Music of minorities: Reflections on China

This article provides a historical perspective on China’s 55 official ethnic minorities and describes how their music (and cultures, in general) is represented in Chinese music education and media. The result of a literature review on the subject, this article describes how minorities were viewed first from a perspective of Confucian doctrines through Maoism and into modern China after the events of Tiananmen Square and the country’s accelerated economic growth. With the advances made in recent decades, there has been a significant increase in ethnic representation in both music education and the media, rescuing numerous traditions that were on their way to oblivion. At the same time, the article describes the negative aspects and hidden objectives behind these advances promoted by the government, especially in relation to the separatist tensions of the Tibetan and Uighur peoples. The article comments how music can be used to “exoticize” minorities and promote patriotic feelings of unity. While there has been a focus on patriotic education during recent decades, we also discuss how the policy of greater appreciation of ethnic minority cultures has propitiated increased feelings of pride and ethnic identification. In conclusion, the article seeks simply to emphasize the importance of describing in a complex way a complex reality with its multiple coexisting aspects, both positive and negative, while also stressing the importance of making music educators aware of their important role in representing minorities.