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Banned Subversive or State-Promoted “Pathbreaker”? Re-Interpreting the Rise of Chinese Rock

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  • cris.virtual.department
    University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna
  • cris.virtual.orcid
  • dc.contributor.author
    Tang, Kai
  • dc.date.accessioned
    2026-03-19T16:08:17Z
  • dc.date.available
    2026-03-19T16:08:17Z
  • dc.date.issued
    2025
  • dc.description.abstract
    Music has long been at the forefront of social activism and some genres have built their global reputation as a weapon of resistance and empowerment. When these genres spread into a country like China and gain considerable popularity, the world celebrates the decline of the authoritarian system and sees them as threats to ideological hegemony. However, centralized control of musical activities is more than manufacturing standardized propaganda products. In mainland China, the system also operates to generate “out of control” phenomena, to channel people’s desires to act beyond restrictions. This article focuses on the rise of Chinese rock, a happening that has been interpreted in the existing body of scholarly literature as successful rebellion and as indicating the democratic nature of China’s popular music culture. After a reflexive discussion on the limits of prevalent data-collection methods in the study of Chinese popular music, this article reveals the state’s leading role in the promotion of Cui Jian, who is globally renowned as the Father of Chinese Rock. This article challenges a prevalent understanding in the existing body of literature on Chinese popular music, that is, Cui Jian and his rock songs were subversive and banned in the 1980s. It examines how a state-led music reform was turned into the people's choice and into the outcome of a successful rebellion.
  • dc.description.note
  • dc.description.provenance
    Submitted by Bernhard Kurz (kurz-b@mdw.ac.at) on 2026-03-19T16:08:17Z workflow start=Step: checkcorrectionstep - action:noUserSelectionAction No. of bitstreams: 0
    Made available in DSpace on 2026-03-19T16:08:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2025
  • dc.identifier.citation
    Tang, Kai. 2025. “Banned Subversive or State-Promoted ‘Pathbreaker’? Re-Interpreting the Rise of Chinese Rock.” Musicologica Austriaca/Journal of the Austrian Musicological Society 2025 (1): 224–254. doi.org/10.71045/musau.2025.1.25
  • dc.identifier.doi
    10.71045/musau.2025.1.25
  • dc.identifier.uri
    https://dspace.mdw.ac.at/handle/123456789/26662
  • dc.language.iso
    en
  • dc.relation.journal
    Musicologia Austriaca
  • dc.rights.license
    CC-BY-4.0
  • dc.subject
    Chinese rock
    Cui Jian
    rock mythology
    musical rebellion
    music and politics
  • dc.title
    Banned Subversive or State-Promoted “Pathbreaker”? Re-Interpreting the Rise of Chinese Rock
  • dc.type
    text::journal::journal article::research article
  • dspace.entity.type
    Publication
  • dspace.workflow.startDateTime
    2026-03-19T16:08:17.675Z
  • mdwlis.publication.firstRelease
    false
  • mdwlis.publication.mdwAttribution
    yes
  • mdwlis.subject.oefosDeKunstzweig
    GEISTESWISSENSCHAFTEN - Kunstwissenschaften
  • mdwrepo.correspondingAuthor
  • mdwrepo.subject.percentage
    100
  • oaire.citation.endPage
    254
  • oaire.citation.issue
    2025
  • oaire.citation.startPage
    224
  • oaire.citation.volume
    1
  • oairecerif.author.affiliation
    University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna