Chinese national music generally consists of four parts: court music, literati music, religious music, and folk music.

Court music

Part of it is ritual music, such as various types of sacrificial music, triumphal music, court music, etc.; the other part is entertainment music, such as various banquet music, Be happy. These two parts of music reflect two aspects of the court aristocratic culture, one is the shaping of the self-image of imperial supremacy, and the other is the spiritual enjoyment of the aristocratic class.

Literati music

Literati music includes Guqin music and Ci-melody music. Together with calligraphy, painting, and poetry, it constitutes the unique literati culture in traditional Chinese culture. Qin, chess, Calligraphy, painting, and piano rank first. Guqin music pursues the otherworldly artistic conception and the idea of ??unity between man and nature, and the romantic color of "clear, quiet, light and far away". This kind of music is most in line with the "neutralization" idea of ??feudal society and has become the ancient people's moral cultivation and shaping The best means of character.

Religious music

1. It reflects the diversified characteristics of Chinese religious beliefs. Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, and Shamanism all have their own characteristics in religious music based on their respective cultures; 2. Foreign music and musical instruments brought by foreign religions are constantly integrated with local music; third, a strong folk style, a large amount of religious music is based on folk songs and modified to make it ritualistic and ceremonial.

Folk music

Folk music is divided into folk songs, singing and dancing, rap, opera, instrumental music, and is mainly comprehensive art. The unique Chinese traditional culture has given birth to the unique genre, form, style and content of national folk music, which has become the foundation of Chinese national music. Its characteristics are:

1. Richness: China has a vast land, numerous ethnic groups, and various folk customs, forming a wide variety of folk music. So far, there are about 300,000 folk songs collected, including countless solo, duet, and ensemble pieces; there are about 200 kinds of national musical instruments; there are about 200 kinds of Chinese folk arts; there are about 360 kinds of operas. Both folk art and opera are comprehensive arts, and music is one of its important components. It is also the main embodiment of the characteristics and styles of various opera types, types of music. As for the rich and colorful repertoire, repertoire, voices, styles, tunes, trades, genres, arias, civil and military music, etc. in these many types of operas, it is even more difficult to count.

2. Uncertainty: Folk music is generally produced orally and taught orally. Oral development makes folk music more uncertain, changing, innovative and improvisational.

3. Popularity: Folk music is a musical culture jointly created by the working people. It expresses the lives of the working people, expresses their feelings, expresses their will and wishes, and is more The rich local flavor and national color are closer to the working people and are accepted and loved by them.

4. Practicality: Many folk songs have not completely gotten rid of their original form of practical functions. For example, various labor chants still have both practical and expressive functions. Its expressiveness lies in using artistic form to reflect the strength, attitude, ambition and aesthetic taste of workers. It is a direct reflection of the living conditions of working people.