The politics underlying the art movements in China during two key ten-year periods:

The politics underlying the art movements in China

During two key ten-year periods:

{1945-1955 Liberation} and {1985-1995 Opening}

by David Harrison O'Dell

Final editions by Dr. Janice Leoshko

The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Asian Studies

Research term: Beijing, CHINA 1995-1997

Written term: Beijing, CHINA 1996-1997

This thesis is divided into two chronological parts that I chose as representing modern Chinese art at its most vibrant. I state now that I don't see the Cultural Revolution as containing much positive influence at all; therefore I saddle my research periods before and after it. In my opinion it seems that more people find the Cultural Revolution, a period of warped societal possession, strikingly interesting, I however do not. I personally find the Liberation period of the 1940's-the spirit that drove a burgeoning young Communist party to fight for China's independence-contrasted with the New Reform period of the 1980's-the time in which the battle for artistic independence is waged while new technologies and new ideas are assimilated into everyday life-to be incredibly insightful and ripe with valuable lessons for tomorrow's China.

Part One takes the Chinese art world of the Liberation period, art being a normally "qualitative" entity, and describes it "quantitatively" through the policies issued by the CCP that steered art's path during the years preceding and following Liberation. At the beginning of my research I found that one can't simply remove then examine a ten year slice of history and hope to learn completely the reason and logic behind CCP policy. I had to reach back to around 1920 in order to grasp fully the spirit behind the Liberation, likewise in reaching back I had to scan forward to inspect the results of those prior policies along with their inherent artistic reaction. Therefore, Part One covers 1945-1955, but is purposely expanded to cover l920-1960 in order to gain broad political insight. This first part details the policies behind what I believe to be the main aspects of art that would have had the most influence on the public during Liberation. Aspects such as drama, painting, music and literature all had major impacts on society, but most importantly also had uniquely varying levels of influence for which they could persuade and stir reactive motivation among the public. Which during this time was in desperate need of unification and political stability. This varied influence is what we still see during the New Reform period of the 1980's, as you'll see the influence is still backed by government policies and is silently criticized by many of China's urban youth.

Part Two continues to describe in colorful detail (some say I went a little overboard) the Chinese art world as a "quantitative" function of policy. The New Reform period and the policies that structure it merely open the gates of influence, allowing more independent patterns of thought as well as allowing artists themselves to directly take in material from outside of China, integrate it and expand on it with their own creative genius. This period brought me to focus on the aspects of China's underground visual art and music worlds because it seemed to me that these two aspects were, for most part in the 80's and 90's, the most influential on the general public. Why focus on the 'underground' realm? It’s a known fact that mainstream culture always feeds upon the remnants of the underground's former trends. Mainstream culture has always been influenced by, and has always held, a teething curiosity towards the avant-garde and post-modern realms of the global art world. Therefore 1 chose to focus on the accepted "art-to-be" so to speak, that art which is corralled by politics and profoundly influential to the general public; and in studying it I became part of it, an aggressive supporter and major developer of China's underground art world.

During the two years in researching and writing this material, I joyfully admit that the conscious literary attitude in my writings of these two periods has migrated from that of common stuffy historical analysis (during Part One of the 1940's) to that of documenting the unstable path of alternative art (during Part Two of the 1990's). Words can't describe the passion and the beauty expressed through the varied forms of artistic media that I witnessed and promoted while in China, and in such bold expressions there holds still today a sense of artistic pioneering through uncharted socio-political territories. In my travels and cohabitation among artists I vicariously discovered a new sense of self, one that is more tolerant not only to developing countries but also to systems of international diplomacy.

When I first started researching this thesis I felt upon my arrival in Beijing that China wasn't backwards at all, it was my entire Western view of China that was backwards, it had been twisted and distorted resulting in a dangerously gross bias. Was it my fault to trust the Western media (news, books, broadcasts) pouring out of the P.R.C.; not only trust it, but take that small slice of information for representing the whole of country so vast and so culturally embellished? Yes, I was at fault for sinking into the warm comforts my own Western interpretations, taking for granted like millions of others, the fact that China today is in a very simplistic general perspective a product of an over-populated largely agrarian traditional society; one of the oldest and largest in the world comparable only to India. With these simple facts, "over-populated," "agrarian," "traditional," one can glean a healthy insight on not only China's current condition within the last century, but also on it's role as an upcoming international market force. This is my goal; to somehow enlighten others about China's social and political history in a way that Western media hasn't compelled itself to do and also to encourage others to be tolerant and take more than the requisite steps towards cultural engagement.

10-year period comparison of the arts in China

PART ONE

Years 1945-1955

(Including details on the "17-years" period works of 1949-1966)

Introduction:

From what I had seen in American media and in the textbooks I had read, I drew the conclusion that artists here in China were living a life on borderline oppression, between that of political prisoner and that of an escaped convict. But after my first year in Beijing, the oppression that was so colorfully described in the media was just not visible. Which seems rather odd because if there were any major signs of oppression or general dislike from the central government towards artists, it would be focused most intensely in Beijing, the seat of the Republic's power. Now, granted every country has a small minority of artists that would be labeled unsuitable for social interaction due to political criticisms produced in their artwork. On the contrary, from what I've witnessed here is quite contradictory to the general western attitude in the media towards China and the arts within. The visible truth being is that the majority of young artisans here in Beijing live a fairly oppression-free lifestyle, within understandable limits, of a newly emerging modern China. Chinese popular art; the majority of art and that art which is accepted and enjoyed by the general population, has been under government influence since the official declaration by Mao during the Yan'an talks of 1942.

The politics of the time argued that art should no longer be something simply seen or heard, but rather something used as a powerful instrument to "facilitate other revolutionary work," thus uniting artisans with the grim situations on the battlefield in order to "overthrow the national enemy [The KMT and the imperialist factions] and accomplish the task of national liberation." The answer to why art, literature and music were so invaluable to the central government during the period from 1937-1945 is a dual function of both the decrease in political directives concerning affairs related to the Anti-Japanese war and an increase in directives concerning the internal cohesion of the party's membership.

The graph {G1} indicates that as the years go by we see a decline in the amount of directives issued concerning affairs with Japan and the KMT -- "War Directives" (those in blue). At the same time we see an increase in the amount of directives issued concerning internal cohesion -- "Propaganda Directives" (those in green). Demonstrating that as the war comes to an end and as the Party's membership increases from more areas having been liberated, the Party feels that the need for 'homogenous political orientation' is essential; thus the need for directives concerning internal cohesion rises.

In 1942, as the Anti-Japanese war was slowly diminishing in China, the Central Committee on September 1st issued "The Decision on Unifying Party Leadership in the Anti-Japanese Base Areas and Regulating Relations Among Various Organizations". Chinese Anti-war organizations such as the 'Awakening League' founded in 1939 and the 'Anti-War League' founded in 1940 united to form the North China Federation of Anti-War Leagues after the formal talks of 1942 thereby giving "a great deal of assistance in propaganda and education" towards the border regions affected by the war. This directive and its results not only would be the hallmark that tied art and literature organizations to the revolutionary movement but most importantly was used to "strengthen the unity of the Party at all levels."

Earlier that year, immersed in the momentum of war, the membership of the party exceeded the bounds of efficient political overview by the Central Committee. The party recourse in Yan'an on February 1, 1942, was to organize a rectification campaign under the title of "Rectifying the Party's Three Styles" headed by Mao to be aimed at avoiding and fighting the then current trends of subjectivism, sectarianism and stereotypes in order to "clarify ideas and unite cadres."{1} The Central Committee felt that mass political review of the party as a whole was required. Mao's famous quote, "learning from past mistakes to avoid future ones and curing the sickness to save the patient," colorfully emphasized the disheveled character of the party at the time. The Central Committee was held in constant fear of counter-revolutionary elements within the party to such an extent during this period that as membership expansion increased due to the fact that more and more regions had been recently liberated by the various route armies of the Communists, the need for immediate review, rectification and cohesion was chronologically necessary.

Why Socialist Realism in art?

Why not Abstraction?

In 1919, Chinese intellectuals and students, dissatisfied with pro-Japanese officials in Beijing and the disappointing results of the Treaty of Versailles respond to imperialist oppression by launching the May 4th movement; a movement spread beneath the banner of pro-democracy and calling for an end to China's indignation as a country seeing its borders and its people divided and dealt out to players among the foreign powers. Marxism, a major catalyst in the May 4th movement was well known to many Chinese intellectuals prior to the movement by having been exposed to material describing revolutionary events that occurred during the 1917 Russian October Socialist Revolution and material promulgating Marxist theory.

The May 4th Movement brought to life a unified Marxist vision between those that collaborated in the movement's formation. Mao Zedong, one of the early collaborators, branched off to focus on the worker's situation almost a year prior to the formation of the Chinese Communist Party (August 1920) in Shanghai; the center of industry in China during the early 1900's. In order to dessimate Marxist thought to the public, the Shanghai division of the Socialist Youth League, an organization of the workers' movement, published revolutionary periodicals such as New Youth, The Communist Party, and The Laborers; all published by organizing trade unions of workers within the printing and manufacturing circles. On November 1, 1923, the Communist Party opened the Shanghai Bookstore to sell and distribute revolutionary literature and other journals; only to have it banned in 1926 by the warlord Sun Chuanfang.

As unfortunate as the closure of the Shanghai Bookstore was, it affirmed early on the Communists' undaunting ability to absorb powerful political blows and unexpected setbacks. Later that year, the Communist Party addressed the same spirit and appointed Mao Zedong to hold the position of editor of The Political Weekly, a cooperative publication between the Communists and the KMT distributed in the southern region of Guangzhou aimed at "smashing the counter-revolutionary propaganda in the north and the Yangzi River area." Mao, paying great attention to national class struggle, published his article "The National Revolution and the Peasant Movement," in which he expressed his belief that, "the peasant question is the central issue of the national revolution," and that the workers and peasant classes should, "launch an attack," to topple the imperialist powers above them. From this history of constant class struggle and focusing on the workers movement during the early revolution, one can detect where the majority of artistic influence came from in the years prior to 1949. From the traditional brush paintings of Xu Beihong to the post-liberation dramas of Lao She, Socialist Realism in China became the most popular base from which to gather artistic material in support of the proletariat revolution.

Literature during the "17 years Period" and Revolutionary Heroism

Modern literature in the People's Republic is formally dated as starting in 1949 alongside the date of the liberation, victory and unification of China that year on October 1st. From 1949 literature is divided into three periods. The first "17 years" (Shiqinian) period of 1949-1966; the period after unification and right before the Cultural Revolution. The second decade long "Cultural Revolution" (Wenhua Da Geming) period of 1966-1976. Finally the current "New Period" (Xinshiqi Wenxue) from 1977 to the present. This thesis is concerned with the first period mainly because during the key years of 1945-1955, those years leading up to and following the foundation of the People's Republic, modern Chinese literature sees several fundamental developments; the development of revolutionary heroism brought about by:

- The author's political background

- The author's concern for the reader/audience

- Placement of the 'hero'

- The hero's position in society

The representative trend of the 17-years period literary works are summed up as displaying "revolutionary emotion" as well as having a "distinct socio-political nature."{2} Works of this period also displayed another key characteristic as well, the position of the 'hero,' who had a functional and fantastic role to assume. The hero's temperament was that of portraying the role of the modern victor going through the paces of hope; for a unified nation, love; for the freedom that new China had brought, and death; in the two unforgotten wars with the KMT and Japan. The job of the hero in literature was to express large historical accounts that occurred during liberation while maintaining a revolutionary posture, therefore the hero was placed in the center and given full right to expand on the author's own experiences. In Wu Qiang's Red Sun the story spreads out as we see through the eyes of a victorious army as it goes through 3 major historical battles. Wu Qiang, also a former soldier in the Fourth Route army, worked as a writer in the Culture & Propaganda department of his division; thereby providing the necessary pipeline of communication between the government, the literary circle, finally flowing to the people. Red Sun not only placed the hero in the center but also employed the author's own memories of being in the army as an historical well to draw realistic material from. The plot is centered on two of the Communist's great commanders and their battles with Chiang Kai Shek and the KMT. Liang Bo, an outstanding commander, paired together with Shen Zhenxin, a leader who had already seen tremendous hardship from taking part in the Long March of the Communists, are both portrayed in a contemporary sense as they go through the days' activities of war. This trait of 'taking the daily routines of the common man' and overlaying an aura of heroism is what united the political directives and historical accounts inherited from the author with the reader--who was, by the government's opinion--in need of education and revolutionary enlightenment.

Even as late as 1958, Mao was still concerned with the public's need for revolutionary enlightenment when he published in the June 1 premiere issue of Red Flag, assessing the unsatisfied intellectual and economic state of his countrymen, he wrote "The outstanding thing about China's 600 million people is that they are 'poor and blank.' This may seem a bad thing, but in reality it is a good thing." He went on further to explain that being impoverished and having the desire for enlightenment was revolutionary by reporting, "Poverty gives rise to the desire for change, the desire for action and the desire for revolution. On a blank sheet of paper free from any mark, the freshest and most beautiful characters can be written, the freshest and most beautiful pictures can be painted."

In the novel Protect Yan'an, based on the battle by the same name, the heroic characters range from the high-ranking military leader Peng De Huai, to the courageous foot soldiers Zhou Dayong and Tiger Wang. This novel is a portrait of revolutionary heroism with one chapter that especially demonstrates the style of writing, which was used to uplift and motivate the general reading public. The chapter, "On the [fighting] Front of the Great Wall," Zhou Dayong loses contact with his battalion and winds up behind the advancing enemy line desperately searching for a way back to his own army. The novel's literary style doesn't describe him with such simple etchings of just a lone soldier trying to run back to safety, rather, because he is a major hero and more importantly being of modest rank, his character was written to emphasize the heroic plight of the common soldier. His fight for life behind enemy lines, "isn't for his own simple life," rather his struggles are for the greater common goal of "the people's liberation." Another fine example of revolutionary heroism lies in Tiger Wang's character that wakes up from the edge of death in a war-swept field surrounded by corpses. Once realizing his hellish predicament, he utters the words, "I must leave this place." His reason for flight once again has more depth to it than simply finding his own safety.

Tiger Wang realizes even though he has just awaken from the brink of death, he is still alive and therefore feels he must return to his battalion and continue fighting along the front. Waking within this horrible but realistic environment, he lapses into fear and loneliness not because he is amidst this 'field of the dead', but rather his revolutionary spirit won't let fear separate him from the battle and his comrades. To bring Tiger Wang's courage into a wider scope, he basically portrays the 'revolutionary hero', one of modest social rank (the role of the common man) and one that fights nonstop to 'serve the people'. In both Red Sun and Protect Yan'an, one can see that the hero's central placement is just as important as the hero's position in society. In my opinion just who, by name, the hero is doesn't justify a character's importance, rather his rank in the society he has been placed inside of is the most important characteristic. In this novel and others like it during this period, once again returning to Zhou Dayong as an example, the reader can see that the hero is a courageous character, attaining a sense of brightness within the military society, at the same time leaning towards the 'common man' character.

Literature of this period was constantly pushing the limits of persuasive writing, creating a cyclical rehash of heroic stories written with intense concern for the reader. After all, literature was, following Mao's talks at Yan'an, written "for the masses to serve the people." In a broad sense, serving the people seems like a utopian task, but how could even the largest, most talented literary circle draw a blanket style of writing that the public could mentally consume and then act upon? Revolutionary Realism was the best style that served as a dual purpose educational/ motivational tool by taking the daily activities of the common man and placing that character on a heroic pedestal as a way of bringing the masses closer to the soldiers' experiences and the government's directives.

As the graph above illustrates, the Japanese/KMT conflicts decrease with time, the amount of directives focused at maintaining internal party cohesion increase with time (peaking in 1948), the year right before the founding of the People's Republic of China. In analyzing this period's body of works, one must account for the fact that even after the Liberation of 1949 with the decline of directives focused towards the KMT and Japan, there were still many outbreaks of civil war combined with several instances of 'Rightist' purges within the Communist party itself; not to mention an extremely high rate of recruitment. This is why there was a constant increase in directives of this period focused at 'internal cohesion'. For example, on May 21, 1950, The CPC issued the "Directive on Expanding and Consolidating Party Organizations,"{1} in which it stressed that in recruiting members, the work should be focused on the cities and, above all, on the working class." This determination for gathering new members in the Party was reflected in the June 30 Xinhua News Agency report which read that, "[in this year 1950] by the time of the 29th anniversary of the founding of the CPC, its membership would have exceeded 5 million--2 million of whom were new members recruited over the past two years." Thus creating a heavy air of confusion within the party ranks while at the same time emphasizing the need for internal cohesion. With membership rates rising at such an alarming rate due to the newly liberated areas undergoing recovery and land reform, the Party had no choice but to issue even tighter control over the arts and literature circles during this period of 'Socialist Transition' to unite and mobilize the masses.

Drama during the 17-years Period

Drama took the same course of developments that literature did during this period. Developments such as those in character appointment, the usage of props/settings and the dynamics of the plot all had significant changes influenced by the sadness of war, the joys of liberation and the need for the Party's internal cohesion. In drama, the goal, as in literature, was to mobilize the masses in an effort to help the state. For example in December 1953, as the rules for developing farming cooperatives were being resolved, the CPC approved and distributed a pamphlet prepared by the Propaganda Department titled, "Work Hard and Mobilize all Forces to Make China a Great Socialist Country,"{1}-which brought about an "upsurge in studying and propagating" the Party's line "on all fronts." Bearing in mind the Propaganda Department's responsibilities of the time, it was necessary that the drama academies stick close to this goal when developing characters, especially heroes and antagonists. The hero of the stage was embodied in several characters, those ranging from the revolutionary soldier to that of the more symbolic 'old men' in Lao She's Teahouse (1957) who represented survival within China's swiftly changing political tide.

Teahouse, set inside a typical Beijing teahouse, re-enacts the live of its owners and its guests through three stages in modern Chinese history; the end of the Qing, the transition of rebellion, and the onset of the KMT soldiers overtaking the city. The play itself required an enormous cast of characters who were drawn from all levels of society and ingeniously used to respond to the changes within Chinese society from the end of the Qing dynasty to the invasion of the KMT-a span of 50 years. In developing characters for the play, Lao She admitted that, "with so many characters and such a long time span, it [became] difficult to establish a central plot."{3} However, using this play as an example of dramas written during the 17-years period, it is important to note that the actual plot wasn't the focus-the characters were. When asked about the differences in 'traditional street theater' and the drama in Teahouse, Lao She replied, "In the play, the characters are central, while in [traditional] street theater the events portrayed are central." More often than not, the characters were the most important pieces of the drama as a whole; they were the vehicles of political trends and the prophets of the Party's general line.

Teahouse, as a drama, is known for its usage of vernacular language, that of the streets of Beijing. The usage of 'vernacular' language during this period was in itself a 'revolutionary statement'. Taking the refined language traditionally found in drama and replacing it with the spoken language of the common man was something that Lao She specialized in. The revolutionary attitude of doing away with that which was 'traditional, feudal and from the old society,' such as using the old feudal language in drama, was captured in the play best when Wang Shufen, the wife of the proprietor of the teahouse, says to their waiter Third Born Li, "[with the new reforms] our teahouse has put on a new face; shouldn't you cut off your old queue?" Meaning that Third Born Li should take on a revolutionary stance and do away with his long pony-tail 'queue'-a symbol of Qing dynasty feudalism and something that should be done away with. The play details the broad range of changes in Chinese society from the flight of feudal traditions and growth of foreign influences to corrupt policeman and officials all in transit within a three-act play. Beginning scenes such as in Act One where a poor, desperate peasant woman hastily enters the teahouse with her daughter hoping to sell the child to a wealthy family in hopes of a better life for the little girl, give the audience a sense of appreciation for what the 'New Communist Society' of the late 40's brought about; where it was unnecessary to sell one's children in hopes of securing them a better position in society.

As the Yutai Teahouse was meant to host events in the lives of its guests, the play still retained a noticeable amount of revolutionary flavor such as in Act One: Wang Lifa finds himself in a disagreement with one of the regular guests over the semantics behind 'state property', Wang Lifa charges "You're going to let go of all your property, for the sake of society, with no concern for yourself?" His guest, the wealthy capitalist Qin Zhongyi responds, "You don't understand. It's the only way to strengthen our nation," and that the only way to aid those impoverished by the old society is to "Consolidate [my] capital and start a factory" in order to "keep out foreign goods." Also in the midst of Act One, Fourth Elder Chang, a central character molded around that of an early revolutionary hero, is violently interrupted by Erdezi, the hotheaded youth from the local 'Wrestling Academy'; a corrupt organizational front of government funded muscle. Chang meets Erdezi, an angry young man in his early twenties, in an exchange of revolutionary dialogue as the boy bullies the elder customer:

Fourth Elder Chang: "If you want to frighten someone why don't you take on the foreigners? They're a tough lot. You're in the governments pay, but I didn't see you rushing into the fray when the English and French destroyed Yuan Ming Yuan*"

*Yuan Ming Yuan was an imperial garden originally laid out in the 12th century. Emperor Qianlong set Jesuits to work as architects in building the ornate European style palaces and fountains. In 1860 during the Opium War, British and French troops leveled the gardens to rubble and sent the imperial treasures abroad.

Erdezi: "To hell with the foreigners, I'm going to teach you a lesson instead."

This exchange demonstrates Lao She's use of the 'distaste for the results of foreign intervention' in Chinese affairs; the results of which brought about countless hardships for most Chinese during the transition period from Dynasty to Republic. The dialogue also shows the revolutionary position of Chang as he speaks of his trust within the Chinese people, not the government or foreign powers. His character is juxtaposed by Erdezi's corrupt frame of mind in the fact that he accepts the bribes of a wayward government and even worse, is willing to push aside his disdain for foreigners in lieu of pummeling a fellow Chinese person. Lao She doesn't portray Erdezi as an enemy; rather, he uses the distraught youth as a symbol of the then significant minority of confused people willing to do anything to survive the times.

In the transition between acts, the teahouse setting becomes more and more bare, reflecting the changing times of famine and poverty experienced in Beijing. By Act Two, all of the other big teahouses in Beijing have closed their doors, unable to shelter themselves from the domino effect of financial misfortune. However as the play continues, the Yutai Teahouse remains open, but its appearance and services offered have been altered. The teahouse setting has changed dramatically as if the old house were going through its own 'reforms'. The traditional style, carved mahogany tables are no longer on stage, having been replaced by inexpensive smaller ones draped with pale green tablecloths. The large traditional painting of "The Eight Drunken Immortals" and the teahouse's shrine to the God of Wealth have been removed since Act One; symbolizing a removal of that which was traditional in accordance with the reforms of the 20's and 30's. The attitudes of the regular patrons and new arrivals of the teahouse have become more and more solemn; numb to the extreme changes and unreasonable reforms. Wang Lifa however still remains the steadfast revolutionary in the face of all that has changed in his locality. Still placing his trust in China and the people, Wang Lifa goes through an exchange with Cui Jiufeng, a former member of the legislative assembly now turned Buddhist, which demonstrates Lao She's ability to echo the revolutionary spirit of the Chinese people through his characters:

Cui Jiufeng: "...The day is coming when China will collapse and we'll all be enslaved..."

Wang Lifa: "Then why don't you think of something? Do something? To prevent our people from becoming slaves?"

Cui Jiufeng: "When I was young I thought I had to save the nation; truly I did. But now I see things as they are. China is finished - dead..."

Wang Lifa: "Then we must try to breathe new life into her!"

As the play follows the path of history, Act Three opens with the scene of Granny Kang hastily gathering herself for a long secret journey to the Communist sanctuary of the Western Hills where the Eighth Route Army is supposed to be encamped and where her friend Kang Dali is. Granny Kang is a symbol of the type of person who sought out the Communists in hopes of finding a new life and a new peace, leaving the old society of Beijing. Kang Dali, the boy that she brought up as her own son, isn't directly labeled a 'Communist', but rather given to the audience as a 'secret revolutionary element of the 40's'; those Communists who kept their political alignment secret in fear of being discovered by the KMT. Dali's character is a subliminal reminder to the modern day audience of the hardships of the original Communists. As Granny Kang prepares to flee to the Western Hills she enters this exchange with the teahouse owner Wang Lifa:

Wang Lifa: "How do you know she [Fourth Aunt Pang], a powerful imperial mistress won't smash the teahouse. It doesn't take much to provoke the 'Sanhuangdao Society*'"

*A society of powerful leaders, including KMT officials

Granny Kang: "It's Dali's visit that really has me worried. If anything leaks out, you've all had it. That's a lot worse then them smashing up the teahouse."

By the end of this exchange, Granny Kang is out the door in search of her new life. Meanwhile, the cast is reduced to a trio of central characters; Wang Lifa, Qin Zhongyi and Fourth Elder Chang-all revolutionaries. They've remained near the Yutai teahouse throughout its life span, now as the play comes to an end, we find they've grown quite old, finding a small pleasure in reminiscing about their lives, hardships and the short fallings they had encountered. The three 'old men' place themselves on the firing lines of their own jokes as the play closes, lending the past and the rest of the lives to a good laugh.

Fourth Elder Chang: "...I gathered this bit of fake funeral money after a funeral procession had passed. I don't have burial clothes or a coffin; but why not at least gather together a little funeral money for myself?" (Hearty laughter tinged with despair)

Qin Zhongyi: "Fourth Elder, why don't we scatter your funeral money and pay last respects to ourselves? - The three old fools."

Wang Lifa: "Good idea! Fourth Elder, come on. Shout out some old-fashioned funeral cries."

Lao She not only made a 'master recreation' of the characters and language of the streets of old Beijing, but also paid painstaking attention to detail with his familiarity of old Beijing. Teahouse was a play that gave the audience of the 50's a taste of what the original revolutionaries had gone through. Even if those first heroes, like Wang Lifa had never carried a gun in direct defense of the country, they still acted upon the hopes of a better generation when the government and people could unite in peace; as what happened when the Communists liberated the country. Teahouse employed 'Socialist Realism' in such a way that the audience could easily understand, through set changes, character centralization and revolutionary dialogue, the plight of the common man trying to get by in one of the most confusing periods in Chinese history.

At the tail end of the '17-years period' of literature, on April 28th, 1956, at the enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, Mao Zedong suggested that "letting a hundred flowers blossom" on artistic issues and "letting a hundred schools of thought contend"{1} on academic issues should be the policy that the Party carry out towards literature, art and science in China. Prefixing the onset of the 'hundred flowers' policy there was still a great effort in dramatic compositions that drew material from the years prior to liberation in 1949 in order to give the people revolutionary lessons in morality and politics. Lu Xingchen's The Soldier Beneath the Neon Light, just as in Lao She's usage of realism, brought the audience closer to the common man. This play's specific goal was to echo the government's desire for internal cohesion during the 50's by bringing to life a story of a group of soldiers who were about to be engaged unknowingly in a mental war. The drama, set during the 40's, opens as the battalion enters Shanghai's famous 'Nanjing Road' during the beginning of its liberation. Even though the Communist army had arrived on the scene, there were still many evil factions ready to pounce on and corrupt this batch of Communists; not by using guns, but rather by mental persuasion-the Party's greatest fear in the 50's.

In the drama, the central antagonist Ma Chuzhang, bearing the title of KMT Espionage Director, goes undercover and becomes the mild mannered "Old Kai" by changing his name and infiltrating the public ranks. Ma is loyal to the KMT and fears giving up his counter-revolutionary actions, so he fulfills his duty by conspiring to develop two weapons, one hard and one soft, to be used on his enemies; the Communists. The hard weapon was a time bomb to be placed in the middle of a crowded park, the goal of which simply to frighten those into believing that the Communists had not fully liberated the city. The time bomb is a symbol of a physical weapon, something tangible and hard, such as a knife or a gun that can be used to puncture the skin and kill immediately. The physical weapons were things that soldiers were accustomed to defending themselves against; bombs, land mines, bullets, etc. the Communist soldiers faced these physical apparitions of destruction everytime in battle. The soft weapon being 'mental influence' through the usage of the "Bomb that is sweet on the outside but bitter inside" - best translated in the play's context as a bomb that 'attacks the mind'- the weapon of persuasion.

The mind bomb was also nicknamed the "Fragrant Wind", a nickname used to describe the evil weed of Western capitalism that which is unseen and only felt at the last minute. Ma goes out and preaches, "by letting the red of the Communists step foot on Nanjing road, within three months society will rot, fester and turn to black." Ma's goal is to stage a return of the KMT's presence, and he realizes that the ''Fragrant Wind' has a better, longer lasting effect on his victims. The play emphasized to the audience during the 50's that mental weapons were more dangerous than physical ones, something that could penetrate your mind was more explosive than any physical bomb. Cohesion within the Party was essential and that the audience was to learn from this play the consequences of those weeds that poison the revolutionary spirit and not the physical body. The play continues as the heroic Lu Dacheng, one of the Communist military leaders stands up and charges in defense:

Lu Dacheng: "What battles haven't we won? What bombs haven't we encountered? Where haven't we been engaged in war?"

All this was true, the Communists had gone through tremendous physical hardships, but this play gives the audience the impression that Lu Dacheng spoke without thinking out the true problem-what the modern day weapon was. One of the soldiers, Chen Xi, was blown over by the 'Fragrant Wind'. He falls prey to his own indecisiveness and takes the position of the 'mugwump', a fence sitter; a wavering element who cannot make clear the decision on who is the enemy; the KMT or the Communists. Mao Zedong said himself that "It is possible to have this type of Communist. An enemy wielding a gun may not confront them, but even though they may try to retain the composure [reputation] of a revolutionary hero, they can still be defeated by a weapon of the mind. [A bomb that is sweet on the outside and bitter inside]"

Both Teahouse and The Soldier Beneath the Neon Light were written during a period when literature was used as a tool to voice the policies of the 50's that were concerned with seeking out counter-revolutionaries or Rightists. The need in "purifying the revolutionary ranks" from as early as 1950 to as late as 1957 reflected a frightened government that could not effectively control it's population's political alignment through means other than those brought about by the Propaganda Department; means that took advantage of the literary and art circles' service to the people.

Painting during the 17-years period

"Works for the Revolution"

In literature, the reader is limited by what can be imagined from the story, written words persuade those that are literate. In drama, the audience is visually aided and easily drawn into the latest political doctrine, acting out realistic adventures in a language that the common man can understand. In painting, the more abstract of the arts, we see that the audience must be given more concern, as compared to literature and drama, in order to fully understand the artists' direct intentions. The use of large brush strokes, the emphasis on color, the choice of characters as well as the degree of retention all had great impact both on the painting of the time and also on the audience.

Red-emphasis and Character choice

Color, a very important aspect of the arts in any country, is something that is given less emphasis in Chinese literature and drama of this period when compared to the other senses in different artforms of the same period. The use of color in painting, especially red, had clearly defined parameters of what it symbolized. The emphasis of the color red in painting was immense; red being super-imposed with traits of strength, courage, intelligence, warmth, life and the color that represents the modern times or rather the 'new life' that influenced so many artists during this period.

The majority of oil paintings of this period employ a sort of 'Norman Rockwell' realism in the choice of colors and style of stroke. Since a large number of paintings were themed around war, we see the dark olive drabs of the revolutionary soldiers entrenched in battle, just as well we see the that the only color of the lighter shades that stands out the most is that of the Communist's red. It is interesting to note that the usage of the color black, the darkest of shades, is percentage-wise, not used frequently. If we look into even the pencil sketches by Xu Beihong, we see that without any ability to produce color, limited to just using shades of gray, black is a shade that is not emphasized. Of the lighter colors, red is the most important because when looking at works of this period one can see that the audience of the 40's and 50's was intended to consume and act in accordance with the policies of the Communist doctrine; which was reflected in color usage and character choice. For example, in Zhang Wenxin's masterwork in oil "Charge Forward" we see that the red flag, carried by one of the central soldiers, contains the brightest of all colors used. The other lighter colors in "Charge Forward" are only additions of the sun's reflections on the icy battle front; reflections highlighting the tank's armor, the twisted metal of shell-struck cannons as well as the glimmer from the expended shells themselves. The characters in 'Charge Forward' are brought to life as they're depicted running full stride towards the front; even minute details such as the gun's strap whipping in mid-air as the soldier carries charges ahead with hand grenade in the other hand. The character's towering perspective carries them over pitfalls and slippery ice patches giving this

painting a sense of almost photo-realism.

Another example of one of the more accomplished masterworks depicting war is that of Li Xiongcai's "The Liberation of Hainan Island". Li, born in 1910 in south China's Guangdong Province, followed the path that many painters walked during the 20's and 30's; the path of going abroad to learn Western painting techniques. Some of the more convenient art schools outside of China were located in Japan such as Tokyo's Academy of Arts. Japan's art and science schools, opened since the 19th century, hosted hundreds of Chinese students after the 1900's. Writers such as Lu Xun and painters such as Li Xiongcai both attribute their western influence to having studied in Japan. Many of the artists who had studied abroad brought back with them art books and portfolios in hopes of merging the western style realism they had learned with traditional Chinese realism; as we see in 'Liberation'. Once again, we see that the most distinct of the brighter colors is the red shining from the flag being victoriously carried up the lofty smoke shrouded hill. In this painting, black ink was only used to either outline the soldier’s image or produce the dreary shadows lying in the perimeter of the portrait itself; never being used as a tool of emphasis. The characters are depicted as mounting the hill; a division on top already surpassing the main torrent of battle, and another small division behind them, not to mention the hundreds of personnel boats streaming in from the sea, telling the audience that there is no need to look back; which, as one can see, even though the unmanned enemy cannon is facing the oncoming soldiers, none them are portrayed turning their heads-giving a taste of the Communist army's courage and its goal of retrieving Hainan Island.

Character choice in works of this period was crucial. Depicting soldiers was but one of the character themes used to bring the audience of the 40's and 50's closer to the War Era. However, the years following liberation brought about many other forms of character choice while still retaining the same 'red-emphasis' and realism. In Dai Ze's "Signatures for Peace," we see workers, mothers and children (symbols of the common man) gathering around a table donating their names in accordance with a massive campaign in Beijing to collect signatures for world peace; a joint initiative of the Stockholm World Peace Conference and the newly formed Republic of China. Here we see the painting in four partitions. The northwest partition showing blue skies, one of the more clear days of the year in Beijing; meshed together with the bright succulent green leaves of summer on the trees in the northeast partition. The southwest partition shows a table in perspective surrounded by a frenzy of enthusiastic Chinese people that flow into the southeast partition of the painting; men, women and children in line, all depicted with faces of concern for world peace. The table's hosts are smiling, dressed in the traditional Sun Yat Sen blue uniform, later taken on by Mao Zedong as the 'Mao Suit'-a fashion trademark of a true Communist.

The Worker

Out of the main characters chosen for paintings, the worker, alongside that of the revolutionary soldier, was the most common to portray in action. Mao's target group early in the 20's was the laboring masses of Chinese workers, a group that steered the course of demographics within the Party's membership. Glorification of the worker through joyful representation in painting was an entire movement during the 50's, a trend that later funneled itself into the Cultural Revolution era of the mid-60's. The worker was depicted on a wide variety of media including posters, murals, banners, newspapers and even book covers; scoring a winning move by the Propaganda Department to assure communication between the government and the people.

In the banners we see that gender is not an issue when it comes to decide who is a 'model worker' in art. One of the victories of the Chinese Communist Party was that of improving women's position in society. After liberation, women were given more options for employment; jobs traditionally reserved for men were opened up for female counterparts. Even in a self-conscious mid-90's Beijing, one can see female workers in all realms of public and government sectors. In the banners and murals we see that the cheery-eyed female worker not only gives the audience a sense of enjoyment through labor, but also radiates a sense of achievement for the equality that the New Society fostered.

Color usage in the banners and paintings of this period followed that of the traditional 'New Year' paintings. The folk style New Year paintings, "as decorations... they were a sign of light and festive happiness" and therefore, "appropriate to praise the victory of the revolution as a celebration..."{4} Bold primary colors portrayed pleasure through hard work. Larger than life characters in positions of gratuitous acknowledgment symbolized the entrance of the People's Republic into the modern industrial age while at the same time showed the joy of the people taking part in working with the government. The character's body positions go hand in hand with the particular message that was being promoted at the time. Body positioning that of a healthy person's proud stance was emphasized to display figures full of the breath of life. The figures, though they may dangle from mile-high smokestacks or carry the weight of a week's rice rations on their backs, retain a healthy and strong composure, thereby promoting vitality and physical prosperity through labor.

Of the more prominent revolutionary painters, two stand out as being masters of Socialist Realism as well as having conquered the skills needed in other genres of painting. Wu Zouren and Xu Beihong, both of which had the fantastic opportunities of studying in Europe, they are people that represent the handful of artists that brought their work and their western influence back to China and created new styles of painting and harvested new opinions from their works. Wu, born in 1908 in the southern province of Anhui, enrolled in the Department of Fine Arts of Shanghai University of Arts in 1927. The Shanghai of the 20's and 30's was a center of foreign influence and cultural exchange, breeding not only fresh ideas of revolution but also imperialist repression in one of China's most capitalist of port cities. Wu was recommended by Xu Beihong to go to Europe to "receive artistic education" in 1929 thereby setting him up to be a candidate for his professorship at the Central University upon returning to China. In 1946 he was elected to work alongside Xu Beihong and act as Dean of Studies for the Beiping State Academy of Arts. (The name Beiping was replaced with 'Beijing' after liberation in 1949) Referring to the said piece, the history follows that, "on April 23, 1949, the People's Liberation Army captured Nanjing, and the newly liberated city of Beiping (Beijing) was permeated with a festive atmosphere over the liberation."{5}

Xu Beihong, a native of China's Jiangsu province, was enrolled in the French Academy of Fine Arts in 1919 where he began to emulate, through sketches and painting, masterpieces of European traditional and contemporary paintings as well as sculptures. His schooling took him to Germany, Paris and back to Shanghai; all these travels funded by the Chinese government's student's abroad tuition system. From this Beihong gained not only a great appreciation for western art but also an appreciation for his own country helping him pursue his desire for painting. From 1927 till 1933 he remained in southern China studying and lecturing until an invitation from the French State Gallery of Foreign Art took him away to Paris once more. Beihong's well-rounded experience through his many travels in Europe, Russia, India and China never altered the pride he held for his motherland nor did it keep him away long enough to detach himself from the revolution that was going on during the 30's and 40's. During an exhibition of Beihong's works in Chongqing, one of China's early modern art centers, a high-ranking American army officer took a fancy to Beihong's "Vultures," which was not for sale. "Vultures" was a traditional style piece that employed large powerful brush strokes to show the power and vigor of this pair of magnificent birds. Even with the KMT repeatedly ushering large sums of money to purchase the work as a gift for their American counterpart, Beihong, "the steadfast Communist," wouldn't budge. He absolutely refused to be persuaded into anything having to do with the KMT or American aggression in China. "Vultures," a true revolutionary painting, not by style but rather by election, now resides in the Xu Beihong Memorial Hall in Beijing. Xu Beihong painted for China, with the money he earned from selling his works, he used to buy priceless antique Chinese paintings; ones that would sooner find themselves shipped abroad and into the homes of rich foreigners. Xu, when asked about his position on realistic art and the enemies he'd made, he replied, "Ever since I started my art career, I've been abused and attacked I don't know how many times!" Beihong came under criticism by using foreign realism as a tool to share the story of the Chinese people's struggle, but he continued to pace himself in-line with his pride in China by saying, "I've got to keep in mind the future of our country."{7} This is the driving thought behind Beihong's collective works.

In 1945 as the nation was jubilant over the victory of the Anti-Japanese war, the KMT was mustering large amounts of troops in preparation for a swift take over and defeat of the Communists. Students from the Central University art department protested alongside those students from other schools who had poured themselves into the streets shouting "For Democracy, For Peace!" The students from the Central University organized the 'Mustang Society' to draw cartoons as artistic weapons for "exposing KMT reactionaries' evil war preparations under the

guise of peace." Xu Beihong was touched by the student's revolutionary spirit and noted that these cartoons played a "tremendous role in educating and arousing the masses."{6} In March of 1946, the Mustang Society designed a revolutionary art forum newsletter to aid in education among others in the art department. This was, at that time, an illicit affair because it had Communist yearnings. The page entitled "All political parties and groups, unite to build a New China," struck Beihong so deeply that he reached for his ink and brush and quickly painted the picture of a galloping wild horse and inscribed the following:

"Specially painted for the Mustang Society to express the belief that there will be an end both to this long night on earth and to the boundless wilderness before us."

Xu's paintings, all done in realistic style with various choices in characters, reflected his life's experiences and love for China. Never once did he slow down from painting, somedays going hungry while sitting in front of his canvas working for ten or more hours straight. Beihong represented the body of all the Communist painters, one who not only sharpened his talents, but also gave all he had to the people. One who painted in a style that the people could gain wisdom from and could share in the enjoyment of being a part of the glorious nation that had begun under the guidance of the Communist Party.

Chinese Music during the Revolutionary and

Liberation Periods (1930's - 1950's)

A Comparative Introduction

We have found throughout the Chinese Revolution and subsequent Liberation by the Communists, that the art circles provided major support in cementing the Party line to the popular mentality. Unfortunately, in my research of music during this particular time period, I have found little documentation - as far as composer's names, sheet music, lyrics, recordings -both here in America and in Beijing. The material I have gathered I owe not just to my own search, but also to the help of many others in Beijing and at the University of Texas at Austin. Sometimes I was able to locate a song recording that sounded uniquely revolutionary, but with no date to confirm this and no composer listed to reference, the song would fall easily out of my usable research material. For example, there are still songs today being written about the Long March which happened nearly sixty years ago.[Soldiers of the Long March, Guo Brothers, 1990] This not only demonstrates the nationalism still felt in mainland China among composers towards the revolutionary period, but also indirectly adds to my problem of trying to find resources composed and performed during the actual revolution.

I feel I should mention that my particular interests in these composers and their work is based on the vast amount of resources I've had in my personal and professional relationships with many of the current established composer-musicians of the 1990's. Pioneers like Cui Jian, Dou Wei, Zhang Chu, and especially Gao Wei have all been my main influences throughout this research. I only wish that I could have had the chance to share this same relationship with some of those old revolutionary composers and musicians from the Liberation period; most now deceased. Just as Kipling and Conrad pushed forward the vehicle of British Imperialism through literature, it is these composers, both old and new, who pushed forward a united front of revolution in China with music.

Chinese music during this period, its character well-established by the 1930's, is profoundly unique and set the latent standard of music performed for decades after the Liberation period of the 40's and 50's; only to be given dissent with the overwhelming popularity of pop and rock in the mid-80's. Compositions during the Revolution/Liberation period are described as having a distinct Western pomp and flair. This pomp was maintained throughout numerous coinciding events: A) By way of a growing influence of Western music found in major trade/port cities such as Shanghai [even in the 90's Shanghai Jazz is noted for its taste of 20's nostalgia and unchanged flavor], B) Usage in Western notation and instrumentation such as orchestral brass and marching percussion, C) Western training [several Chinese composers having been trained abroad in the various conservatories of Germany, France or Japan since the 20's], and finally D) The establishment of Chinese conservatories in Shanghai and Beijing where former Chinese composers of the 20's would later turn into the music conservatory professors in China during the 30's and 40's.

Dr. Xiang Chen Hallis, a classmate at the University of Texas at Austin has done a significant amount of research in the field of Chinese Revolutionary Music, focusing on composers and their histories as well as including both English and Chinese lyrical music translations; all inside a richly detailed analysis of Chinese Revolutionary musical composition. I feel quite honored to be able to reference her work as well as to extend the academic research in this little known, yet fascinating field. She confirms that the 'old style' of music which was composed during the turn of the 20th century as defined by Wang Shu-he (author of Chinese Modern Music History), was replaced by the "democratic revolution of the 'new style',” and also that this 'new style' was a reflection of the "foreign intervention [which] made ever greater in-roads into China." Dr. Xiang correlates the acceptance of the 'new style' to rising patterns of not only urban wealth, which "drew many from the countryside," but also the rise of political factions who used music as a propaganda tool to "further their ideology in song." Dr. Xiang maintains that the most notable influence from the West came not in instruments or in technology, but rather it came pervasive in the form of the School Song, which provided an "important introduction of [the] basic concepts and practices of Western music to Chinese masses." In this view, it was the mass choral structure and dramatic marching pomp of the School Song that brought Western musical styles into practice with interest groups advocating political change, democracy and freedom.

The passing of the May 4th movement in 1919, as Dr. Xiang states, sparked a new echelon of musical conservatories and organizations based on Western standards in China. The earliest of these new music organizations was the Beijing University of Music Research founded in 1919, which heralded membership of over 200 teachers. Other organizations such as the Beijing Aesthetic Music Fan Association, founded in 1927, dedicated resources in order to hold concerts and train upcoming musicians. It is these grass roots organizations formed by music aficionados and teachers that set forth the structure of the more formal schools to come. Musicians getting involved in the 'new style' led to the establishment in 1927 of the Shanghai National Conservatory of Music; the first formal institution for teaching Western music. Xiao Youmei, one of the original roving composers who graduated from Germany’s prestigious Leipzig Conservatory, headed the Shanghai Conservatory.

It is this key timing of the political unrest during the 20's and 30's combined with booming economic progress that united this new Western style music with various left-wing political factions. As more and more of these institutions sprang up in urban areas, there became a demand within the left-wing factions in these areas, like Shanghai and Beijing, to utilize this new style for the purpose of spreading ideology. The whole interpretation of something new and non-traditional was associated with revolution, and therefore Western style in music became a weapon against the traditional Imperialist notions in China at that time. The Left Wing Music Movement of the 30's, as Dr. Xiang suggests, "became a focal point in uniting the patriotic spirit of the War of Resistance Against Japan." In 1931, as Japan forces seized Shenyang in an attempt to descend further into the South, patriotic sentiment grew to a national level and "found musical expression in a salvation mass chorus movement [the National Salvation Movement]."

All these new movements, organizations and conservatories, revolutionary both in political alignment and in musical doctrine, set the stage for a major national resurgence of folk music. The common man has always enjoyed Chinese folk music for centuries, generations always passing on their local songs to younger generations. Major antiquated folk instruments such as the erhu, zheng and pipa are still in use today throughout a broad spectrum of China's contemporary musical compositions. It is the distinctly Chinese 'communality' that ties folk music to China's "every man." Originally headquartered in Shanghai, the Communists began to utilize this 'communality' idea, their strongest weapon: stir the masses by uniting the national working class. Workers in China, which must include both the urban laborer as well as the agricultural laborer, were already familiar with the folk music in their areas. It is the Communists who took local folk music, collected and gathered specifically for propaganda, to the people on a national level by installing Local Song and Drama Groups. Groups designed to reform traditional music styles and drama practices, such as Peking Opera, were called in and around the liberated areas to persuade the masses to think 'revolution' via an approach of 'communality' found through folk themes that everyone was familiar with and could understand.

Composers played a vital role in developing politically correct, pleasant sounding, nationally transportable songs. This is no easy task when much of China, then and now, is divided internally between various language, cultural and physical barriers. For a song to be politically useful, thereby successful, it must be carefully structured and balanced. One structure was to model a new song after a previously written Western song's instrumentation, then modify the lyrics; note this does not mean the lyrics were simply translated, most song lyrics were not direct translations but rather a complete stripping of the original foreign lyrics overlaid with strikingly different Chinese ones. Another structure was to model a song with revolutionary lyrics laid over previously written or new Chinese folk instrumentations. Both these structures proved extremely important to the development of the new musical nationalism after Liberation when a composer could utilize these two structure-tools in order to both promote a sense of new rebellion, as seen with the use of Western instrumentation, as well as to promote a sense of nationalistic 'China for Chinese' as seen with the creation of revolutionary folk songs.

Composers like Xian Xing-hai (1905-1945) who's Yellow River ballad became immensely popular for it's generous mixing of Western and Chinese elements, served as authors of revolution as they transcribed in realistic detail the horrors of war and the victory of Liberation. In 1918 Xian attended Lingnan University in one of the more Western areas ubiquitous throughout Southern Guangzhou. His introduction to Western music and art began during his studies at Lingnan where he learned violin and championed the clarinet, later on earning the nickname "Clarinet King of South China." In 1926 he journeyed North to attend the burgeoning Beijing University Music School, which subsequently was closed the following year therefore leaving him to make a return trip back to Guangzhou in order to find work and continue his musical studies. He eventually graduated from Lingnan University in 1928 and from there went on to enroll in Shanghai's new National Conservatory; he was of the school's first class of twenty-seven students. A year and a half later he was expelled from the conservatory for attending strikes opposing raises in tuition, which spurred him enough to travel to France in January of 1930. In Paris he made a victory for China by being the first Asian admitted into the Paris Conservatory's composition class, whereby his abilities earned him much public success and radio play. He returned to the political and economic hotbed of Shanghai in 1935 where he got involved in China's National Salvation Song Movement.

It is at this point in time where we see the seeds of China's future musical history take root. Here in Xian's life, he becomes the essence of what we as researchers call the 'Path of Chinese music during the Modern Period.' Xian, like several others, define this path by proving themselves first as a musicians studying the new style, thereby engaging themselves in new instrumentation and new Western musical styles, finally, they transpose their established musical talents onto new compositions of political activism. Activism went one of two ways during the late 30's, a person was either an underground Communist, or an outright KMT supporter; whichever the case, a musician in the public eye was indeed politically aligned one way or the other.

For Xian, the Communists took him under their wing in Yan'an where he was invited to head the music department of the Lu Xun Art Academy in 1938. His new patriotic fervor led him to produce songs like February, which contained the nationalism felt by Communist composers during the Pre-Liberation period:

Step up production, step up production!

Work hard, work hard!

We can overcome this most bitter stage,

Victory is at hand!

It was here in the humble surroundings of Yan'an where, sometimes using unique homemade instruments, he composed his famous Yellow River ballad. Following its success he was then admitted into the Communist Party where he was asked by the Central Committee to travel to Moscow on a request to compose film music. While in Moscow, detached from his mainstream job of composing revolutionary songs, he was able to finish his National Liberation Symphony between the years 1939-1941. His final revolutionary piece before his death in 1945 was based on various Chinese folk styles. Xian's Chinese Rhapsody contained minority folk elements found in Northern Shanxi as well as in Southern Guangdong.

Composers during this period with political backgrounds similar to Xian's wrote songs to mobilize the masses. Their songs reflected and glorified the common man and the common soldier fighting either against the KMT or Japan, or both. Another composer critical to mention was Nie Er (1912-1935) who wrote several revolutionary pieces before his unexpected drowning near the age of 23. His greatest contribution to the genre of political music was his song March of the Volunteers, which later became China's national anthem. March of the Volunteers is a perfect example of Western pomp and instrumentation combined with Chinese harmonies and lyrics. His combination assumes a notably eclectic distinction between the two while giving the listener a taste of the power and energy driving the song itself. Another of his revolutionary classics, The Singers Under Iron Hoofs, tells a story of suffering and hardship felt by a traveling band of female folk singers who have seen China's destitution and despair during this period:

We sing everywhere to earn our living,

We dance everywhere too.

Who doesn't know our country is in danger?

Why do people treat us like property?

Who would be willing to be a slave,

Who would want to let her homeland fall?

How sad that we, singers under iron hoofs,

Have been so wounded by the lash!

In analyzing this period, one must keep focused on the fact that China had not always been an abode of national suffering. Before the Qing dynasty crumbled China had, objectively speaking, a comparatively long-term stable political climate with some dynasties lasting hundreds of years. It is this dynastical long-term stability that revolution sought to target and modify in order to create an all-China long-term political era under Communist rule. When we listen to folk music produced before the revolution we hear songs reminiscing about the joys of farm work or the aesthetic scenery on a mountain; no hint of political instability, no hint of mass suffering. It is not until the fall of the Qing and the subsequent Japanese invasion allotted with China's own civil war that we hear of this mass suffering and begin to see enormous amounts of intellectual energy being put towards revolutionary musical endeavors.

From the 1930's-1940's we see the development of Chinese music as a reflection of Western music's own development through the borrowing of instruments, notation, harmonies and flair. This was made possible by increased Western presence in port cities, better economic opportunities for artists in these urban areas, and largely by a generation of new composers who traveled abroad in order to study Western music. By far the greatest catalyst in music's development during this period was that upon returning home, these composers helped form Chinese conservatories of their own, specializing in this new style of music while promoting the documentation, archival and teaching of China's traditional folk pieces. When the Japan/KMT wars were in full swing, large numbers of these artist-composers were drafted by the Communists and hence produced vast amounts of martial pieces in order to unite, uplift and mobilize China's suffering masses against national slavery and political chaos. These pieces are unique in their blending of Western march style with Chinese harmonies giving a very robust militaristic feel. Lyrically the songs spoke of a dark reality - the intrinsic suffering of helpless millions. It is here in the bunker of political turmoil that these composers set the standard of Chinese music for the next 40 years.