Debussy Reception In China(1963-1979):Identity,Appropriation,and Modernization

During the 1930s,the artists Wang Guangqi and Feng Zikai,who received their musical education in Europe,returned to China and disseminated knowledge about western composers\compositional styles and Western classical music.Because of changing orientations of political ideology,the reception of Debussy's music in China has experienced dramatic transformations since that time.The most obvious turning point in this history is that much Western music,including Debussy' s,was banned during the"Cultural Revolution".Debussy's music was a symbol of capitalism and became the target of political conflict.The controversy surrounding the composer that erupted in 1963(known as "The Case of Debussy")and the ideological principle introduced by Mao Zedong in 1964 of "Adapting Western Things to Chinese Needs" created mutual tensions surrounding the significance of Western music during the "Cultural Revolution".In 1979,following the Cultural Revolution,Deng Xiaoping reiterated the ideological principle of"Adapting Western Things to Chinese Needs".At this point,however,the slogan became a project for musicians,politicians,and the public to reexamine Western musical culture.This complicated historical process has played an important role in the direction of Chinese music:from the 1960s to the 1970s,many Chinese composers adopted the strategy of "Adapting Western Things to Chinese Needs" to defend Debussy's music.Now,a hybrid approach of combining Western and traditional styles has become a dominant method for contemporary Chinese composition.Reception studies of Debussy's music have often exaggerated the stylistic affinities between Debussy's music and Chinese aesthetics.Moreover,little work has been done to establish a comprehensive picture of the reception of Debussy from 1930s to the present.In this paper,I examine how political ideologies between 1963 and 1979 shaped Chinese understanding of Debussy as manifested by both composition and aesthetic discussion.In addition to clarifying the shape of this reception history,I also seek to critically examine several "myths" about Debussy circulating in previous studies.