The invention of the march genre is a major contribution of Westerners to world music. March was introduced to our country around the late 1890s. It was after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 that the Qing Dynasty was defeated and appointed minister Yuan Shikai to train troops in Tianjin using foreign methods. Yuan Shikai adopted the advice of a German consultant, purchased Western brass instruments, and formed China's first modern ceremonial band. This was the first way that march music was introduced to China.
When you have your own band, you need to play your own music, which involves creative issues. Until the beginning of the 20th century, when China had no works of its own, some composers studied foreign marches and adapted them and wrote lyrics. For example, in 1918, Li Shutong arranged and wrote "Greater China". It was not until 1924, after the May 4th Movement (1919), that composer Xiao Youmei (1884-1940) followed the tradition of foreign marches and created the "May 4th Memorial Patriotic Song", and then he had his own marches. He studied in Japan and Germany and was the first Chinese person to systematically study Western music abroad. This is the second way in which the march is introduced.
In his book "A Concise Oxford History of Music", a British author, Gerald Abraham, described the influence of Western music on China and wrote: In the last few years of Manchu rule, A wave of Westernization (the Westernization Movement) not only impacted the field of music, but also affected other aspects; especially after World War II, many Chinese musicians have become very proficient in Western musical instruments, and some have even composed music for them. The author places the description of this time period approximately twenty years later than the actual date.
In fact, China’s acceptance of Western music was about forty years later than Japan’s. Japan's armed invasion by Western countries in the 1850s and the Meiji Restoration in the 1960s broke Japan's isolation from the outside world, and it soon accepted Western clothing, weaponry, music, etc. They didn't abandon their own music entirely, but the military adopted European bands. In the 1880s, schools began to teach Western music, and piano or organ became required instruments. Later, when they invaded China, they influenced the music of Northeast China. This is the third way in which the march is introduced.
The production of China’s Korean national march cannot be separated from the historical background of China’s Anti-Japanese War. The anti-Japanese songs that began around 1910 are marked by the influence of Japanese military music. Taking Longjing, the main gathering place in Yanbian at that time, as an example, each school had its own wind band, playing march-style music. These styles naturally influenced the songs of the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces.
After liberation, more than 400 anti-Japanese songs were collected and published from Yanbian, Liaoning and Heilongjiang provinces in Northeast China⑧. Most of these songs are valuable historical and cultural heritage left over from the anti-Japanese struggle in Northeast China. It is a march song, among which the three most popular and influential ones are "Song of Brave Advancement", "General Mobilization Song" and "Guerrillas Song". These songs were widely popularized and circulated through the performances of the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces. Unfortunately, due to the war at the time, it was impossible to verify the exact origins of these songs. However, the music style must be inseparable from the large style circle of Japanese military music at that time.
Chinese marches were influenced by foreign and Western influences from scratch. From adapting foreign marches to creating their own creations, this is the result of Chinese composers' efforts to learn from foreign experience, continue to deepen their lives, sum up experience and introduce new ones. , is also a gratifying achievement in the continuous Chineseization and nationalization of the march genre.
Chinese and foreign marches have their own characteristics, but on the whole they are still similar. This is because the march genre itself comes from foreign countries (Western). Chinese marches came from scratch, and it took more than 120 years from adapting foreign marches to creating our own. In this long history, Chinese composers have worked hard to learn from foreign experiences, constantly deepened their lives, summed up experience, and introduced new ones. They have made gratifying achievements in the Chineseization and nationalization of marches, and have explored the Chinese characteristics for the creation of marches. The unique musical language expression methods and means fully demonstrate the Chinese charm of music style.
The characteristics of Chinese and foreign marches are specifically reflected in the form, content, structure, mode, tonality, rhythm, theme development and other elements of the music.