Traditional Chinese music
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| Music festivals | Midi Modern Music Festival |
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Guoyue (; literally "national music"), in its broadest sense, is any music composed for Chinese musical instruments. It is also referred to variously as minyue (民乐), huayue (華樂) and zhongyue (中樂). In its modernized form, it is often Chinese traditional music written or adapted for some form of grand presentation through a large Chinese orchestra. It is frequently broadcast on radio and television in the People's Republic of China, and it is also the primary form of Chinese music taught in conservatories in China, as well as in Taiwan and Singapore.
The term guoyue appeared in various ancient texts and had various different meanings before the 20th century. It was used as early as the Sui-Tang period to refer to court music or yayue. In the Music Record section of History of Liao, it was used to distinguish the music of the Khitan rulers from that of the Han Chinese. During the Qing Dynasty it was used to refer to the kind of ceremonial court repertoire that was seen as a representation of China.
In the early 20th century, guoyue became a popular term used loosely to include all music written for Chinese instruments in response to a particular nationalistic consciousness. Later, after Communist victory in 1949, a new term minyue, short for minzu yinyue (民族音乐) meaning national or people's music, was used in mainland China to encompass all compositions and genres for traditional instruments including music of ethnic minorities. In Taiwan it continues to be known as guoyue, but in other Chinese communities, it may also be referred to as huayue (for example in Singapore and Malaysia) or zhongyue (in Hong Kong).
In the early 20th century, the term guoyue was widely used to distinguish between imported Western music and traditional Chinese music. It therefore included all Han Chinese music but excluded anything written for Western instruments. In its broadest term it includes all Chinese instrumental music, opera, regional folk genres, and solo pieces.
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