Since the beginning of the 20th century, some concepts of music history in Europe and the United States have changed, and research with the style of works as the main object has gradually shifted to "musical activities" as a whole. The study of music history is a discipline that combines musicology and history. Therefore, if music history is limited to the "history" level, then the narrative of music history is based on historical data (documentary and archaeological data) composed on the basis of. Historical facts are based on the collection, criticism, analysis and synthesis of historical materials. In this process, we must grasp the historical flow of music themes and styles in different eras and regions, and gain insights into and analyze the flow of music in various historical periods from different macro and micro levels. There is no doubt that we should grasp the way this historical flow occurs. is diverse. This kind of understanding can be based on the theme and style of music, or it can observe the essence of music from the aspects of aesthetic consciousness, social phenomena, etc., and reveal historical cultural phenomena.

Writings on the history of music, in addition to general history, also include history of epochs, history of music genres, history of music types, etc. Some historical works were written by people from this country, and some were written by people from other countries. They also have their own opinions on the division of historical eras. The styles are also different, and the types and styles are very diverse. Here are some examples from the world history and national history of music.

If we focus on the general history of world music, "The History of Musical Instruments, New York, 1940" written by Curt Sachs (1881-1959) is It is worth mentioning that he divided the history of the world's musical instruments into prehistory, ancient times, the Middle Ages and modern times, and conducted parallel narratives based on the clues of the historical development of the East and the West. This can be said to be the first general history of world music written with musical instruments as the main clue. This was followed by "Die vier Weltalter der Musik, Stuttgart" (Die vier Weltalter der Musik, Stuttgart) completed in 1961 by German scholar W. Viora (1907-), which also integrated Eastern and Western music phenomena. A monograph on the history of world music with a cross-sectional parallel narrative.

The system and research methods of world music history as a general history during this period are still in the exploratory stage. Therefore, how to write the history of world music is a very important topic. The author believes that before focusing on writing the history of world music, the subject system of Eastern music history must first be scientifically improved. Naoao Tanabe's "History of Oriental Music" in 1930, and Seio Kishibe's "Oriental Musical Instruments and Their History" in 1948 were his attempts. However, there are still some problems when the two are viewed in the system of world history and Eastern (Asian) history (in fact, the same problems also exist in the history of European music). The integration phenomenon of national culture here is much more complicated in the East than in Europe. It is very difficult to form a system as a cultural circle. Whether it is the history of Eastern music or the history of music in other parts of the West, it is difficult to fully describe the complete musical history of various nations and countries from ancient times to modern times. Among the attempts at world music history is Austrian musicologist August Wilhelm Ambros's "Geschichte der Music" (History of Music), which consists of five volumes. The first three volumes were completed by him around the second half of the 19th century. ), a monograph on the history of music like F.J. Fetis's "Biographies of Musicians and General Music Bibliography" (1835-1844), which discusses Eastern music and ancient European music in parallel with horizontal historical clues. C. Saxo's "The History of Musical Instruments" and his "The Rise of Music in the Ancient World: East and West, New York, 1943" have a relatively warm and ambiguous view of the times. Nao Tanabe's "History of Oriental Music" is based on the "diffusion of Central Asian music", "the eastward flow of West Asian music", "the influence of Islam and the rise of Mongolia", "the establishment of national music", "the invasion of European music and Oriental music". "The Globalization of Music" is discussed in five chapters respectively.

Shigeo Kishibe's "Oriental Musical Instruments and Their History" also divides the history of Eastern music into "the inherent music era in early ancient times", "the international music era in late antiquity", "the medieval national music era", and "the modern world music era". discussed in the four periods. The above-mentioned works by Tanabe and Kishibe all describe Asia as a whole region, but there are some differences in the division of eras and some historical views. However, there are few general histories like this outside Japan. W. Viola's "Four Era of World Music History" is set as "prehistory and ancient times", "Oriental music in ancient high civilization", "the special status of Western music", and "the era of industrial culture in the technological world" During this period, in the Eastern part, it is very unclear how to grasp the chronological divisions between ancient times, the Middle Ages and modern times. There is an obvious lack of historical data here.

In describing the history of world music, what is more important is the evaluation of historical development. For example, China's Peking Opera, Japan's Noh, India's raga, Indonesia's gamelan, etc., what position should these music genres and styles be placed in the history of world music? How can comparisons and evaluations like this avoid subjective consciousness? It is very difficult to establish a view of music history. Merely presenting a detailed chronology cannot be the result of historical research. It is very necessary to establish the development characteristics of each period in music history based on objective historical facts and comprehensive horizontal analogy evaluation. The historical evaluation of music, the history of genres and styles and social history cannot be described separately, because music is produced in a specific historical period and environmental culture.

The general history of regional and national music is narrated in terms of ethnic, regional and historical epochs and genre classifications. In addition to the history of Western music, China, Japan and Korea have made considerable achievements in the general history of their countries. In Japan, at the end of the Edo period (1603-1867), a comprehensive description of the music of the Edo period, especially specific types of songs and joruri (a kind of rap music), appeared - "Sound Music" "Rei-taur" (Note: "Shōgoku Rei-taur's Supplement" and "Sound-Ku Rei-taur's Supplement" were both included in "Iwanami Bunko", 1941.) (Saito Tsutsumi, 1847). This work focuses on Joruri and collects the rhythms, lyrics, performers' biographies, repertoire, chronology, etc. of the Edo period. In this field, its information is detailed, its analysis is thorough, and it is very authoritative. In the second half of the 19th century, the first general history monograph on the history of Japanese music appeared - "A Brief History of Song and Dance Music" (Note: "A Brief History of Song and Dance Music" was written by Konakamura Kiyomiki in 1888, and edited by Tsune Kiyosa in "Iwanami Bunko" in 1928 Year Edition. ) (two volumes) is a chronological work, but its overall basis is based on detailed information, and its historical authenticity is highly praised. It is the earliest monograph that discusses the Gagak system. "History of Japanese Music" by Naozu Tanabe in 1932 and "History of Japanese Music" by Hideyoshi Yoshikawa in 1965 can be called Japan's representative general history works. Naoio Tanabe's "History of Japanese Music" is a work written from the perspective of cultural history and using ethnological methodology. However, as a historical methodology, it is somewhat outdated. Hideshi Yoshikawa's "History of Japanese Music" summarizes and summarizes the research results in various fields, extracts historical facts, and completes it in the order of the times. It is a concise, clear, and faithful general history. However, the whole work has It leaves some regrets that music scores are not used to illustrate musical phenomena and theoretical issues.

Most of the general histories of music published in modern China appeared after the Republic of China, and they all adopt a chronological narrative style. Overall, there are roughly "History of Chinese Music" by Zheng Jinwen in 1929, "History of Chinese Music" by Wang Guangqi in 1934, "A Brief History of Music in Literature" by Zhu Qianzhi in 1935, and "History of Chinese Music" by Yang Yinliu in 1953. "Compendium" and other major general histories. After the 1980s, a large number of Chinese music history books appeared, especially on the history of ancient music. Although there are many works with unique insights, it is a phenomenon that there are so many similar music history monographs in one country. It is rare in other countries.

Regarding the history of Chinese music, we must also mention the French oriental music scholar Maurice Courant. His "Essai Historique sur la Musiquedes Chinois" written in 1921 was included in the "Music Encyclopedia Dictionary" compiled by A.J.A. Lavignac. Part 1, Volume 1), this book discusses the development of Chinese music in a relatively detailed and objective manner, and is also the earliest general history of Chinese music.

Research on the history of Korean music has developed rapidly after the Second World War. The "History of Korean Music" written by Lee Hye-gu, Jang Shi-hun, and Seong Kyung-lin in 1964, and the "Preface to Korean Music" by Lee Hye-gu in 1967, are very complete from style to form, and the historical research is also in-depth and detailed. The above-mentioned general history is a work based on research at multiple levels in various fields, including the textual research of historical materials, interpretation of documents, and analysis of music scores since the Li Dynasty. Regarding the study of Korean music history, in recent years, in addition to domestic research, European and American scholars have conducted research on it, especially the research on the court music that has flowed into North Korea from China since the Tang and Song Dynasties. It has also formed a strong force (Note: see Gong Hong Yu "Research on Ancient Chinese Music Spread in South Korea by Korean and European and American Scholars", "Chinese Musicology" Issue 3, 2002).

The general history of Southeast Asia and India has not yet fully formed a system. Regarding Vietnamese traditional music, Chen Wenxi’s doctoral thesis "Vietnamese Traditional Music" completed at the University of Paris in 1962 (Note: La Musique Vietnamienne Tradionnelle, Presses Universitaires de France 108, Boulevard Saint-Germain-Paris, 1962.) is an important way to understand the history of Vietnamese music. , theoretical monographs on traditional instrumental music, rhythm and tune, court music, ritual music, etc. For information on Javanese and Balinese music in Indonesia, see McPhee. However, these are general works, and as a general history, they still lack a certain amount of sorting and accumulation of historical documents and materials. General histories written by Indians include Prajnanananda's masterpiece "Historical Development of Indian Music" (1960) and "A Historical Study of Indian Music" (1965). In addition, the contemporary work includes P. Sambamoorthy's "History of Indian Music" (1960). These works have not really reached the level of in-depth and detailed research in terms of criticism and verification of historical materials, as well as analysis and interpretation of music history phenomena. As a general history, they are still in their initial stage. Ancient Indian music has been studied from a historical perspective by Rao Bhandarkar, Ananda Coomaraswamy and others who have conducted excellent research on various genres and styles, resulting in some outstanding works. A comprehensive general history is conceivable. However, because Indians are more concerned and focused on music performance, they do not pay enough attention to the study of history. In the study of the history of Indian music, many people in Europe and America are concerned about India, but there are few works that serve as historical investigations. In 1941, French scholar C. Marcel-Dubois published "Les Instruments de Musique de I' gnde Ancienne, Paris, 1941) is a more outstanding book.

On the history of music in West Asia, it is rare to see one written by locals, and it has almost become a world exclusively occupied by Europeans and Americans. Many original historical materials of theoretical books were shipped to Europe and became an important basis for European research. Starting from R.G. Kiesewetter's "Die Musik der Araber, Leipzig" (Leipzig) in 1842, many scholars began to conduct historical investigations into Islamic music.

A person who must be mentioned in the study of the history of Arab music is the British scholar H.G. Farmer (Henry Geory Farmer), who completed a general history of Arab music in 1929 - "A History of Arabian Music to the Thirteenth Century" (A History of Arabian Music to The 13th Century) is a monograph based on Arabic, Persian, Turkish and other documents as original historical materials. It was written until the demise of the Abbasid dynasty (Abbasid (8th-13th century) of the Arab Empire). A history of music. Almost half a century after its publication, the work has remained the only authoritative monograph on the history of Arab music outside the Arab cultural circle. The following year, he published a book titled "Historical Facts for the Arabian Musical Influence" (1st edition in 1930, 2nd edition in 1970), which confirmed the influence of Arab music in Western music with detailed examples. factors, and a large amount of historical data confirms the historical fact that Arabic music entered Europe through the Iberian Peninsula. Then, his book "The Sources of Arabian Music" (1940, revised edition 1965) is an explanation of the original historical materials related to the theory, performance and history of Arabic music from the 8th to the 17th century. Collection, a research manual of vital importance to the understanding of early Arabic music. Regarding Arabic music, we should also mention here the masterpiece "Arabic Music" (La Musique Arabe, Paris, compiled from 1930 to 1959, six volumes in total) compiled by R.D'Erlanger. A masterpiece of ten years. Volume 1 and the first half of Volume 2 are written by Al. The French translation of Al-Farabi's "The Great Book of Music", the third volume is Safi. A full translation of Adeen's "Melodic Writing", the fourth volume is the "General Theory of Music" dedicated to Muhammad II during the Ottoman Empire, and the fifth volume is a study related to the theory and practice of modern Arabic classical music, including From scales, melodies and some literature, the sixth volume is the rhythmic organization and musical form analysis of Arabic music. The book also contains many examples of staff notation. This book is an important work that discusses the history of Arabic music very systematically and comprehensively.

As for the research on Arabic music, there have been some in-depth studies in Germany and France since the 1960s and 1970s. For example, the "Handbook of Orientalism" compiled by Spuler was published in 1970. The treatise "Die Musik des Arabisch-islamischen Bereichs" (Music of the Arab-Islamic Cultural Circle) compiled in Volume 4 of the first volume "Orientalische Musik" (Handbuch der Orientalistic) is a review of music related to the Arab-Islamic Cultural Circle before the 1970s A historical overview of the study of Arabic music. Research on the theory of Arab music technology also includes O. Wright's "The Modal System of Arab and Persian Music" (1978) (Note: see "Music Events", Ordinary Society, 1982, Volume 4, Page 1705). The earlier study of Islamic music in the East includes Japanese scholar Iida Tadazumi's "The Musical Views of Medieval Arabs" in 1936 (Note: The first volume of Japan's "Oriental Music Research", 1936.). It is also worth mentioning here that "The Western Stream of Music" completed by Shigeo Kishibe in 1952 (Tokyo "Music Friends Society") was translated into Chinese in 1983 and renamed "Islamic Music" (Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, Translated by Lang Ying), this is a booklet of about 80,000 words, but it is almost the only Chinese monograph on Islamic music and is of great significance to our understanding of Islamic music.

The treatise concisely explains the formation and development process of Islamic music, discusses the relationship between Arabic music and Greek, Persian and Indian music using comparative musicology research methods, and further explains the impact of Islamic music on Europe and the East with examples. Influence, the summary of previous research is also very objective and informative, and it is a very clear and easy-to-understand monograph on Islamic music.