ABSTRACT
At the beginning of the 20th century, with the overthrow of the last imperial dynasty, the Qing, the palace music of the Imperial courts, which had a tradition of two thousand years, was dissolved. In the social upheavals of the mid-20th century and the ensuing political changes, the ancient instrumental music which had been transmitted in innumerable Buddhist and Daoist temples also gradually disappeared. Since the revolution of 1949, Chinese musical traditions have been impoverished by social changes, political campaigns, and, since around 1980, the incursion of modern Western industrial culture. However, many traditional genres still survive today throughout China. Palace and Temple musics have not been lost, for they are still alive in folk practice.
