The Rise of Gufeng Music in Mainland China
Gufeng 古风music originates in our current Internet Age and integrates the cultural heritage of ancient Chinese literature or poetry, with Western musical arrangements and modern electronic software. The genre is characterized by its adoption of the traditional pentatonic scale as well as its incorporation of classical Chinese instruments including the guqin, pipa, erhu, and dizi (Wang, 2020, p. 16). Classical Chinese poetry and ancient prose are often interwoven in its lyrics, emphasizing meaning through traditional idioms, cultural symbols, and historical motifs (Wang, 2020, p. 16). Gufeng music embodies traditional high culture elements of Ancient Chinese dynasties, particularly of the Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1279) dynasties, where classical poetry and literature were produced and consumed exclusively by respected scholars and noble literati (wenrenmoke 文人墨客), as well as those of distinguished lineage and from upper societal classes (Watson, 1971, pp. 169–172).
Gufeng music proliferated across Chinese-language websites including Baidu Postbar, Youku, Bilibili, Sina Microblog, and 5SING, where amateur singers, composers, and lyric writers created and uploaded their work amongst an extensive gufeng fan community (Wang, 2020, p. 16). Gufeng music has since become incorporated into the mainstream Chinese entertainment industry through its appearances in Chinese television dramas, variety shows, award ceremonies, and diverse performances by professional singers as well as celebrities across national television networks. According to Chinese entertainment conglomerate Tencent 腾讯, its music streaming apps accumulated over 29 billion streams of gufeng songs in 2021 alone (Tencent, 2022). Thus, through its participatory culture, the gufeng music fandom successfully effectuated the unique transformation of traditional “high” culture artifacts into modern popular culture that authentically originates from “the people” and is well-liked by millions of Chinese listeners across the country (Storey, 2000, p. 7).
Gufeng music creators seek to preserve and promote Chinese traditional culture and language through the portrayals of lyrical, musical, and symbolic references to ancient China in their songs. Henry Jenkins (1988, p. 88) describes a central characteristic of fandom as its “ability to transform personal reaction into social interaction, spectator culture into participatory culture”. Through these lenses, the gufeng music fandom can also be recognized as embodying similar traits, allowing fans to share their unique interpretations of historical portrayals in traditional Chinese literature, welding their visions and emotions into the crafting of lyrics and musical arrangements. Gufeng music fans hence reclaim existing textual material, “making it one’s own, appropriating or reappropriating it” as poachers of textual meaning (Jenkins, 1988, p. 166). They embed their personal responses and perceptions of historical Chinese culture into new musical forms, exhibiting distinct artistic creativity through the unique amalgamation of traditional heritage and present-day modernism via the seamless incorporation of electronic software in music composition.
Additionally, the poetic style and classical imagery integrated into gufeng music lyrics often express nostalgia and yearning for China’s rich cultural heritage, reminiscing ancient cities of Luoyang and Chang’an as symbols of Chinese antiquity and splendor (Wang, 2020, p. 18). The genre embodies the gesture of shuqing 抒情 (personal expressions of feelings and sentiments), particularly amongst younger generations who live in a globalized era where cultural traditions and historical legacies are challenged by post-modern social manners and rapid globalization (UBC gufeng, 2020). Most gufeng music lyrics do not specify a dynasty, but instead, unite different ethnic cultures and heterogenous minorities together (Chow, 1998, p. 7), addressing a culturally diverse but collective ancient past. Consequently, whilst women participating in fandom communities seek a sense of belonging and an inclusive outlet for creative impulses (Jenkins, 1988, p. 89), participants in the gufeng music community also find in each other and the rich cultural stories they share, a collective sense of solidarity and cultural pride through the exploration of their common cultural lineage and united historical memory. As fandom culture draws a sharp contrast between the realm of everyday experience and an alternative cultural sphere that allows for escape into the marvelous (Jenkins, 1988, p. 89), members of the gufeng music community similarly find themselves being transported to a nostalgic past, distanced from their daily mundane reality (Wang, 2020, p. 16).
However, the rapid spread in popularity of gufeng music and incorporation into China’s mainstream culture is also rooted in the unequivocal influence of modern media platforms amongst Gen Z and millennials. As examined in Limor Shifman’s exploration of meme reproduction in contemporary digital culture through sharing, mimicry, and remixing (2013, pp. 22–23), similar trends can be found in the circulation of gufeng music across popular Chinese social media platforms. Endless renditions and covers of newly released gufeng songs are often found amassing millions of views across 抖音Douyin (Chinese TikTok), with captivating alterations in lyrics, vocal techniques, or the inclusion of traditional Chinese opera. Newly emerged dance challenge trends and traditional 汉服 hanfu clothing videos that utilize gufeng music as background audio also increase awareness and recognition of the genre amongst netizens across a range of content interest areas. In our current era of “networked individualism”, where individuals enthusiastically participate in social networks with a longing for communality (Shifman, 2013, p. 33), the widespread participatory culture of gufeng music and the creation of gufeng-related covers, challenges, and clothing videos, all propagate each other in a constant cycle that furthers circulation of the music genre. By participating in these covers and videos online, modern netizens can express their artistic creativity and unique interpretation whilst simultaneously ensuring their affiliation with the larger online community in maintaining current social trends, allowing individual users to be “themselves, together” (Shifman, 2013, p. 34).
Ultimately, in this unique amalgamation between high and low culture, between past and present contexts, gufeng music has been able to expand its circulation into China’s mainstream entertainment industry. Whether it be through the distinct culture of a fandom community or the digital designs of social media platforms, gufeng music has been able to continuously engender a sense of belonging amongst its listeners through its participatory nature, increasing the preservation and understanding of Chinese culture in modern society.
References
Chow, R. (1998). Introduction: On chineseness as a theoretical problem. Boundary 2, 25(3), 1. https://doi.org/10.2307/303586
Course:asia319/2020/"gufeng" (古風). Course:ASIA319/2020/"Gufeng" (古風) - UBC Wiki. (2020, November 16). Retrieved December 2, 2022, from https://wiki.ubc.ca/Course:ASIA319/2020/%22Gufeng%22_(%E5%8F%A4%E9%A2%A8)#cite_note-58
Jenkins, H. (1988). Star Trek Rerun, Reread, Rewritten: Fan Writing as Textual Poaching. Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 5(2), 85–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295038809366691
Shifman, L. (2013). When Memes Go Digital. In Memes in Digital Culture (pp. 17-35). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9429.003.0005
Storey, J. (2000). 1. What is popular culture? In Cultural Theory and Popular Culture An Introduction (pp. 1–16). Addison-Wesley Longman Ltd.
Tencent, 199IT. (2022, March 27). 腾讯音乐数据研究院：国风音乐内容生态报告. 国风音乐内容生态报告|国风|传统文化_新浪科技_新浪网. Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/2022-03-28/doc-imcwiwss8470922.shtml
Wang, Y. (2020). Homoeroticising Archaic Wind Music: A rhizomatic return to ancient China. China Perspectives, 2020(2), 15–23. https://doi.org/10.4000/chinaperspectives.10096
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