The construction of a Chinese music theory teaching system is a difficult and glorious historical mission for Chinese musicologists. Since the 1990s, Mr. Du has been working on the writing of Chinese music theory textbooks for almost thirty years now. This paper uses Mr. Du's series of works on Chinese music theory as a research vehicle, and summarize the similarities and differences between the editions from both internal and external comparisons, not only to gain insight into his thinking, but also to shed some light on the establishment of a music theory system in China.

Wei Hua. A Path of Music Theory Spanning Three Decades—A Comparative Study of Yaxiong Du's “Chinese Music Theory” Series. Frontiers in Art Research (2023) Vol. 5, Issue 8: 49-53. https://doi.org/10.25236/FAR.2023.050809.

[1] Yaxiong Du. Basic Theory of Chinese Folk Music[M]. Beijing: China Literature Association Publishing Company, 1995. 

[2] Yaxiong Du. Fundamentals of Chinese Music Theory and Its Cultural Basis [J]. Bloomington: Eurasian Studies Yearsbook, 1999. 

[3] Yaxiong Du. General Knowledge of Chinese Music Theory[M]. Taiyuan: Beiyue Wenyi Publishing House, 1999. 

[4] Yaxiong Du. A Course in Traditional Chinese Music Theory[M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Music Publishing House, 2004. 

[5] Zhaogang Li, Bo Yun. Review of Yaxiong Du's "Basic Music Theory of Chinese Folk" [J]. Chinese Music, 2000(03):33+58. 

[6] Yaxiong Du, Qin Dexiang. Chinese Music Theory [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Conservatory of Music Publishing House, 2007. 

[7] Yaxiong Du, Qin Dexiang. A Course in Chinese Music Theory[M]. Hefei: Anhui Literature and Arts Publishing House, 2012. 

[8] Yaxiong Du. A Course in Basic Chinese Music Theory[M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Music Publishing House, 2013. 

[9] Yaxiong Du. Basic Chinese Music Theory[M]. Chongqing: Southwest Normal University Press, 2021

[10] Yaxiong Du. The academic path of writing Chinese music theory five times [J]. Culture and Art Research, 2008, 1(03):124-132. 

[11] Qinru Zhou. The need for a scientific approach to the study of basic Chinese music theory - from the fallacies of Yaxiong Du's “Basic Theory of Chinese Folk Music [J]. The journal of Central Conservatory of Music, 1999(03). 

[12] Yan Ming. “Rules of the Game" in a State of Pluralism: Reflections on Qinru Zhou's Criticism of Yaxiong Du[J]. Journal of Nanjing Arts College (Music and Performance Edition), 2000(01):38-39. 

[13] Delong Li. A textbook with historical significance and application value--Review of Yaxiong Du's A Course in Traditional Chinese Music Theory [J]. Art Education, 2008(09):12+5. 

[14] Heping Yang, Shumin Xing. A new flower of Chinese traditional music theory--Review of Yaxiong Du's "Chinese Traditional Music Theory Course"[J]. People's Music, 2007(01):90-91. 

[15] Houyong Gao. The Rhythm of the Yellow Bell and the Great Lute Boiling the Blood of Chinese Music--A Reading of the Chinese Music Theory Course by Yaxiong Du and Dexiang Qin [J]. Music Art (Journal of Shanghai Conservatory of Music), 2013(02):69-72+4. 

[16] Yongfu Liu. Thoughts on Constructing a Basic Theory System of Chinese Music —— Prompted by Yaxiong Du's “Basic Theory of Chinese Folk Music” [J]. People's Music, 2001(11):47-51. 

[17] Yongfu Liu. Pursuit, Breakthrough and Innovation —— A reading of Yaxiong Du and Dexiang Qin's new book of “Chinese Music Theory” [J]. People's Music, 2014(04):89-91.