ESP-4039

Published

2025-09-22

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 9 (2025): Published

Section

Research Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Ming Gao, Krisada Daoruang, Arethit Posrithong

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The journal adopts the Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0), which means that anyone can reuse and redistribute the materials for non-commercial purposes as long as you follow the license terms and the original source is properly cited.

Author(s) shall retain the copyright of their work and grant the Journal/Publisher rights for the first publication with the work concurrently licensed since 2023 Vol.8 No.2.

Under this license, author(s) will allow third parties to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute and/or copy the content under the condition that the authors are given credit. No permission is required from the authors or the publisher.

This broad license intends to facilitate free access, as well as the unrestricted use of original works of all types. This ensures that the published work is freely and openly available in perpetuity.

By providing open access, the following benefits are brought about:

  • Higher Visibility, Availability and Citations-free and unlimited accessibility of the publication over the internet without any restrictions increases citation of the article.
  • Ease of search-publications are easily searchable in search engines and indexing databases.
  • Rapid Publication – accepted papers are immediately published online.
  • Available for free download immediately after publication at https://esp.as-pub.com/index.php/ESP

 

Copyright Statement

1.The authors certify that the submitted manuscripts are original works, do not infringe the rights of others, are free from academic misconduct and confidentiality issues, and that there are no disputes over the authorship scheme of the collaborative articles. In case of infringement, academic misconduct and confidentiality issues, as well as disputes over the authorship scheme, all responsibilities will be borne by the authors.

2. The author agrees to grant the Editorial Office of Environment and Social Psychology a licence to use the reproduction right, distribution right, information network dissemination right, performance right, translation right, and compilation right of the submitted manuscript, including the work as a whole, as well as the diagrams, tables, abstracts, and any other parts that can be extracted from the work and used in accordance with the characteristics of the journal. The Editorial Board of Environment and Social Psychology has the right to use and sub-licence the above mentioned works for wide dissemination in print, electronic and online versions, and, in accordance with the characteristics of the periodical, for the period of legal protection of the property right of the copyright in the work, and for the territorial scope of the work throughout the world.

3. The authors are entitled to the copyright of their works under the relevant laws of Singapore, provided that they do not exercise their rights in a manner prejudicial to the interests of the Journal.

About Licence

Environment and Social Psychology is an open access journal and all published work is available under the Creative Commons Licence, Authors shall retain copyright of their work and grant the journal/publisher the right of first publication, and their work shall be licensed under the Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Under this licence, the author grants permission to third parties to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute and/or copy the content with attribution to the author. No permission from the author or publisher is required.

This broad licence is intended to facilitate free access to and unrestricted use of original works of all kinds. This ensures that published works remain free and accessible in perpetuity. Submitted manuscripts, once accepted, are immediately available to the public and permanently accessible free of charge on the journal’s official website (https://esp.as-pub.com/index.php/ESP). Allowing users to read, download, copy, print, search for or link to the full text of the article, or use it for other legal purposes. However, the use of the work must retain the author's signature, be limited to non-commercial purposes, and not be interpretative.

Click to download <Agreement on the Licence for the Use of Copyright on Environmental and Social Psychology>.

How to Cite

Gao, M., Krisada Daoruang, & Arethit Posrithong. (2025). Musical transmission and collective memory: A psychocultural study of Tujia folk songs. Environment and Social Psychology, 10(9), ESP-4039. https://doi.org/10.59429/esp.v10i9.4039

Musical transmission and collective memory: A psychocultural study of Tujia folk songs

Ming Gao

Chakrabongse Bhuvanarth International College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-Ok, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand

Krisada Daoruang

Chakrabongse Bhuvanarth International College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Rajamangala University of Technology Tawan-Ok, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand

Arethit Posrithong

Faculty of Education, Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand


DOI: https://doi.org/10.59429/esp.v10i9.4039


Keywords: Tujia folk songs; musical transmission; collective memory; psychocultural; intangible cultural heritage; intergenerational knowledge; China; ethnomusicology; cultural psychology

Abstract

This psychocultural study explores the relationship between musical transmission and collective memory within the Tujia ethnic minority in China, focusing on the role of traditional folk songs as mnemonic vessels for cultural identity. Using a mixed-methods design across three generational cohorts, the study applies four novel analytical techniques—Multi-Generational Transmission Analysis (MGTA), Digital Cognitive Mapping, Biometric Coding, and Network Analysis—to examine how emotional engagement, symbolic coherence, and social learning contexts shape memory retention. The findings indicate a marked generational decline in cultural knowledge, especially in contextual understanding and symbolic literacy. Emotional synchrony during ritual-based transmission emerged as a strong predictor of memory retention, while institutional instruction showed limited efficacy. Furthermore, most lyrical and symbolic changes reflected cultural erosion rather than creative innovation. The study concludes that sustainable heritage preservation depends not only on documentation but on revitalizing embodied, affective, and community-rooted learning environments that support psychocultural continuity.

References

[1]. 1.E. H. Margulis, P. C. M. Wong, C. Turnbull, B. M. Kubit, and J. D. McAuley, “Narratives imagined in response to instrumental music reveal culture-bounded intersubjectivity,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 119, no. 4, e2110406119, 2022, doi: 10.1073/pnas.2110406119.

[2]. 2.S. A. Mehr, M. Singh, D. Knox, D. Ketter, et al., “Universality and diversity in human song,” Science, vol. 366, no. 6468, eaax0868, 2019, doi: 10.1126/science.aax0868.

[3]. 3.M. Anglada-Tort, P. M. C. Harrison, and N. Jacoby, “Large-scale iterated singing experiments reveal oral transmission mechanisms underlying music evolution,” Curr. Biol., vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 600–608.e3, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.12.029.

[4]. 4.K. Howard, Culture, Music Education, and the Chinese Dream in Mainland China. Singapore: Springer, 2018, doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-7533-9.

[5]. 5.S. Jian, S. Chuangprakhon, and P. Santaveesuk, “Dongjing Chinese folk music in enhancing musical literacy and education,” Int. J. Educ. Literacy Stud., vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 151–158, 2024, doi: 10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.12n.4p.151.

[6]. 6.C. Maags and H. Holbig, “Entering the UNESCO agenda: The politics of intangible cultural heritage in China,” Int. J. Cultural Policy, vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 648–663, 2016, doi: 10.1080/10286632.2015.1116527.

[7]. 7.A. Skounti, “Intangible cultural heritage: The unique context of Morocco and the limits of a universal approach,” Int. J. Heritage Stud., vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 616–629, 2018, doi: 10.1080/13527258.2017.1350744.

[8]. 8.Y.-W. Chan, “The evolution of ethnic tourism and the politics of cultural representation in Guizhou, China,” J. Tourism History, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 266–283, 2021, doi: 10.1080/1755182X.2021.1883708.

[9]. 9.J. Zhang, S. He, Z. Wu, and J. Wang, “MGWR reveals scale heterogeneity shaping intangible cultural heritage distribution in China,” Sci. Rep., vol. 12, 13424, 2022, doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-17893-w.

[10]. 10.C. Huang, “Psychocultural reflexivity and the transmission of intangible heritage: A study of Kunqu opera apprenticeships,” Modern China, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 405–436, 2019, doi: 10.1177/0097700418817783.

[11]. 11.M. Margaret, “Emotion and collective memory: The case of revolutionary songs in cultural China,” Memory Stud., vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 1193–1208, 2020, doi: 10.1177/1750698018801353.

[12]. 12.O. Angé and D. Berliner, Eds., Anthropology and Nostalgia. New York, NY, USA: Berghahn, 2020.

[13]. 13.P. E. Savage, S. Brown, E. Sakai, and T. E. Currie, “Statistical universals reveal the structures and functions of human music,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 112, no. 29, pp. 8987–8992, 2015, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1414495112.

[14]. 14.H. Niu, “Intangible cultural heritage and ethnic identity: The revival of Mongolian long-song in Inner Mongolia,” Asian Music, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 3–28, 2018, doi: 10.1353/amu.2018.0001.

[15]. 15.M. Bigenho, “Intangible cultural heritage and participatory politics: The case of Bolivian carnival music,” Ethnomusicology, vol. 61, no. 1, pp. 66–93, 2017, doi: 10.5406/ethnomusicology.61.1.0066.

[16]. 16.G. Rouget, Music and Trance: A Theory of the Relations Between Music and Possession (Reissue). Chicago, IL, USA: Univ. Chicago Press, 2017.

[17]. 17.M. Høydalsvik, “Cultural memory in Chinese shadow puppetry: Oral transmission in the digital age,” Int. J. Intangible Heritage, vol. 14, pp. 125–134, 2019.

[18]. 18.V. Erlmann, “Resounding transnationalism: Listening to African music in China,” J. World Pop. Music, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 171–193, 2019, doi: 10.1558/jwpm.37402.

[19]. 19.P. Liu, J. Wang, and X. Sun, “The role of folk music in rural education and cultural memory in China’s revitalization strategy,” J. Folklore Res., vol. 57, no. 1, pp. 25–48, 2020.

[20]. 20.K. Harrison and S. Pettan, Eds., Applied Ethnomusicology in Institutional Policy and Practice. Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K.: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2022.

[21]. 21.W. Huo and J. Zhang, “Collective memory and local identity: The case of ‘Red Songs’ in Chongqing,” China Perspectives, no. 1, pp. 25–34, 2017, doi: 10.4000/chinaperspectives.7203.

[22]. 22.H. Schippers and C. Grant, Sustainable Futures for Music Cultures: An Ecological Perspective. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford Univ. Press, 2016.

[23]. 23.T. Y. Lee, “Memory, music, and mission: The role of hymn-singing in the early Chinese church,” Stud. World Christianity, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 208–228, 2018, doi: 10.3366/swc.2018.0225.

[24]. 24.Y. Zhu and M. Mostafanezhad, “Heritage tourism and cultural memory: Music and dance in southwest China,” Tourist Stud., vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 476–495, 2019, doi: 10.1177/1468797618818046.

[25]. 25.E. Claus and J. Ng, “Digital preservation of intangible cultural heritage in China: A case study of folk music archives,” New Library World, vol. 121, no. 11/12, pp. 753–770, 2020, doi: 10.1108/NLW-03-2020-0033.

[26]. 26.H. Rees, “Echoes of history: Naxi music, cultural memory, and change in southwest China,” Yearb. Tradit. Music, vol. 53, pp. 61–84, 2021, doi: 10.1017/ytm.2021.7.

[27]. 27.E. Bresnick, “Intangible cultural heritage with Chinese characteristics: Governance, market, and authenticity,” J. Chinese Governance, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 301–320, 2019, doi: 10.1080/23812346.2019.1648675.

[28]. 28.E. H. Margulis, P. C. M. Wong, C. Turnbull, B. M. Kubit, and J. D. McAuley, “Narratives imagined in response to instrumental music reveal culture-bounded intersubjectivity,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 119, no. 4, e2110406119, 2022, doi: 10.1073/pnas.2110406119.

[29]. 29.S. A. Mehr, M. Singh, D. Knox, D. Ketter, et al., “Universality and diversity in human song,” Science, vol. 366, no. 6468, eaax0868, 2019, doi: 10.1126/science.aax0868.

[30]. 30.M. Anglada-Tort, P. M. C. Harrison, and N. Jacoby, “Large-scale iterated singing experiments reveal oral transmission mechanisms underlying music evolution,” Curr. Biol., vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 600–608.e3, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.12.029.

[31]. 31.K. Howard, Culture, Music Education, and the Chinese Dream in Mainland China. Singapore: Springer, 2018, doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-7533-9.

[32]. 32.S. Jian, S. Chuangprakhon, and P. Santaveesuk, “Dongjing Chinese folk music in enhancing musical literacy and education,” Int. J. Educ. Literacy Stud., vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 151–158, 2024, doi: 10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.12n.4p.151.

[33]. 33.C. Maags and H. Holbig, “Entering the UNESCO agenda: The politics of intangible cultural heritage in China,” Int. J. Cultural Policy, vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 648–663, 2016, doi: 10.1080/10286632.2015.1116527.

[34]. 34.A. Skounti, “Intangible cultural heritage: The unique context of Morocco and the limits of a universal approach,” Int. J. Heritage Stud., vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 616–629, 2018, doi: 10.1080/13527258.2017.1350744.

[35]. 35.Y.-W. Chan, “The evolution of ethnic tourism and the politics of cultural representation in Guizhou, China,” J. Tourism History, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 266–283, 2021, doi: 10.1080/1755182X.2021.1883708.

[36]. 36.J. Zhang, S. He, Z. Wu, and J. Wang, “MGWR reveals scale heterogeneity shaping intangible cultural heritage distribution in China,” Sci. Rep., vol. 12, 13424, 2022, doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-17893-w.

[37]. 37.C. Huang, “Psychocultural reflexivity and the transmission of intangible heritage: A study of Kunqu opera apprenticeships,” Modern China, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 405–436, 2019, doi: 10.1177/0097700418817783.

[38]. 38.M. Margaret, “Emotion and collective memory: The case of revolutionary songs in cultural China,” Memory Stud., vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 1193–1208, 2020, doi: 10.1177/1750698018801353.

[39]. 39.O. Angé and D. Berliner, Eds., Anthropology and Nostalgia. New York, NY, USA: Berghahn, 2020.

[40]. 40.P. E. Savage, S. Brown, E. Sakai, and T. E. Currie, “Statistical universals reveal the structures and functions of human music,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 112, no. 29, pp. 8987–8992, 2015, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1414495112.

[41]. 41.H. Niu, “Intangible cultural heritage and ethnic identity: The revival of Mongolian long-song in Inner Mongolia,” Asian Music, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 3–28, 2018, doi: 10.1353/amu.2018.0001.

[42]. 42.M. Bigenho, “Intangible cultural heritage and participatory politics: The case of Bolivian carnival music,” Ethnomusicology, vol. 61, no. 1, pp. 66–93, 2017, doi: 10.5406/ethnomusicology.61.1.0066.

[43]. 43.T. Min and T. Zhang, “Cultural resilience from sacred to secular: Ritual spatial construction and changes to the Tujia hand-waving sacrifice in the Wuling Corridor, China,” Religions, vol. 16, no. 7, art. 811, 2025, doi: 10.3390/rel16070811.

[44]. 44.Y. An and X. Yi, “Sustainability of vanishing intangible cultural heritage: A case of clan-god worship symbols in West Hunan, China,” J. Cultural Heritage Manage. Sustain. Dev., vol. 15, no. 2, (in press), 2025, doi: 10.1108/JCHMSD-01-2025-0016.

[45]. 45.C. Tang, T. Qiu, and Y. Li, “Heritage perspectives on cultural memory and spatial identity in Yuan River Basin, Hunan, China,” npj Heritage Sci., vol. 13, art. 261, 2025, doi: 10.1038/s40494-025-01841-5.

[46]. 46.K. Tang, “Singing a Chinese nation: Heritage preservation, the Yuanshengtai movement, and new trends in Chinese folk music in the twenty-first century,” Ethnomusicology, vol. 65, no. 1, pp. 1–31, 2021, doi: 10.5406/ethnomusicology.65.1.0001.

[47]. 47.Y. Liu and O. W. Chow, “Preserving the Feitao ritual in an era of globalization: The heritage ecology of Maonan ethnic minority in modern China,” Rupkatha J. Interdiscip. Stud. Humanit., vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 1–17, 2024, doi: 10.21659/rupkatha.v16n1.13.

[48]. 48.S. Zhang and C. Wu, “Revitalizing endangered traditions: Innovative approaches to safeguarding Yunnan’s ethnic minority music as intangible cultural heritage,” Herança – J. History, Heritage Cult., vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 101–128, 2023, doi: 10.52152/heranca.v6i1.787.

[49]. 49.J. Kuang and L. He, “From oblivion to reappearance: A multi-faceted evaluation of the sustainability of folk music in Yunnan Province of China,” SAGE Open, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 1–15, 2022, doi: 10.1177/21582440221117806.

[50]. 50.L. Wang and M. Xie, “Intangible cultural heritage in China: A visual analysis of research hotspots, frontiers, and trends using CiteSpace,” Sustainability, vol. 13, no. 17, art. 9865, 2021, doi: 10.3390/su13179865.

[51]. 51.J. C. Lin and L. Jackson, “Just singing and dancing: Official representations of ethnic minority cultures in China,” Int. J. Multicult. Educ., vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 94–117, 2022, doi: 10.18251/ijme.v24i3.3007.

[52]. 52.C. Maags, “State institutions as building blocks of China’s infrastructures of memory – The case of intangible heritage,” J. Current Chin. Affairs, vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 165–186, 2023, doi: 10.1177/18681026221145950.

[53]. 53.L. Fu, N. Rattachaiwong, and Q. Jin, “Cultural ecology and changes of Tujia Waving Dance in Southeast Chongqing,” Migration Lett., vol. 21, no. S2, pp. 1489–1497, 2024.

[54]. 54.C. S. C. Chan, “Sustainability of indigenous folk tales, music and cultural heritage through innovation,” J. Cultural Heritage Manage. Sustain. Dev., vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 342–361, 2018, doi: 10.1108/JCHMSD-06-2017-0044.

[55]. 55.H. Liu, “Cultural reproduction: Ethnic festivals as intangible cultural heritage in China,” in Intangible Cultural Heritage in Contemporary China: The Participation of Local Communities, K. E. Kuah and Z. Liu, Eds. New York, NY, USA: Routledge, 2019, pp. 147–166, doi: 10.4324/9780429468710.

[56]. 56.K. Howard, “Musical instruments as tangible cultural heritage and as/for intangible cultural heritage,” Int. J. Cultural Property, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 23–44, 2022, doi: 10.1017/S0940739121000436.

[57]. 57.A. Skounti, “The authenticity of the intangible: Reflections on the French paradigm in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage,” Int. J. Heritage Stud., vol. 25, no. 10, pp. 1060–1077, 2019, doi: 10.1080/13527258.2019.1578987.



21 Woodlands Close #02-10, Primz Bizhub,Postal 737854, Singapore

Email:editorial_office@as-pub.com