Sound Art in its contemporary Western sense did not really exist in China until the 1990s. However, China has a rich history of aural aesthetics and advanced sound theory. Early on, the Chinese rulers were aware on the link between sound and authority, and how powerful sound can be when used as a tool to bring out certain emotions in a population. Each Chinese dynasty had a separate chapter on the tuning system, this shows to what extent the court had control over a tuning system in each period.

In China, there was less of a focus on the sounds themselves or acoustics but rather an emphasis on the correlations of sounds and what various sounds and music might evoke in the listeners. Sound, music and tuning is correlated to cosmology, astronomy, astrology, philosophy, medicine. This is something that we might see less of in a Western setting.

Philosophers like Zhuang Zi and Lao Zi (the founder of Taoism) had concepts on sound similar to the ideas of Luke Cage, for example.

As China was not as in sync with other cultures when regarding sound art for the latter half of the 20th century, there was not much outer influence changing the way sound art was created within China until the 21st century, with the rise of the internet breaking this sonic isolation.

In 2003, Post-Concrete produced and released China: The Sonic Avant-Garde. This was essentially a compilation of individual sonic experiments by young artists, with avant-garde sounds and experimental noise work. I personally really enjoyed this project, especially Dfaonocle and Lunch Life by Wang Changcun and Fish Cooking 4 by Fu Yü. It is cutting edge and innovative Chinese sound work, there are no traditional Chinese instruments to be heard throughout the 2 hour tracklist. There were 15 artists featured, bringing forward a wide range of styles and techniques. The compilation includes plunderphonics, musique concrete, experimental electronics, ambient, sample collage, plug-in modulation, text-sound, sound poetry, mixer feedback improv, hardcore noise, radio art…

Dajuin Yao, Sound Art in China: Revolutions Per Minute