The orchestral pieceNew Raiment of Rainbow and Feather Dance, composed by Xiao Youmei in 1923 and Nostalgia, Huang Zi's graduation composition when he was studying in America in 1929, is regarded as the original Chinese symphonic music creations. Following these, the representative works of Chinese symphonic music in the first half of the 20th century are generally considered to beMetropolitan Fantasyby Huang Zi,Taiwan Dancecomposed by Jiang Wenye in his early days, the modern orchestral pieceConfucius' Shrinecreated between 1938-1940 period, He Luding's orchestral piecesGreat World and Night Flute in the Wild Hills, Ma Sicong'sFirst Symphony, the passagesMorning' andWorship from the opera Zheng Chenggongby Zheng Zhisheng, Xian Xinghai'sNational Liberation Symphonyand theNew China Suite, written by Ding Shande on the eve of national liberation.

In the period 1949-1956, there was a flurry of creation in the field of symphonic music. Among the most outstanding works were Ding Shande'sXinjiang Dance, Wang Yunjie'sFirst Symphony,Ge Yan's Horse-Drived Cart, Jiang Wenye's Minor Symphony and Deep Flows the Miluo River, Ma Sicong'sSong of the Wooded Mountains, Li Huanzhi'sSpring Festival Suite, Shi Yongkang'sStory of the Yellow Crane,Dance of the Yao Peopleby Liu Tieshan and Mao Ruan, and Wang Yiping'sMartial Dance. In these works, folk and mythological elements are prominent, the musical vocabulary is often directly connected with that of folk tunes, and the overall style is one of lyricism, color and folkloric. The esthetic conception is programmatic.

From 1957 to 1962, symphonic creation became even brisker. According to incomplete statistics, more than 80 such works were performed in public and published, of which the most influential and successful was the violin concertoLiang Zhu. Other works of this period were Ding Shande's Long March Symphony, Wang Yunjie's second symphony, known asThe Anti-Japanese War, Xin Huguang's tone poemGada Plum Forest, Luo Zhongrong's first symphony, Li Huanzhi's first symphony, titledHero Island, Ma Sicong'sSecond Symphony, Ju Wei's tone poemMonument to the People's Heroesand Zhu Jianer'sFestival Overture. Symphonic music in this period featured an increased content of realistic themes and themes from revolutionary history; it also featured experiments with using symphonic forms to express serious historical subject matter. Programmatic musical thought still held sway, but the artistic methods were based on the traditional European norms of classical, romantic and folk music. In addition, there was a marked advance in the exploration of musical vocabulary, harmony, methods of instrumental arrangement and giving the music a national flavor. At the same time, lyricism, color and singing maintained their prominence, while elements of drama, three-dimensionality began to show themselves in the development of musical thought.

From 1963 to 1966, apart from Ode to the Red Flag, which had a certain artistic value, there were almost no new musical works of note. Two symphonies that appeared during the Cultural Revolution,ShajiabangandTaking Tiger Mountain by Strategy, were no more than light operas. The piano pieceYellow Rivercan be considered a fairly complete work. The string symphonyTwo Springs Reflect the Moon, rearranged by Wu Zuqiang based on the original composition by He Bingyuan, has richness and depth, and a lingering melody that shows that Wu had a deep understanding of the original piece, to which he applied his polyphonic skills in a mature way.

After 1976,Good News from Beijing to Border Villagesforecasted an overall revival in symphonic creation, and in 1981, 35 works won prizes at the First National Symphonic Music Awards Conference. Winning the top prizes were Liu Dunnan's piano concertoMountain Forest, Zhu Jianer'sFantasia Symphony, Li Zhongyong'sNature Sketch on a Cloudy Ridge, Wang Xilin'sYunnan Tone Poem, Chen Peixun's second symphony, titledQingming Sacrificeand Zhang Qianyi'sNorthern Forest. These works all provided evidence that Chinese symphonic music had embarked on a road of healthy development.

In the period 1982-1989, the prosperous situation in Chinese symphonic music was assisted by the rise of the New Wave Movement. Spearheading the new surge was a group of young composers who introduced modern Western musical techniques into the creation of symphonies. This "stone that raised a thousand waves" induced old and middle-aged composers to join the ranks of the New Wave, and a new high point was reached in 20th century Chinese symphonic creation when other old and middle-aged composers who clung to the traditional methods of composition were spurred to turn out more excellent works. The major symphonic works produced in this period wereSketch of Guizhou MountainsandWonder of the Naxi Peopleand symphoniesOne to Fiveby Zhu Jianer, Du Mingxin's fantasia symphonyGod of the Luo River, Tan Dun'sPiano Symphony, Qu Xiaosong'sMong Dong and First Symphony, and works by Ye Xiaogang, Chen Yi, Guo Wenjing, He Xuntian, Zhou Long, Xu Shuya, Wang Xilin, Zhong Xinming, Guo Zurong, Yong Rubu and Mou Hong. No matter who was the composer of the above works and no matter which technique he used, they all displayed a basic esthetic tendency: an increased downplaying of programmatic conception, with more skillful stereophonic and symphonic composition. A more marked national style of expression and more pronounced dramatic, tragic and philosophical elements were other features. All this is evidence that Chinese composers were acquiring a surer grasp of the rules of symphonic creation.

Entering the 1990s, Chinese symphonic creation found itself in the doldrums. Even so, throughout the decade, Zhu Jianer did hard work in this field and produced some fine works, such as hisSuonaconcertoHeavenly Music, fifth to eighth symphonies and tone poemOne Hundred Years of Vicissitudes, making him one of the most prominent composers of symphonies in China in the 20thcentury.