TRADITIONAL CHINESE MUSICAL SYMBOLS IN GAME MUSIC: ONTOLOGY AND AESTHETIC ANALYSIS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55197/qjssh.v7i2.1122Keywords:
traditional Chinese musical symbols, game music, ontological classification, aesthetic interpretation, cultural translationAbstract
China’s game industry’s "cultural going global" strategy has positioned traditional musical symbols as core cultural expression carriers, but the contradiction between superficial symbol application and disconnected cultural connotations has become increasingly prominent in current creations. Existing studies primarily focus on symbols’ communication effects from a communication perspective, overlooking systematic deconstruction at the musicological ontological level and failing to establish an interpretive framework linking symbols’ formal characteristics, aesthetic connotations, and cultural genes. Using musicological ontological analysis, comparative musicology, and cultural semiotic interpretation, this study examines 34 representative Chinese game music works launched between 2018 and 2025 to construct an ontological classification system for traditional musical cultural symbols and interpret their aesthetic logic. The research identifies a four-dimensional system (temperament, instrument, form, genre symbols), reveals triple aesthetic expression logic (artistic conception adaptation, functional coordination, cultural resonance), and clarifies contemporary transformation paths of traditional Chinese musical aesthetic thoughts such as "the unity of emptiness and reality" and "harmony in diversity." This work fills gaps in musicological ontological studies on traditional symbols in game music, providing theoretical support and practical guidance for their modern media application through the constructed "ontology-aesthetics-culture" three-dimensional interpretive framework.
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