Cultural transmission of guzheng in Malaysian Chinese communities: a systematic-informed integration

This study aims to systematically sort out the existing research results on the development of the guzheng in the Chinese society of Malaysia and respond to the current problem of insufficient theoretical integration in the construction of ethnic identity and the inheritance of music culture in this field. As a traditional musical instrument with both historical and cultural symbolism, the guzheng is not only a carrier of artistic practice in the multi-ethnic society of Malaysia but also increasingly a medium for the expression of ethnic identity and cultural negotiation. Therefore, clarifying the dissemination path, educational mechanism, and social function of the guzheng in Malaysia is of great significance for understanding how overseas Chinese music can be continued and recreated in the local context. This study employed a systematic-informed integration methodology (Toronto & Remington, 2020), which combines the transparency of systematic with the thematic induction of an integration. Eight representative studies were selected from the literature between 2000 and 2024 for analysis. The research content mainly revolves around four aspects: historical development, teaching practice, cultural identity, and intergenerational inheritance and interaction. The results show that the guzheng in Malaysia has gradually transformed from the early family inheritance to institutionalized teaching in schools and communities and has strengthened identity recognition and intergenerational cultural continuity in the Chinese community. However, most of the current related research focuses on the Chinese community and is mostly qualitative analysis, lacking in-depth discussion on the participation of other ethnic groups, the process of learner identity change, and localized teaching content. This study not only outlines the overall knowledge landscape of guzheng research in Malaysia but also clearly points out that in the future, teaching experiments, questionnaires, and ethnic comparative studies can be used to promote the sustainable development of guzheng in any Southeast Asian society and expand the theoretical discussion space of ethnomusicology on culturality, cross-cultural communication, and formal educational practice.

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