A Historical Study Of Chinese Translation Of Musical Writings In The First Half Of The 20th Century

This paper is a historical study of the Chinese translation of music writings in the first half of the 20th century.The author of this paper takes the Chinese translation of modern music writings and their related culture as the research object,and regards the music translation and monograph as a carrier of cross-cultural communication.Through literature review,historical reconstruction and cultural observation,this paper presents a historical overview of the Chinese version of translated foreign music writings in the first half of the 20th century,and probes into the resonance of cultural thoughts in the process of Sino-foreign musical cultural exchanges in modern times,so as to enrich the academic history of the study of Sino-Western musical exchanges in modern China.The main content is divided into three chapters.The first chapter,focusing on Japanese musical works,summarizes the Chinese translation of musical works from 1900 to 1919.Musical works in this stage,most of which were translated from Japanese,were mainly the translation of popular music knowledge and the translation of music textbooks.Among them,the emergence of the Textbook of Music Classics marked the penetration of the Western concept of "reason" into the field of Chinese music thoughts,thus contributing to the transformation of the modern music circle to the direction of seeking truth and knowledge.The second chapter.focusing on European and American musical works,summarizes the translation of musical works from 1920 to 1936.The appearance of translators,represented by the European and American groups studying abroad,has broken the unification of Japanese and Western translation,and formed a new situation in which Japanese translation and Western literal translation coexist.During this period,the Chinese musical circle actively learned from the West in an all-round way,and the Western music theory system and music education concept were also included in the scope of reference,which can be said to complete a transformation from instrument to system and then to concept.The third chapter,focusing on the Soviet musical works,summarizes the Chinese translation of the musical works from 1937 to 1949.In 1937,the Anti-Japanese War broke out in full force,and the theme of "national salvation" once again prevailed over the theme of "enlightenment".Chinese academia at this time embraced the Marxism-Leninism complex and turned to learning from the Soviet Union.The Soviet music literature once became the model of introducing Western music in China.From the historical study of the Chinese translation of musical works in the first half of the 20th century,we can see that the Western musical discourses introduced in music translations and music monograph have exerted a profound influence on the Chinese modern musical discourses.It has laid the foundation of modern Chinese music theory.At the same time,the experience of Chinese translation of musical works in the first half of the 20th century is also worth learning from in the field of contemporary music translation.In the first half of the 20th century,although there was a lack of systematization and diversification in the study of Chinese translation of musical works,it provided a steady stream of foreign nutrients for the early Chinese musical circle,which pushed it forward vigorously.