THE ANTIQUITY OF JAZZ IN CHINA: THE TRANSFORMATION OF YELLOW MUSIC INTO A JAZZ RESURGENCE.

Abstract

Yellow music evolved from Jazz, which had been brought to Shanghai in the early 20th century, but had been modified into hybrid forms that combined Western rhythms with Chinese melodies and cultural aspects. Moral censure, state repression, and gendered social restriction influenced both how the genre was recollected and how the public perceived it, even though it was a representative of world modernity. This research synthesised historical, social, pedagogical, and ethnomusicological perspectives to shed light on similarities and differences in the discipline. Studies reveal that official pedagogical methods, cross-cultural membership, and pedagogical initiatives have all worked towards the revival of Jazz, yet social and political contexts have always served as an intermediary when it came to individuals' capacity to listen and embrace the music. This synthesis illuminates the transformation of Jazz from its origins in yellow music to contemporary Jazz practice by presenting the antiquity of Jazz as a site of cultural nostalgia, historical recall, and artistic possibility. A historically mediated process expressing the dynamic of history, social convention, and artistic creativity, this essay contends that the revival of Jazz in China is more than a musical phenomenon. The article offers a rich perspective of the interrelationship between historical and current musical identities by connecting historical repression and current reinterpretation to position yellow music as the foundation and driving force behind China's renaissance of Jazz.