Examination of music tradition: Xiao Youmei and Wang Guangqi are representatives who love national music culture, but return to examine the value and significance of Chinese traditional music culture from a Western perspective. This is also the subject of Chinese traditional music research. the beginning of.
Xiao Youmei studied in Germany and obtained a doctorate in 1916 at the University of Leipzig in Germany with a thesis "The Historical Development of Chinese Orchestras before the Seventeenth Century". Xiao Youmei became the first Chinese doctor in musicology in Europe degree first person. This paper not only organized a large amount of data in a research field that was still blank, but also sorted out a line of development of traditional Chinese musical instruments. His purpose of writing this paper was very clear, hoping to use the knowledge of comparative music ethics acquired through his studies in Europe. , analyzing the existing problems and deficiencies in the development of Chinese traditional musical instruments. He discusses the interference of successive dynasties in the rule of music and social unrest, the "rejection of conservative ethicists", the "failure to promote the development of academic education in music", and the lack of advanced acoustics, notation and Polyphonic music composition techniques. Finally, he pointed out, "The Chinese people are very musical. If Chinese musical instruments are improved according to European technology, there is the possibility of continued development." "I hope that one day in the future, Chinese music will usher in a development stage." In the new era, ancient music has been reborn while retaining Chinese sentiments. This kind of music has become an asset among the Chinese people and will always become an asset.”[3]
In a true sense. It was Wang Guangqi who was the Chinese scholar who learned Western comparative musicology methods and put them into practice. In the 1920s, Wang Guangqi studied in Germany and studied under Hornpostel, an important figure of the "Berlin School". Influenced by comparative musicology, he wrote "Music of Oriental Peoples" in Germany in 1925. In this work, Wang Guangqi introduced to the Chinese people what he believed to be the "three major music systems in the world", namely the Chinese, Greek and Persian music systems. He conducted a comparative study of these three major music systems through a large amount of musical data. [4] This is the first time that Chinese scholars have used a comparative method to examine Chinese music in the context of world music. The purpose is different from the "Berlin School" advocating "evolutionary" thinking, but to look forward to using such a comparative research method. , so that Chinese people can fully understand the characteristics of Chinese music and the differences between it and other ethnic music, so as to revitalize the development of Chinese traditional music. This concept is very clearly stated in the "Preface" of "Research on Eastern and Western Musical Systems" written in 1924. He said: "I will climb to the top of Kunlun and play the rhythm of the yellow bell, so that the inherent musical blood of the Chinese people can Boil again. I will make my dream of "Young China" appear before us day and night."