Since the establishment of the Chinese imperial system, yayue has embodied multiple layers of symbolic meaning. Beyond its elaborate musical forms, yayue served as an expression of political authority and cosmological order. Through cultural and diplomatic exchanges, neighboring East Asian countries such as Japan and Korea received yayue through the ritual of “bestowed music” . In Japan, the transmitted yayue was incorporated into Tōgaku , blending with Central Asian influences, while in Korea, Tangak referred broadly to Chinese-derived music, with ritual music classified separately as Aak. Detached from its imperial origins, yayue in both regions was institutionalized through state systems, forming localized aesthetics and ritual practices. In contrast, Taiwan’s encounter with yayue represents a markedly different trajectory within the East Asian cultural sphere. Without an indigenous imperial system, Taiwan lacked the institutional framework to inherit or practice yayue. Amid successive regime
changes in the twentieth century, yayue entered Taiwan not as a continuation of tradition but as a revival—a reconstructed form carrying new political and cultural meanings. In 1968, Benli Zhuang was appointed to the “Committee for the Improvement of the Confucius Ceremony Music” initiating a three-year project to reconstruct musical
instruments, costumes, and dance for the Confucian ritual. This paper takes this yayue revival as a case study to examine how yayue in postwar Taiwan transformed from an imperial symbol into a form of cultural revival. By comparing the historical trajectories of yayue across East Asia, it argues that the Taiwanese yayue revival was not a mere continuation of tradition but a reimagining and reproduction of cultural heritage in a de-imperialized society.