Social change and political-cultural struggle in Hong Kong’s school music

This article explores Hong Kong music education in relation to the promotion of music, heritage and identity since Hong Kong’s return from the United Kingdom (UK) to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1997.1 It firstly addresses the background of colonial education and music education, then moves on to a discussion of the transformation of traditional Chinese music and local contemporary classical music. Within the context of the shifting political parameters of education, this article lends support to the idea that music education is manipulated for political reasons, and that music cultures are shaped through political and cultural struggles. This article argues that, despite the incorporation of the ‘one country, two systems’2 principle into school education, there is no consensus concerning traditional Chinese music and local classical music in the school curriculum. Introducing Chinese music and local music into Hong Kong schools has resulted in politico-cultural struggles: (i) between teachers’ and students’ perceptions of culture and nation; (ii) between supporters of Chinese music and those who prefer to see other musical cultures in school education; and (iii) concerning local contemporary classical music in the school curriculum.