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In China's foreign policy one goal has never changed - the quest for national prestige. The modernization programme, judged from the international perspective, is an expression of China's striving for prestige. In that context, to have her national flag saluted, the national anthem played, and China's name mentioned was something for China to pursue. For a long time, China had viewed international sports competitions as chances to enhance her prestige. Since 1979 high culture was incorporated into the Struggle to the End. To raise the level of Chinese artists to that end needs foreign expertise.
Though Western art forms such as ballet had been introduced to the Chinese scene in the first decade of the Republic, China has long been suspicious of Western influence in China's cultural life. Before the Cultural Revolution, few Western cultural groups visited China. The Cultural Revolution not only continued that tendency of suspicion, but also cut Chinese artists totally off from foreign artists for a period long enough for them to fall behind in artistic achievements. To reverse that situation, China needed to use foreign co-operation in arts.
On the other hand, Chinese audiences had become very dissatisfied with the monochrome culture developed in the years of the Cultural Revolution. After the conclusion of the Cultural Revolution, Chinese artists tried to enrich the cultural life of the people, but progress was slow due to many factors. This naturally led to a growing interest in cultural pluralism. The lack of high-quality indigenous cultural performers provided a rationale to invite Western arts groups to make up the deficiency.
Since 1978, a few organizations have been deeply involved in hosting artists from Western countries, among which the most important is the China Performing Arts Agency (CPAA). In the period 1979-1981, the CPAA hosted 37 Western performing arts groups, nine of which were from the United States. Among the nine American groups it hosted in this period, seven fell in the category of non-governmental exchanges. As a state agency, its policy in regards to what programmes should be accepted was surprisingly liberal. All "orthodox" performing arts forms, such as classical music, ballet and operas, were considered acceptable by it as long as the group was qualified and, with few exceptions, able to cover its own costs, as the agency had a limited budget for hosting foreign groups, which went almost exclusively to official exchange programmes.
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In China's foreign policy one goal has never changed - the quest for national prestige. The modernization programme, judged from the international perspective, is an expression of China's striving for prestige. In that context, to have her national flag saluted, the national anthem played, and China's name mentioned was something for China to pursue. For a long time, China had viewed international sports competitions as chances to enhance her prestige. Since 1979 high culture was incorporated into the Struggle to the End. To raise the level of Chinese artists to that end needs foreign expertise."
Though Western art forms such as ballet had been introduced to the Chinese scene in the first decade of the Republic, China has long been suspicious of Western influence in China's cultural life. Before the Cultural revolution, few Western cultural groups visited China. The Cultural Revolution not only continued that tendency of suspicion, but also cut Chinese artists totally off from foreign artists for a period long enough for them to fall behind in artistic achievements. To reverse that situation, China needed to use foreign co-operation in arts.
On the other hand, Chinese audiences had become very dissatisfied with the monochrome culture developed in the years of the Cultural Revolution. After the conclusion of the Cultural Revolution, Chinese artists tried to enrich the cultural life of the people, but progress was slow due to many factors. This naturally led to a growing interest in cultural pluralism. The lack of high-quality indigenous cultural performers provided a rationale to invite Western arts groups to make up the deficiency.
Since 1978, a few organizations have been deeply involved in hosting artists from Western countries, among which the most important is the China Performing Arts Agency (CPAA). In the period 1979-1981, the CPAA hosted 37 Western performing arts groups, nine of which were from the United States. Among the nine American groups it hosted in this period, seven fell in the category of non-governmental exchanges. As a state agency, its policy in regards to what programmes should be accepted was surprisingly liberal. All orthodox" performing arts forms, such as classical music, ballet and operas, were considered acceptable by it as long as the group was qualified and, with few exceptions, able to cover its own costs, as the agency had a limited budget for hosting foreign groups, which went almost exclusively to official exchange programmes.
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