Research on the history and creative performance methods of Chinese folk songs has yielded certain results in both the fields of ethnic culture and music. Meanwhile, educators have produced rich research findings on university aesthetic education in a...
Research on the history and creative performance methods of Chinese folk songs has yielded certain results in both the fields of ethnic culture and music. Meanwhile, educators have produced rich research findings on university aesthetic education in areas such as curriculum system construction and the integration of aesthetic education with intangible cultural heritage. While research on university aesthetic education generally emphasizes empowering aesthetic education with excellent traditional Chinese culture, research exploring the educational effectiveness of combining Chinese folk songs—a uniquely Chinese art form—with university aesthetic education is still relatively rare. This paper leverages the author's professional expertise and accumulated experience in educational research, employing relevant theories, methods, and perspectives from interdisciplinary fields such as musicology and aesthetic education. It attempts to conduct interdisciplinary research by combining Chinese folk song art with university aesthetic education, exploring the aesthetic appeal of Chinese folk songs and their resonance with university students. The aim is to uphold the principle that university aesthetic education should cultivate people through beauty and culture, enhance students' patriotism and national pride, strengthen their cultural confidence, improve their aesthetic and cultural literacy, promote national unity and cultural prosperity, and provide theoretical support for research on the educational effects of empowering university aesthetic education with traditional Chinese art and culture. This thesis covers the following:
I. The Aesthetic Interest of Chinese Folk Songs
This section introduces the historical culture and aesthetic characteristics of Chinese folk songs, including Han folk songs, minority folk songs, and new folk songs. It covers the status of folk songs in the lives of the Chinese people and their aesthetic characteristics. Through a comparison of work songs, mountain songs, and ditties in Han folk songs from the north and south, it outlines the regional aesthetic cultural characteristics of Han folk songs. It selects widely sung minority folk songs to analyze the ethnic artistic styles of different folk songs. It examines the aesthetic trends of Chinese folk songs from new folk song works. It elucidates the socio-cultural factors behind Chinese folk song works and summarizes the characteristics of the aesthetic interest of Chinese folk songs.
II. The Continuation and Inheritance of Chinese Aesthetic Education and Chinese Musical Aesthetics
This section considers the spirit and core ideas of Chinese musical aesthetics as important factors influencing the development of Chinese aesthetic education. It traces the development history of Chinese aesthetic education, combining various aesthetic and educational philosophies from the Spring and Autumn Period onwards to analyze the evolution of aesthetic education from ancient Confucian music education to modern aesthetic education, clarifying the development process of aesthetic education in Chinese schools, and verifying the important role of aesthetic education in the all-round development of individuals.
III. Consistency Between Chinese Folk Songs and University Aesthetic Education Functions
Based on recent national policies, this paper summarizes the current status of public aesthetic education activities in Chinese universities, analyzing the needs for implementation and innovation in university aesthetic education from aspects such as educational orientation, curriculum development and implementation methods, textbook analysis, and campus cultural activities. It analyzes the consistency of educational functions between university aesthetic education and the aesthetic appreciation of Chinese folk songs, thus concluding the necessity of the aesthetic appeal of Chinese folk songs in university aesthetic education activities. It demonstrates that the works of Chinese folk songs and the artistic, cultural, and aesthetic values they represent are linked to the educational function of university aesthetic education—cultivating people through beauty and culture—and together they play a vital role in educating people through music.
IV. Implementation Paths for Integrating Chinese Folk Songs into University Aesthetic Education
This paper analyzes the specific implementation paths of integrating Chinese folk songs into university aesthetic education. Based on the aesthetic education courses and campus aesthetic education activities at Jilin Industrial Vocational and Technical College, where the author works, it uses the integration of appreciation and singing practice of classic Chinese folk songs into university aesthetic education courses and campus cultural and artistic activities as a case study to verify the feasibility of integrating folk songs with campus aesthetic education. A list of Chinese folk songs suitable for university aesthetic education theory teaching demonstrations and aesthetic practice is compiled to facilitate university teachers and students' understanding of Chinese folk song art. Using folk song art as a carrier, this paper addresses the challenges of creating cultural characteristics and cultivating aesthetic abilities in existing university aesthetic education teaching practices.
V. The Comprehensive Effectiveness of Integrating the Aesthetic Interest of Chinese Folk Songs into University Aesthetic Education This paper discusses the comprehensive impact of integrating the aesthetic interest of Chinese folk songs into university aesthetic education teaching and practice. The "listen, sing, practice" appreciation and learning model of Chinese folk songs helps students directly experience and participate in the teaching process, enriching the development of campus aesthetic education. Based on the characteristics of local folk song art or minority cultural characteristics, aesthetic education activities can be carried out to help build "one school, one characteristic" or "one school, multiple characteristics" campus cultural features, while also contributing to the construction of local cultural characteristics. From a teacher's perspective, combining the aesthetic appeal of Chinese folk songs with research on university aesthetic education activities helps broaden teachers' teaching and research approaches, break away from the conventional "teaching, lecturing, and rote learning" approach to popularizing art knowledge, enhance the interest and appeal of teaching, and truly implement aesthetic education and quality education. From a student's perspective, university students possess relatively high cultural literacy and knowledge accumulation, and are also inheritors and disseminators of traditional Chinese art and culture. Appreciating Chinese folk songs while understanding the essence of excellent traditional Chinese culture and art, and experiencing the aesthetic appeal of Chinese folk music, can help avoid the negative impact of online and popular culture on students' physical and mental health and aesthetic creativity, and enhance their personal aesthetic abilities and judgment. From the perspective of promoting national culture and enhancing national unity, Chinese folk songs, which convey national history and customs through song, serve as a direct, effective, and engaging artistic medium for disseminating Chinese culture and national art. Combining the aesthetic appeal of Chinese folk songs with art education can enhance university students' national cultural confidence and pride, encouraging them to consciously inherit Chinese culture, strengthen their cultural confidence, appreciate the unity of the Chinese nation, practice national unity, and contribute youthful energy to building a culturally strong nation and promoting national cultural prosperity.
This research paper selects well-known and widely sung works from both traditional and new folk song categories in China for analysis. It summarizes the life-like portrayals and emotional expressions of folk song art, bringing art back to life. This provides artistic references for university aesthetic education and practical activities, promoting classic art, shaping the aesthetic character of young people, and carrying forward the spirit of Chinese national culture. Based on detailed and objective historical documents and theoretical foundations, this study aims to describe the aesthetic appeal of Chinese folk songs from three perspectives: national style, regional characteristics, and artistic connotations. It seeks to continuously explore and refine the beauty of folk songs and their combined role with university aesthetic education in inheriting classic art, educating people through aesthetics, and cultivating people through culture. This will protect and pass on the musical and artistic culture of the Chinese nation, empower social civilization construction through the combination of university aesthetic education and art aesthetic education, and promote national unity and the prosperity and development of the cultures of all ethnic groups.