Preliminary Study On Transmission Of Chinese Music Into Europe In Ming And Tsing Dynasties

In Ming and Tsing Dynasties, the transmission of Chinese music to the West became an important part of Sino-Western musical exchanges in this period. During the two dynasties lasting for 543 years, the transmission of Chinese music to the Europe started at the end of Ming Dynasty, thrived in the early and middle period of Tsing Dynasty, and steadily developed in late Tsing Dynasty. Under the influence of social background, the transmission of Chinese music to the Europe before the Opium War was set in fair Sino-Western relationship; however, after the war, such transmission was presented in different forms, impacted by the unfair Sino-Western relationship. Therefore, the above-mentioned three stages of such transmission in Ming and Tsing Dynasties were of disparate characteristics. Besides, the transmission of Chinese music to the Europe achieved diversified results with abundant contents. Musical forms like songs, instrument music, dramas, and dances were all developed in the Europe, some even forming unique musical forms to the taste of the European after integrated with European folk culture, thus helping enrich the content for such transmission. Furthermore, such transmission in Ming and Tsing Dynasties added to the charm of European music, and helped European music exert influence on Chinese music, consequently leading to new musical forms featuring the combination of Chinese and European music in both China and the Europe. Such forms were the achievements of Sino-Western musical exchange, as well as the historical witness of the mutual influence between Chinese and Western music. Mainly based on the record of Chinese music taken by the European in Ming and Tsing Dynasties, mis paper looks into the transmission of Chinese music in the Europe and tries to present the transmission at that time in a vivid way, so as to dig out resources for such transmission from aspects like culture, society and history.