 1950s. Through a series of case studies, I hope to 1 For a more detailed discussion of the term chuantongyinyue in the post-1949 Chinese context,

see Fang 1981,Provine1981 andRees 1997. As in the Bulgariansituationdescribedby Rice also poses a seriousdilemmafor manyChinese (1994), the definitionof the term"tradition" in the areaof minzuyinyue-nationalor traditional musicianswho workprimarily music. 113

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illustratethe impactof an immense societalchange on the musicians,describethe crystallization of a single music genre, and offer some interpretationson the situation. In most ethnomusicologicalliterature,musicalchange is viewed in connection with a shift in the external environment(e.g. Merriam 1977, Blacking 1978, Kartomi1981, Nettl 1983). In recentyears, however, with the adventof practice theoryin the social sciences, some recentethnomusicologistsare reluctantto see musical change simply as cause and effect. Instead,they have begun, on the one hand, to focus on individualsand their actions and on the other hand to explore the dialectic relationshipbetween them and their socioculturalmilieu (Coplan 1991, Waterman1991, Turino 1991, Erlmann1991, 1996). Musical change, in this view, is at once a productof societal change and an articulationof the social agents' position in the new social configuration.In the words of Veit Erlmann, change is a product of an "indeterminate conglomerate of forces-both impersonaland groundedin individualagency-interacting with each otheron a stage of much largerdimensions"(1996: 306). This theoreticalshift has drawn our attentionto the people who carryout the changesratherthanto the monolithic dominanceof the externalenvironment.It is in this light that I view change as a result of both societal changes and choices made by musicians in response to them.Using previoustheoriesof musicalchangeas a point of departure,I suggest that the natureof change can only be fully understoodwhen humanmotivations and actionsare takeninto consideration. The result of musical change has been described primarily in a dualistic perspectiveby contrastingaspects of the "old"with the "new".Conceptuallabels such as Westernization,urbanisation,modernisationand acculturationare but some of the ways of explainingthe natureand characteristicsof differenttypes of changes (Nettl 1983, 1992: 381-6). A more recent approach,examiningchange from a diachronicsocioculturalperspective,suggests that many traditionsare in fact "invented"(Hobsbawm1983). Challengingthe popularbelief that"tradition" is timeless and unchanging, Hobsbawm shows how links to the past can be factitious and arbitrary.He defines "inventedtradition"as "a set of practices, normallygovernedby overtly or tacitlyacceptedrules and of a ritualor symbolic nature, which seek to inculcate certain values and norms of behaviour by repetition,which automaticallyimpliescontinuitywith the past"(1983: 1). The term"invention"in my title-inspired by Hobsbawm-is used as a poetic image to underscorethe importanceandubiquitousrole of social agents.Building on Hobsbawm'sidea, I want to emphasisethat "invention"is a result of human actions and it is people who are involved in the act of making and remaking. However, I am hesitantto use the term"inventedtradition"in the Hobsbawmian sense because it creates an unnecessary distinction between two kinds of traditions, some newly formed, others "genuine" or "old". When does an "inventedtradition"stop being such and transforminto a "genuinetradition"? The fact that some traditions have been around longer than others does not automaticallybear any relevance to present-dayefficacy and value. Likewise,

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what appearsto have changedin practicethroughtime may simply be an attempt to maintaina longstandingfunctionagainsta shiftingsocial andpoliticalcontext. All traditionsare to some extent"created"or "invented"at some point in time, with differingdegreesof consciousnessand motivation.They are at base a set of communally accepted practices that serves a symbolic or practicalpurpose. To characteriseone as "invented"and the other not is misleading and dodging the essential issues. Rather than casting them within rigid boundaries, it is more fruitfulto place them along a continuumand to focus on the ways each of them has been shaped by individualswithin a specific historicalmomentand context. In this vein, a numberof studies have problematisedthe notions of "traditional", "invented" or "modern" by demonstrating their fluidity and contradiction (Feintuch1993, Coplan 1991, Waterman1991, Schuyler 1990, Erlmann1996). It was arguedthat "tradition[can be] a highly articulateexpression of a historical consciousness"throughwhich "humanactors deploy historicallysalient cultural categories to construct their self-awareness" (Erlmann 1996: 139). Subject positioning can be a powerful force in generatingpractice and in altering the definitionof "tradition".2 Criticismaside, Hobsbawm'swarningthat"traditionswhich appearor claim to be old are often quite recent in origin and sometimesinvented"(1983: 1) is well taken. I also agree that changes in a traditionoccur frequently "when a rapid transformationof society weakens or destroys the social patternsfor which 'old' traditions had been designed, producing new ones to which they were not applicable..."(ibid.: 4). Viewing the problemfrom a slightly differentangle, my paperfocuses on the processes of invention and their relationshipto the people who have created them. In other words, how do people deal with things like "traditions",and what do they bringto the establishedpracticesand institutions when theirsocial conditionsanddemandshave been transformed?Why do people behavethe way they do in a specific socioculturalformation?In this paper,I want to suggest a way of thinkingabouttraditionand changefrom the vantagepoint of humanagents and to highlight the need to analyse these actors in terms of their position within particulartimes, spaces, and fields of humanbehaviour.The case studies will illustrate that the emergence of a new music traditioncannot be understood simply as "invented tradition"without considering the concerns, motivationsand behavioursof the musiciansin context. Following CliffordGeertz'snotionof culture(1973), I view traditionas "webs of significance and meanings"spun by social actors which in turnhelp them to define reality (ibid.: 5). Traditionis fluid and transformable,but it can only be changed by people, not by itself. As Edward Shils argues succinctly, "nothing called a traditionis a single thing: each of its elements is open to acceptance, modification,or rejection"(1981: 45). The discussion below revolves aroundthe 2 I do not wish to evokethe debateon the term"tradition". Althoughused in manydifferent contexts,it is highlycontestedandslipperyandthusalmosttoo broadto be meaningful.For a rangeof its meaningandusageas well as discussionson thevariousprocessesof its maintenance andtransformation, see Bohlman1988: 134-5;Waterman1990: 12; Glassie 1995;Rice 1994: 12-15;Duara1995:86-90;Anderson1983:11-16.

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traditionalChineseflute, di or dizi-a transversebambooflute of Han originwith six finger holes anda blowhole.The most distinctivequalityof the dizi is its nasal and buzzing tone quality, caused by a vibrating membrane covering a hole situatedbetweenthe blowhole andthe nearestfingerhole. (See figs. 1-2.) In researching the solo dizi repertory in the post-1949 context, I have confrontedissues centralto the maintenanceand formationof traditions(1991). These include the source and origin of the contemporaryrepertory,performance practice,and the statusof dizi performersin a largersocial context. I found that present-daydizi solos bearlittle resemblanceto manypieces datingfromthe early partof the centuryandthata distinctsolo repertorydid not really exist beforethe Revolution(Lau 1995). Similarto that of the erhu as describedby Stock (1992), earlierdizi performancewas characterisedby diversifiedregionalrepertoriesand styles, with no clear stylistic distinction between solo playing and ensemble traditions(Thrasher1978). This recent solo dizi repertory is frequently portrayed as continuing an unbrokensolo dizi traditiondating from the pre-1949 period (Jiang 1957, Zhao 1983, 1985, Li 1982, 1987, Gao 1981, Yuan 1987, Ye 1996). Developed over the last five decades, this corpus of recentcomposedpieces has been consideredthe core repertoryfor the dizi despite its long history as a solo instrumentand its importantrole in many regional instrumentalmusics and operas (ibid.). This view, promotedand reinforcedby the State-runrecordingindustry,mass media, concerts, and music conservatoires,is deeply entrenchedin both the academic setting and popular perception. Many dizi performers and scholars whom I interviewedcan effortlesslynameseveralof the famousmodem dizi compositions and players such as Lu Chunling,Feng Zicun, and Wang Tiechui. Interestingly, most would admit that they know very little about early solo dizi music. This is common among both dizi players and non-dizi specialists alike at the conservatoiresand in casual conversation.3In otherwords, a few famousplayers have achieved superstarstatus,and theirrepresentativecompositions are widely known. Furthermore,along with changingmusic aestheticsandcompositionalpractice, the treatmentof dizi musicianshas also improved.In contrastto the unfavourable attitudetowardsthe dizi and its players before 1949, the prestige and centrality they enjoy today clearly reflect a fundamental change in attitudes towards musicians in general. All these changes in subject position no doubt present musicalchallenges to the musicians-how to make sense of the musicalpast and set the course for the future.Againstthe changingcontext andpolitical demands, they have to negotiate and decide on the way of handlingthe available musical

3 Although based principally at the Shanghai Conservatoryof Music during my fieldwork, I frequently travelled to other conservatoiresfor interviews and archival research. I have visited those in Beijing, Guangdong, Xian, Siquan, Shenyang and Wuhan, meeting with most of their dizi teachers. In addition, I have also interviewed many professional dizi players in major perfonning troupes.

L.au:Solo dizi musicin post-1949China

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resources.4 By the very natureof their prescribedmusical authorityand social status,dizi composersare able to link themselvesto an imaginarypast despite the absence of a uniformand standardisedsolo dizi style from the pre-1949 period. Thus what is now recognised by many as traditionalsolo dizi music, and the notion of a professionaldizi soloist, in fact have been developed in recent years, contraryto whatis commonlyassumed.

Dizi players The drastic social and political transformationsof the CommunistRevolution have underminedtraditionalattitudesand values towardsmusicians and musicmaking.The primaryfunctionof variousforms of culturalexpressions, as stated explicitly by Mao in the 1937 Talk at the Yan'anForumof Art and Literature,is to serve the needs of workers, peasants and soldiers. Regional folk music traditions, because of their class association, are regardedby many critics as "politically correct" (ZYX 1959; ZYY 1960; He 1957). Consequently, many regional folk artistsand their artistictraditionsbegan to be grantednew prestige because of their political significance as representatives of the masses and emblemsof populistideology. Equallyimportant,populistmusicalemblemswere used to discredit or negate the ideology of the elite of the previous era (Jones 1995: 45). Traditionalfolk musical activities, used in various kinds of popular social rites, festivals and local forms of entertainment,came to be legitimised as the heritage of the masses and thus treasuredand promotedby the Communist governmentsince the 1950s. Duringthis time, manyregionalmusicianswere encouragedto take partin this new musical movement. Activities, usually under the rubricsof wenyi wenhui (evening culturalevents) and minjianyinyue wudao huiyan (variety concerts of folk music and dance),were organisedby variousbranchesof the governmentin an attemptto direct and promulgatethe new ideology throughthe redefinitionof cultural production. New performingtroupes were formed under a variety of names such as wengong tuan (cultural work troupes), gewun tuan (song and dance troupes)and minzuyuetuan(traditionalmusic troupes)(Jones 1995: 48). It is under such circumstancesthat a numberof regional folk dizi players gained prominencein the early years of the Republic.Although dizi music had been a low-prestige popularform in the pre-1949 period, throughoutthe 1950s many regional dizi players were invited to performin various State-sponsoredpublic concerts and variety shows in the capitaland majorprovincialcities. Among the most prominent and highly publicised activities of this kind were the 1953 NationalFolk Dance and Music Concertand the 1956 NationalMusic Week, in which manyrenownedfolk dizi playerswere featured. 4 The questionof how to handlemusicalheritagein socialistChinahas been a controversial subject.Althoughthereis no consensusas to how to resolvethis issue, variouspositionshave developedoverthe years;see e.g. Fang1981,Perris1983,Ma 1957,He 1957,Li Y. 1983,ZYX 1960,ZYY 1960.

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Shortlyafter theirconcertappearances,the same groupof folk musicianswere invited by the Ministryof Cultureto be membersof various official performing troupesand musical institutions.Under the new administration,the term minjian yiren (folk artist),which was used customarilyto refer to low-class folk artistsin the pre-Revolutionaryperiod, was droppedand replacedby the honourabletitle zhuanye yanzouyuan (professional performer),implying a specialised, skilled, professional musician. As government employees, these players received a sizeable monthly salary, housing, benefits,job security,and above all the social prestigeof which they had been deprivedbefore 1949. The ramificationsof such a transformationlie not only in the changing social status of dizi players: more importantly,it createdan opportunityand forumfor them to express and interpret theirconceptionsof music in relationto the State'spoliticalneeds. Of the many folk dizi players who were grantedprestige by the State, I was able to interview several leading figures such as Feng Zicun, Lu Chunling,Liu Guanyue,Zhao Songting,Chen Zhong,and WangTiechui.Like manycadresand culturalworkers who were recruitedby the governmentat the time, these dizi players were of humble family backgroundand working class origin. As lowstatus musicians making a meagre living from playing the dizi before the Revolution, they were seen as belonging to the oppressed majorities who had suffered in pre-Liberation"feudalistic"Chinese society. The success stories of how Lu Chunling and Feng Zicun, after years of hardshipin the hands of the "landlords",eventuallyjoined the partyand devotedthemselvesto the Revolution have been well documented(Hsiao 1962, Huo 1984, Wang 1985). The fact that both Lu and Feng, a formerrickshawmanand a poor ruralpeasant,became dizi specialistsrichly illustratesand personifiesfanshen-a termadoptedwidely after 1949 to denote the process of "turningover" the old society, standingup against feudalismand enteringinto a new society (Hinton 1966: vii). Their success and contributiondrive home the point thatthe masses can really make a differencein the new society. Accordingto the dizi performerLiu Guanyue(1956), the most exciting change for many local folk dizi players in the late 1950s was the addition of the title zhuanye yanzouyuan. While engaging in full-time performing and teaching careers for State-sponsored music institutions, these dizi performers were encouragedto compose new pieces primarilydesignedfor mass consumption(via cassettes, for example; see figs. 3-4). As a result of their elevated social status, the formerfolk dizi players began to develop a differentvision of their tradition. In the words of Lu Chunling:"Since traditionaldizi music was so diversifiedand backward,therewas a need in the early yearsafterthe Revolutionto establishand develop a more systematisedand sophisticatedsolo dizi practiceandrepertory." Lu's words encapsulatedthe attitudeof many dizi playersof the time who had internalised a vision of the inferiority of their regional musical traditions. In conjunctionwith theirnew social position,these musiciansadoptedthe notions of progress,developmentand refinement,which in turnbecome powerfulimpetuses for the formationof a new solo dizi performanceand compositionalpractice.In short,by redefiningthe social statusof the folk dizi players, the State has tacitly

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createda body of specialistswhose attitudesand visions are in turnshapedby this change.

The style of early dizi music Most of the early solo dizi compositionsthatemergedin the 1950s are variations on the dizi part extractedfrom various regional instrumentalensemble musics. This is done simply by takingthe existing dizi partout of its originalcontext and building upon it. Two of the most influential and often cited dizi styles are illustratedin Feng Zicun's famous arrangementof Xixiangfeng(HappyReunion) andLu Chunling'sversion of Zhegufei(The Flight of the Partridges).These two 1950s arrangementsare frequentlypresentedin recent Chinese music textbooks as pioneer models for the modern solo dizi style and more specifically as respective representativesof the so-called nanpai (southernschool) and beipai (northernstyle) of dizi music and performingstyle. Although they are merely standardisedversions of traditionalitems, credit is given to the playerswho first performed and arranged them. In so doing, emphasis is placed on the contributions and "re-creation" activities of the new specialists while downplayingthe importanceof the musicaltraditionfrom which the compositions were derived. Feng's version of Xixiangfeng (fig. 5) is taken from the errentai tradition populararoundShanxiprovinceandthe westernInnerMongoliaarea.Errentai,a regionalmusic drama,is usually accompaniedby a quartetconsisting of a dizi, a 4-stringbowed fiddle xihu, a hammereddulcimeryangqin and a pair of clappers bangzi. The ensemble accompaniesthe singers and provides backgroundmusic for the dance in additionto providing an overture,interludeand postlude. The dizi, being the most importantinstrumentin the ensemble, not only doubles the mainvocal line but also improviseson it, to enhancethe mood and createa richer musicaltexture. The dizi style in the errentai traditionis characterisedby the constant use of rapid portamento, glissando, flutter tonguing, disjunct melody with large intervals, and short melodic fragments.Since the errentai traditionwas Feng's only source of reference,his playing and latercompositionsare markedby these characteristics. Another frequently employed compositional procedure, epitomisedin Xixiangfengand many of Feng's later compositions, is the use of theme andvariationsprocedure.As a result,Feng's dizi techniquehas become an importantmodel of rhythmicandvirtuosicplayingfor manylatercompositions. Contrastingwith Feng's energeticrhythmicdizi style is Lu Chunling'slyrical playingderivedfromthe sizhu traditionof east centralChina.In Jiangnansizhu, a wind and stringensemble traditionfrom south of the Yangtze Region, dizi is the leading instrument.The essence of Jiangnansizhu music lies in the heterophonic improvisationsof a melody played simultaneouslyby variousinstrumentsin the ensemble (Witzleben 1995: 118-22). The lyrical character of the music is accentuatedby overlappingphrases and continuous and smooth melodic lines played by all instruments.Lu's acquaintancewith the sizhu traditionis reflected

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Fig. 5: Xixiangfeng(HappyReunion)by Feng Zicun(transcribedby the author from ChinaRecordCo. M-104)

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in both his repertoryand his playing style. His dizi style is markedby a lyrical qualityand the frequentuse of trills, appoggiatura,subtlearticulation,contrasting dynamics, melodic augmentationand ornamentedfigures as well as conjunct melodic contour. His compositionZhegufei (fig. 6) exists in various versions. Among them, Lu's version is consideredthe most popularand demandingone. This piece has also been transcribedby JonathanStock for the Western flute (1994: 13-19). Feng's and Lu's compositions of the 1950s are clearly among the most influential of early modem dizi styles. Their significance, however, lies in providingmodels for laterplayerswho subsequentlyestablishedand developed a standardisedsolo dizi style by fusing these and other regional dizi techniques. Works written by other composers during the 1960s-for example, Mudi (Shepherds' Flute), Gusuxing (A Trip to Suzhou), Huanlede jieri (Joyous Festivals),Xiaobalujun(Little Eighth Army)-are all consideredinnovative and sophisticatedexamples of this new solo style. However, the developmentof this style did not stop with the fusion of regionalstyles. Dizi composerswho followed Lu and Feng also expandedtheir compositionalstyle accordingto other artistic

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considerations and political agendas. In addition to drawing on Han regional music, they frequentlyincorporatedinnovativemusical ideas and elements taken from other sources-national minorities,regional folksongs, Europeanclassical music, folksongs from other cultures,and sometimes even jazz-as the basis of their compositions. The possibilities of incorporatinga wider range of musical materialsin a composition are endless, particularlyin the last two decades (Lau 1996). The excerpt in figure 7 demonstratesan innovativeway of incorporatingjazz elements in creating an unconventional-soundingdizi composition.Muyangren (The Shepherds),accordingto the composer Yu Xunfa, is based on a Canadian folk song which he learnedwhile concertisingin Canada.In using a variety of non-Chinesemusical elements such as syncopatedrhythms,"blue"notes, conga drumsand claves, this dizi compositionis clearly intendedto evoke a sensibility differentfrom thatof the earlierperiods.

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Repertory I have describedhow the emergenceof the professionaldizi soloist has resultedin the development of a highly eclectic solo dizi style. Now let us turn to the repertoryand comparerecent solo dizi music with some older solo dizi pieces in orderto illustratevariousdistinguishingfeatures. Due to limited historical documentationavailable for the pre-1949 period, I was able to locate only nine collections of dizi tunes datedbetween 1843 and the 1940s in the Libraryof the Chinese Music ResearchInstitutein Beijing and the Beijing Library.Bearing simple titles such as Diqu (Music for dizi) andXiaodi xinpu (New tunes for dizi andxiao), each of these books containstwenty to thirty relativelyshort tunes. I have noticed thatthe stylistic featuresof pieces found in these sourcescontrastdrasticallywith those of the morerecentcompositions(Lau 1995). Althoughthese tunes are by no meansrepresentativeof the entireearly dizi repertory,they serve as a useful point of departurefor our comparison.First, regarding the origin of these tunes: the introductions of several tune books indicate that the pieces were primarilypopularmelodies of the time extracted from variousoperaticand entertainmentgenres.This is unlike the situationtoday, whereby most melodies in the recent repertory,as demonstratedto me by dizi playersthemselves,are newly composedmelodies fusing differentmusicalstyles. Second, the tides of tunesin the new andold repertoriesare totallyunrelatedto one another.While the names of the older tunes are taken from contemporary populartunes and qupai (tune types or labelledmelodies used in variousoperatic traditions),titles of recentpieces are largelyrootedin politicalrhetoricsupporting the CommunistParty, for example Mannianhong(ForeverRed), Muminxin'ge (New Songs for the Shepherds),Changzi shange gaidangting (Sing a Mountain Song to the Party),Jinxi (Yesterday-Today),and ChundaoLasa (SpringComes to Lhasa). Third,most of the oldertunes are quiteshortand structurallysimple,consisting of only a few phrases, as opposed to the more elaborate melodic lines and complex structuresfound in most recent solo compositions. Last, but not least, recent compositions contain explicit indicationsof particularkey, mode, phrase markings,dynamics,articulations,ornamentations,meter,and the specific type of dizi to be used. For most earliertunes, indicationof mode and occasionally key are the only written performanceguides: the rest is entirely up to the individual performerto decide. These aspects clearly reflect significant differences in attitudes towards dizi music and its performance.In additionto the expressionof political ideology in the new titles, emphasis is placed on specialisation in performance,structural complexity and formal systematisation.The purpose is clearly in line with the State'spopulistideology: emblems of the people were elevated,while at the same time fused with images of greater competence, skill and "scientific" systematization-in short,the desiredimage of the new State. Discussions with contemporarydizi musicianswho underscoredthe difference in prestige of the new and old repertoriesprovide furtherinsights. When older

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tunes were presentedto my informants,many of them admittedto having very little knowledge about them. Although they could identify older dizi tunes as arrangementsof local folk melodies and operatic genres, they all insisted that these tunes were not significant for my research; they stressed that I should concentrate on the recent repertory, since it was specifically composed and performedby zhuanyeprofessionalplayers and hence is a more specialised and respectable musical tradition.The notion of being "scientific" and rigorous in music theory and practice is somethingoften mentionedby Chinese musicians. The implicationthat traditionalChinese music lacks these qualities has inspired many dizi musicians, particuarlythose at the conerservatoriesand performing troupes,to design a more "scientific"dizi and rigoroustrainingmethod.This has spawnedmany new approachesto the instrumentand its music. Ironically,while the dizi was grantedprestigein post-1949 Chinaas an emblem of popularsociety andculture,it was re-createdin the image of an elite specialisttradition.

Conclusion Scholars who study post-1949 Chinese cultural forms and their development, such as the one I have described,frequentlyview them as the embodimentand manifestationof State ideology (e.g. Kagan 1963, Chu 1978, Han and Li 1980, Mackerras1981, Perns 1983, Holm 1984). The implicationis thatthese modified culturalexpressions are inevitably consequences and sources of indoctrination. Ideology, in this sense, projects a unilineal image of power which renders the individual actors and musicians passive and powerless. By emphasising the potency and prevalenceof State ideology, scholarsattributeits emergenceas the principal cause of the change in the domain of artistic expression. I find this conceptionof ideology restrictingto the extent thatit underminesthe complexity of the issue. If ideology functions as a system of collectively sharedvalues and norms and a rigid system of belief, how can we explain the emergence of new styles and the multifaceted expressions found in dizi music of the 1980s and 1990s, which deviate from the seminal models developed by Feng and Lu? If deviation from the norm is accepted, can we assume that State ideology is ineffective anddysfunctional? According to J.B. Thompson, the study of ideology examines "the ways in which meaningor ideas affect the conceptionsor activitiesof the individualsand groups which make up the world" (1984: 73). To assess its success in any meaningfulway, we need to understandhow meaningis inscribedand reified in reality,in everydaylife, in the schools andin the conservatories.Putdifferently,it is throughindividuals' action, practice and behaviourthat we can visualise the extent to which ideology has been internalised, because ideas can only be materialised and expressed in action. The situation, however, is further complicatedby the fact that a single society may see competingor overlapping ideologies depending on the level of education, urban worldview, political affiliation, regional association and so forth. These multiple views inevitably become part of the concern when an individual makes a decision. The final

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outcome is undoubtedly a synthesis and balance of the various modes of experienceand the social agent's interpretationof reality. Viewing ideologies as interconnecteddomainshaving multiplelayers, we can explain why certainaction outside the State's constraintis consideredacceptableor even possible. Ideology, in this manner,must be viewed not as a monolithicfixed entity thatresides above people and dictateshumanaction from the top down but ratheras an articulation of the individualchoice made in referenceto a largerdimension. Players like Lu Chunlingand Feng Zicun, who were elevated from low-class folk musiciansto a prestigiousprofessionalstatus,experienceda dramaticchange in self-perceptionand life style, which subsequentlyalteredthe way they viewed reality.To them, the Stateis clearly theirbenefactorandproviderratherthantheir oppressor.It is thereforenot surprisingthat they readily accept and agree to act accordingto the demandsof the State's policy and artistic guidelines. In return, they receive a regular salary and are given the privilege of performing and travelling across the country and abroad.In reality, they were given a road to stardomand social prestige which was completely out of the question for them before the Revolution. But there was a price: by accepting the materialisticgain and contributing their music to the political discourse of the State, they automatically become functionaries of the State apparatus-a decision they consent to voluntarilyratherthanby force. Accordingto Gramsci,this is how true hegemony operates. Domination is effected not by coercion or force, but by persuading the subaltern to internalise and consent to the dominant way of thinking as natural (Gramsci 1971). Ideology seen in this sense is more than unilineal but rathera dialectic process of "structureand structuring",and it has the capabilityto "formulateand be formulated"(Bourdieu 1977). Thus, changes in dizi music and its practice can be viewed as a result of the way players themselves interpret and adjust to their immediate world, that is, the world establishedby the State.This also helps us explainwhy laterplayerswho write in new styles are acceptedandconsideredin agreementwith the Stateideology: like theirpredecessors,they have also helped to "invent"and redefine State ideology in theirown termswithincertainboundariesand limits. By putting human agents in the foreground,we can account for their actions and the changes they bring to the traditionas they continuouslyrespond to the demandsandneeds of theirimmediateworld.In a circularfashion,Stateideology is being kept in place throughthe invention of a new music traditionto which new pieces are allowed to be perpetuallyaddedin orderto consolidate,articulate andreinventthe social order. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS An earlierversion of this paperwas presentedat the EthnomusicologyColloquia, Universityof California,Berkeley, 1993. I have benefittedfrom discussions with Henry Spiller, AndrewWeintrauband MarkDeWitt while at Berkeley. Research for this paper was conducted in the People's Republic of China (1986-87) supportedby dissertationresearchgrantsfrom the NationalAcademyof Sciences

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CSCPRC Program and the University of Illinois Graduate College. I would like to thank David Hughes, Jonathan Stock, Thomas Turino, Margaret Sarkissian and Inne Choi for their incisive and generous comments. Also my sincere gratitude to Patrick Munroe, Thomas Dresel and Thor Larsen of Cal Poly for their patience in guiding me through the painstaking steps of creating computerised graphics and music notation.

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Jones, Stephen (1996) Folk music of China: living instrumental traditions. Oxford University Press. Kagan, Alan (1963) "Music and the HundredFlower movement."Musical Quarterly49.3:41730. Kartomi,Margaret(1981) 'The processes and results of musical culture contact: a discussion of terminology and concepts."Ethnomusicology25: 227-50. Lau, Frederick (1991) Music and musicians of the traditional Chinese dizi in the People's Republic of China. PhD thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (1995) "'Lost in time?': sources of the 20th-century dizi repertory."Pacific Review of Ethnomusicology7: 31-56. (1996) "Individuality and political discourse in solo dizi compositions." Asian Music 27.1: 133-152. Li Minxiong (1982) Minzu qiyue gailun [Surveyof Chinese instrumentalmusic]. Mimeographed. Shanghai:Shanghai Conservatoryof Music. _____ (1987) Minzu qiyue zhishi guangbo jiangzuo [Broadcast lectures on the knowledge of national instrumentalmusic]. Beijing: Renmin Yinyue Chubanshe. Li Yuanqing (1983) Minzuyinyue wenti de tansuo [Exploring issues of national music]. Beijing: Renmin Yinyue Chubanshe. Liu Guanyue (1956) Dizi duzuo quxuan [A collection of solo dizi pieces]. Beijing: Yinyue Chubanshe. Ma Ke (1957) Zhongguo minjian yinyue jianghua [Talks on Chinese folk music]. Beijing: Renmin Yinyue Chubanshe. Mackerras, Colin (1981) The performing arts in contemporary China. London/Boston: Rolitledge & Kegan Paul. McDougall, Bonnie (1984) Popular Chinese literature and performing arts in the People's Republic of China, 1949-1979. University of CaliforniaPress. Merriam,Alan P. (1977) "Music change in a Basongye village (Zaire)."Anthropos72: 806-46. Nettl, Bruno (1983) The study of ethnomusicology:twenty-nineissues and concepts. University of Illinois Press. (1992) "Recent directions in ethnomusicology." In Helen Myers (ed.) Ethnomusicology: an introduction,pp.375-400. New York: W.W. Norton. Perris, Arnold (1983) "Music as propaganda:art at the command of doctrine in the People's Republic of China."Ethnomusicology27.1: 1-28. Provine, Robert (1981) "Reactions to a discussion on Chinese national musical traditions by Fang Kun."Asian Music 12.2: 11-14. Rees, Helen (1997) "'Authenticity' and the promotionof traditionismby tourism:differentiated presentationsof a musical repertoireto internaland extemal audiences in Southwest China." Journal of Musicological Research, forthcoming. Renmin Yinyue Chubanshe Bianjibu, ed. (1959) 'The development of musical activities in our countryin the past ten years."RenminYinyue10/11: 32-5. (1979) "Jicheng minzu yinyue yichan de zhongyao coshi" [The importantmeasures of inheritingthe nationalmusic legacy]. RenminYinyue7: 36-40. Rice, Timothy (1994) May itfill your soul: experiencingBulgarian music. University of Chicago Press. Schuyler,Philip (1991) "Music and traditionin Yemen."Asian Music 22.1: 51-71. Shils, Edward(1981) Tradition.University of Chicago Press. Stock, Jonathan(1992) "Contemporaryrecital solos for the Chinese two-stringed fiddle erhu." British Journal of Ethnomusicology1: 55-88. (1994) Chineseflute solos. London: Schott Thompson,John B. (1984) Studies in the theoryof ideology. University of CaliforniaPress. Thrasher,Alan (1978) 'The transverseflute in traditionalChinese music." Asian Music 10.1: 92114. Turino, Thomas (1991) "The history of a Peruvian panpipe style and the politics of interpretation."In Blum et al. 1991: 121-38. Wang Tiechiu (1985) "Dizi yenzoujia Feng Zicun" [Dizi performerFeng Zicun]. Renmin Yinyue 12: 15-17.

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Waterman,Christopher(1990) "'Ourtraditionis a very modem tradition':popularmusic and the constructionof Pan-Yorubaidentity."Ethnomusicology34.3: 367-79. (1991) "Jujuhistory: toward a theory of sociomusical practice."In Blum et al. 1991: 4967. Witzleben, J. Lawrence (1995) "Silkand bamboo" in Shanghai: the Jiangnan sizhu instrumental ensemble tradition.Kent State UniversityPress. Ye Dong (1983) Minzu qiyue de ticai yu xingshi [Types and forms of national instrumental music]. Shanghai:ShanghaiWenyi Chubanshe[ShanghaiArts Publishing Company]. Yuan Jingfang (1987) Minzu qiyue [National instrumentalmusic]. Beijing: Renmin Yinyue Chubanshe. Zhao Songting (1983) Dizi yanzoujiqiao guangbojianzou [Broadcastlectures on the performing techniquesof the dizi]. Beijing: GuangboChubanshe[BroadcastPublishingCompany]. (1985) Diyi chunqiu [Spring and autumn of the art of the di]. Hangzhou: Zhejiang Renmin Chubanshe[Zhejiang'sPeople's PublishingCompany]. ZYX = Zhongguo Yinyuejia Xiehua [Chinese Musicians' Union], ed. (1959) Yinyue jianshe wenji [Collected essays on the constructionof music] (3 vols.). Beijing: Yinyue Chubanshe. ZYY = Zhongguo Yinyue Yanjiusuo, ed. (1960) Lun pipande jicheng wenhua chuantong [On how to critically inherit cultural traditions]. Beijing: Zhongguo Yinyue Yanjiusuo [Chinese Music Research Institute].

PRE-1949 DIZI MUSIC SOURCES n.d. Mss. Xiaodi hepu [Duetsfor xiao and di]. n.d. Mss. Zuixin xiao hepu [Latestmusicfor xiao and di]. 1846 Mss. Zhao diqu zazhi huipian [TheZhaofamily anthology of di music]. 1913 Mss. Diqu copied by Chang Ren [Di music] 1922 Mss. Shendao diqu [The divine di music], copied by Xi Tong. 1924 Xiaodi xinpu ed. by Zheng Jinwen [New music for xiao and di]. Shanghai: Shanghai Wenming Shuju [ShanghaiCivilized Bookstore]. 1933 Mss. Yandishuyi narratedby Fang [Expositionof Binzhong,written by Fang Wenxi:Art of di playing] 1946 Xiaodi chuizoufa by Xiao Jianqing [Methods of playing the xiao and di]. Shanghai: ShanghaiGuoguan ShudianChubanshe.

SELECTED LIST OF POST-1949 DIZI SOLO COLLECTIONS Gao Ming (1987) Gao Ming dizi quxuan [Collections of Gao Ming's dizi pieces]. Beijing: Renmin Yinyue Chubanshe. Jian Guangyi (1982) Jian Guangyi dizi quxuan [Collections of Jian Guangyi's dizi pieces]. Beijing: Renmin Yinyue Chubanshe. Jiang Yonghe (1956) Dizi jiaocai [Pedagogical materials for the dizi]. Beijing: Yinyue Chubanshe. (1957a) Dizi duzuoquxuanji [Collectionsof solo dizi pieces]. Beijing: Yinyue Chubanshe. Lu Chunling (1960) Jinse: dizi duzuo quxuan ['Today-Yesterday': a collection of solo dizi compositions]. Shanghai:ShanghaiWenyi Chubanshe[ShanghaiArts Publishing Company]. _____ (1982) Lu Chunling dizi quji [Collection of Lu Chunling's dizi pieces]. Beijing: Renmin Yinyue Chubanshe. Renmin Yinyue ChubansheBianjibu, ed. (1975) Guangkuotiandi lianhongxin [The wide world can temperone's red heart], vol. 1. Beijing: RenminYinyue Chubanshe. _____ (1977) Renmin lieche xiangxianjin [People's train runsforward], vol. 2. Beijing: Renmin Yinyue Chubanshe. (1979a) Dizi quji 1949-1979 [Collection of dizi pieces 1949-1979]. Beijing: Renmin Yinyue Chubanshe. ___._ (1979b) Zaoyuan chunse [Spring in the date garden], vol. 3. Beijing: Renmin Yinyue Chubanshe.

China 131 Lau:Solodizimusicinpost-1949 (1982) QingquanHua Xixun [Clear StreamsBrings Good News], vol. 4. Beijing: Renmin Yinyue Chubanshe.

____

(1986)Dizi quji[Collectionsof dizipieces],vol. 5. Beijing:RenminYinyueChubanshe. ShanghaiWenyiChubanshe Bianjibu,ed. (1983)Dizi quxuan[Collectionsof dizipieces],vol. 1. Shanghai:ShanghaiWenyi Chubanshe[ShanghaiArts Publishing Company].

(1985) Dizi quxuan[Collectionsof dizi pieces], vol. 2. Shanghai:ShanghaiWenyi

Chubanshe[ShanghaiArts Publishing Company].

ShanghaiConservatoryof Music (n.d.) Dizi jiaocai yuequxuan[Collectionsof pieces for teaching dizi], (Six Volumes). Mimeographed.Shanghai:Shanghai Conservatoryof Music.

WangTiechui(1984) WangTiechuidizi quxuan[Collectionsof WangTiechui'sdizi pieces]. Beijing: Renmin Yinyue Chubanshe.

Zhao Songting (1985) Diyi chunqiu[Springand autumnof the art of the di]. Hangzhou: Zhejiang Renmin Chubanshe[Zhejiang'sPeople's Publishing Company].

music].Beijing: ZhongyangYinyueXueyuan,ed. (1962) Minzuqiyue[Nationalinstrumental Zhongyang Yinyue Xueyuan Chubanshe [Central Conservatory of Music Publishing Company].

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY A collection of music played on dizi, 8-volume CD set (ChinaRecord CompanyCD 94.350-357)

Lu Chunlingdizi duzuoquxuan[Selecteddizi solos of Lu Chunling](ChinaRecordCompany HL-150)

Huiliu: Yu Xunfa dizi zhuanji [Convergence:a special edition of Yu Xunfa's dizi solos] (Tongshen Yueshe TS-201)

KongQingbaodizi duzuoqu[KongQingbao'sdizi solos] (ShanghaiYaushengDuwuGongshi Y-2049)

Frederick Lau is Assistant Professor of Music at the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in the People's Republic of China in 1986, 1989 and 1992. His interest in Chinese music focusses on

betweenmusicalchangeandsociety musicandtherelationship traditional instrumental

in 20th-centuryChina.He has publishedseveral articleson dizi music. His most recent researchis on the Teochew-Thai music culturein Bangkok and on issues related to the study of the Chinese music diaspora. Address: Music Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, U.S.A. E-mail: