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

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.