1. Li Shutong and Lu Xun were the pioneers in the reception of Beethoven in China
The first person to introduce Beethoven to China was Li Shutong (1880-1942). This one of the pioneers of school music went to Japan to study in 1905 and entered Ueno Art College to study painting and music concurrently. In view of the great power of music, he can "promote the health of society, cultivate temperament, and feel the beauty of spirit. The power of effectiveness is extremely powerful." In 1906, he independently founded the "Music Magazine" in Japan - the first in the history of modern music in my country. Music Magazine - He wrote an article "Biography of Beethoven" of more than 300 words. In addition to briefly introducing Beethoven's life, he praised this great Western musician's rigorous attitude towards music creation and his spirit of not being afraid of hardships. He wrote Said: "Every work is reviewed and approved several times, and it is a shame to be cautious about omitting errors. Old books are edited from time to time, and if there are errors, they must be denigrated. This is especially true if they do not cover up their own shortcomings." Li Shutong He wanted to use Beethoven's serious spirit to spur his own creation and study of Chinese school music. Based on this, he blamed himself for not being serious enough in his past work in another article in the magazine, "Yesterday Feilu". The title page of the book and magazine is a charcoal painting of Beethoven that he drew by himself and was titled "Le Saint Beethoven". From then on, Beethoven's title of "Le Saint Beethoven" has been passed down in China. This magazine only published one issue. He asked friends in China to publish it on his behalf. The number of copies is unknown, but it is estimated to be a small number.
Li Shutong painted a portrait of Beethoven (charcoal painting, see the title page of "Little Music Magazine"
In 1907, when Lu Xun was studying in Japan, he wrote an article for "Henan" magazine, The title is "Science History and Education". This is an article that promotes "science to save the country". But at the end of the article, he proposed that while developing science, he believed that China needs to understand the talents of great Western scientists. At the same time, we also need to know Western literature, art, and music masters such as Spiel (Shakespeare), Raphael (Raphael), and Pethoven (Beethoven), because "the only thing that knows the world is knowledge." Chong, life will be greatly exhausted. If it lasts for a long time, the emotion of beauty will be vivid, the thought of fame and sensitivity will be lost, and the so-called science will also tend to disappear. " Lu Xun's words still have practical significance.
Lu Xun and Li Shutong mentioned that China needed Beethoven in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. At that time, China was in the stage of the old democratic revolution, and music education was in the stage of "school music and songs", that is, it was in its infancy. , these two prophets singled out Beethoven as their model of imitation among many Western musicians, which was a valuable move for modern Chinese music, which was still in its enlightenment stage.