Rock in Movement: The Western Popular Music in China’s Cultural Revolution

Abstract

It was commonly believed that Chinese popular music has emerged after the Cultural Revolution in 1976. In this research, I focus on the Chinese youths’ non-official, underground and apolitical music engagement in Western popular music in the later stage of the Cultural Revolution. During the revolutionary era, the scene of Chinese music is characterized by a set of revolutionary model operas as the mainstream art form. Official historical narratives were the major channel to learn about the musical culture of the Cultural Revolution. However, more personal and private music experiences during this era are often marginalized or neglected, and would never appear in larger historical narratives. In 1970s China, the political tension about the use of culture remained high. By means of underground art experience, something at the heart of the revolutionary culture had been touched and changed by the Western pop culture. I aim to use multi-disciplinary approaches and demonstrate the significance of Western popular music in the apolitical grassroots music activities during the later stage of the revolutionary era. Deviating from the authorized musical line, the apolitical art plays a part in waking up a generation of Chinese youth and delineates a counterpoint to the nation’s cultural hegemony. The jarring contrast between Western popular music and the revolutionary culture articulates the heterogeneous aesthetic values and Chinese youth’s seeking for self-expression during the transitional period of China.