Yet, in pointing to Cui as countercultural antihero and breakthrough
songwriter, current research apparently neglects several pre-existing
and newly emergent pop song genres which also signal the rise of
humanism in the decade. Compared to an older generation who had been
taught to devote themselves to serve the nation at the expense of
personal sacrifice, the young generation appeared to doubt the meaning
of this devotion after exposed to the influence of Western humanism. The
various newly emerged song genres during the period stand as a new way
for young musicians to articulate humanism in their understanding.
Significantly, these songs mostly appeared within mainstream expressive
culture and attempted “positive” political engagement. The examples
given in this chapter are a pop-style lyrical song (shuqing
gequ )7 “Blood-Stained Dignity” (Xue rande
fengcai ),8 a public welfare song (gongyi gequ )
“Fill the World with Love”
(Rang shijie chongman ai ), and a
Northwest wind song (Xibei
feng ) “My Beloved Hometown” (Wo reliande
guxiang ).9