This paper analyses the interactions between Chinese popular songs and their socio-political contexts in different historical periods after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, in 1949. Some of the songs considered include ‘My Country’, ‘Path’, ‘Fang’, ‘Mojito’, and ‘Spice Girls’. We examine these songs as a faithful reflection of society’s political and social contexts in various stages accordingly. The overall trajectory of change in musical compositions coheres and resonates with social development. In addition, it suggests a variation in Chinese society’s mentality from an inward-looking sense of colonial victimhood to today’s assertive patriotism and engagement with the world (‘openness and inclusiveness’) amid China’s rising, globalised economy.

Tingyu Yan, Jiajun Tang. China’s Popular Music Development after 1949: An Understanding from a Social Change Perspective. Frontiers in Art Research (2022) Vol. 4, Issue 7: 43-52. https://doi.org/10.25236/FAR.2022.040710.

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