Bibliometric Study of 40 Years of Research in Chinese Music Archaeology

In the field of archaeology, music archaeology has emerged as a significant area of scholarly interest. Despite over 40 years of development in Chinese music archaeology, there remains a lack of systematic bibliometric analysis within the academic community. This study addresses this gap by using core journal articles from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) as the data source, selecting 719 high-quality articles through keyword searches. We utilized software such as CiteSpace and VOSviewer to perform cluster analysis and burst word analysis on the keywords, identifying the historical research status, key journals, major research institutions, and emerging research frontiers in Chinese music archaeology. The findings reveal three distinct developmental stages in Chinese music archaeology: the initial stage, development stage, and peak stage. The research model is predominantly driven by universities with institutional support, though collaboration between research institutions remains limited. The central themes of music archaeology revolve around two main aspects: unearthed musical instruments and the ritual music systems and culture. Additionally, three frontier research areas have been identified: Liu Fei’s tomb, ancient qin, and decorative patterns. Future research is expected to further explore instruments such as Bianzhong and Bianqing. This study represents the first application of bibliometrics in Chinese music archaeology research, providing a structured framework for existing research in this field and offering valuable insights for future scholars exploring potential directions in music archaeology.