Foreword 1
The Evolution of Chinese Music 5
Ancient Times 7
The Xia,Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties 10
The Spring and Autumn Period ＆ the Warring States Period 16
The Qin and Han Dynasties 19
The Period of the Three Kingdoms,the Western and Eastern Jin Dynasties and the Southern and Northern Dynasties 22
The Sui and Tang Dynasties 24
The Song and Yuan Dynasties 28
The Ming and Qing Dynasties 31
After 1840 34
The Connotation of Ancient Music of China 39
Propriety and Music in Confucianism 41
The Dao(natural way)of Heaven 45
The Inwardness of Zen 48
Varieties of Chinese National Musical Instruments 53
A Large Musical Instrument System 54
Varieties of Unique Local Music 70
Chinese Folk Songs 77
Haozi Generated together with Labor 79
Free and Lyrical Mountain Songs 81
Beautiful and Melodious Ditty 84
Singing and Dancing of Ethnic Groups 89
Muqam of the Uygur Minority 90
Tibetan Folk Songs and Dances 92
Mongolian Folk Songs 95
Dong's Ka Lau 96
Miao's Folk Songs and Musical Instruments 99
Quyi Music of China 103
Singing Tunes with Storytelling 106
Singing while Walking 111
Chinese Music of the Time 113
Emergence of New Music Culture 114
Improvement of Chinese Instrumental Music 118
The Birth of New Opera 123
From Mass Songs to Pop Songs Creation 127
New Music in New Age 132
The Sino-foreign Exchange of Music 137
Starting with the Pitch Pipe 138
The Spread of Chinese Music 146
Appendix:Chronological Table of the Chinese Dynasties 153