The subject of this study is the historical development of a vehicle for a form of western art (the orchestra) in China from 1840 to the present. The writer was primarily concerned with how the orchestra developed in broad socio-economical, political-cultural, and historical contexts with an emphasis on elaborating certain conditions responsible for the specific features of this development. The following major aspects of the development of the orchestra in China are discussed:1)The uniqueness of China's culture before accepting western culture;2)Reason and procedures by which China accepted western music and its orchestra;3)The social change in the 1950s which affected the function of the orchestra in China;4)The influence of political movements and individual roles on the development of the orchestras in China;5)The emergence of the orchestra as a cultural symbol during China's modernization;6)The fact in which the orchestra become a cultural symbol during China's modernization;7)Roles and functions of the orchestra during the cultural merging of China and the West;8)The future of the orchestra in China.The purpose of this study is to confirm the cultural assimilation of the western orchestra as a world-wide trend, one in which East and West enrich one another. / School of Music