[2][3] It is often written for some form of grand presentation through a large Chinese orchestra, as well as performances with solo instruments.
[7] During the Qing dynasty it was used to refer to the kind of ceremonial court repertoire that was seen as a representation of China.
[8] In the early 20th century, guoyue became a popular term used loosely to include all music written for Chinese instruments in response to a particular nationalistic consciousness.
[8] Later, after Communist victory in 1949, a new term minyue, short for minzu yinyue (民族音乐) meaning national or people's music, was used in mainland China to encompass all compositions and genres for traditional instruments including music of ethnic minorities.
In Taiwan it continues to be known as guoyue, but in other Chinese communities, it may also be referred to as huayue (for example in Singapore and Malaysia) or zhongyue (in Hong Kong).
[3] In its broadest sense it includes all Chinese instrumental music, opera, regional folk genres, and solo pieces.
To many, part of the idea was to reshape Chinese folk and art music fit for the modern age.
During the Cultural Revolution classical Chinese music virtually disappeared, and some only survived by being reworked in a "light" style.
[13] As part of the New Culture Movement of the period, the guoyue music genre emerged to promote greater patriotism In the 1920s.
He composed music pieces for erhu and adopted violin playing techniques to the instrument.
[17] Another major contributors to its development was Zheng Jinwen, who first experimented by increasing the number of player in a Jiangnan sizhu ensemble to 35, and separated the instruments into different sections.
[18] In the past each player may also embellish the parts at will, but in this new orchestra, Zheng wrote specific music for each instruments or sections.
Amateur Chinese orchestras are commonly found in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia organized by clan associations, community centres and schools.
In the mid-1980s popular ballads, western folk and classical music still drew the greatest audiences, but other kinds of music, including previously banned western jazz and rock and roll, were being performed with greater acceptance especially among the youth.