Chen Jiageng was a famous patriotic overseas Chinese, as well as an industrialist, educator, and social activist. These identities seem to have a certain distance from music, but in fact, Chen Jiageng has a close connection with music. As an educator, Chen Jiageng attached great importance to music because it is a form of aesthetic education, and aesthetic education is an important component of education. In 1874, Chen Jiageng was born in Rendeli Jimei Society, Tong'an County, Quanzhou Prefecture, Fujian Province. When he was born, Jimei was still an inconspicuous small fishing village. The music that Chen Jiageng first came into contact with was probably Nan Yin, which was popular in the southern Fujian region. Nanyin originated from Quanzhou and was introduced to Xiamen during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. With the spread of Western things to the east, Western things such as organs and pianos were successively transported to Xiamen, where Eastern and Western music cultures blended. During his teenage years, whether in his hometown of Jimei or Singapore, Chen Jiageng was exposed to traditional Chinese music like Nanyin, as well as the opportunity to hear Western melodies played on instruments such as organ and piano. This diverse musical cultural experience cultivated Chen Jiageng's initial interest in music. Chen Jiageng's emphasis on music education is reflected in his educational activities. On March 10, 1918, the Jimei Normal School and Jimei Middle School founded by Chen Jiageng opened simultaneously. At that time, Jimei School set up a "music and song" course, which changed the situation of "no music and no song" in Jimei's old style education. At the same time, the "Jimei School Song" written by Huang Hongxiang and composed by Xu Zichuan was also completed and released. On February 22, 1919, Jimei Kindergarten founded by Chen Jiageng officially opened, which is one of the earliest kindergartens founded by Chinese people. In order to cultivate children's musical literacy, Chen Jiageng specially equipped them with music equipment such as pianos and organs. Chen Jiageng attaches great importance to the comprehensive cultivation of students in his education. He believes that students' knowledge, ideas, abilities, character, experiments, sports, gardening, music, and other extracurricular activities should all be coordinated with the main curriculum. At the request of Chen Jiageng, the Jimei School Music Room, which cost 3000 yuan, was built in February 1925 as a classroom for Jimei School students to attend music classes. At the beginning of the establishment of Jimei School, a military band was formed, but this band has never had a suitable training venue. In April 1925, Chen Jiageng spent 3500 yuan to build a military music pavilion as a place for the Jimei School's military music team to practice military music. In order to standardize art education at Jimei School, in August 1925, Chen Jiageng added Jimei Advanced Normal School elective courses on the basis of Jimei Normal School, which specifically included an art major. Today, for many Chinese families, the piano is no longer an unattainable luxury. But more than 100 years ago, the piano was definitely a rarity. But Chen Jiageng attached great importance to equipping the school with pianos and spared no expense in purchasing them. In 1913, Jimei Elementary School founded by Chen Jiageng opened. At the same time, Chen Jiageng began to search for music teacher candidates. In July 1917, Xu Zhenyuan, a native of Xiamen, was hired as a music teacher at Jimei Elementary School. In 1922, in correspondence with the principal of Jimei School, Ye Yuan, Chen Jiageng frequently mentioned the purchase of pianos for Jimei School. On May 22nd, Chen Jiageng wrote to Ye Yuan, informing him to "send an application for the piano here first". On June 4th, he sent another letter to Ye Yuan, reminding him that if he wanted to purchase a piano, 'Germany is the best place for this investigation'. On October 11th, he stated in a letter to Ye Yuan that he planned to purchase a qin from Zhengde Guozhuang in the near future. It was precisely because of Chen Jiageng's attention that by the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the piano in the music room of Jimei School had reached as many as 30. Even the instruments and staff used by the Jimei School brass band were bought by Chen Jiageng from a British musical instrument company in Singapore and sent back to Jimei. According to Ye Yuan, the former principal of Jimei School who later came to Guangxi to work, Jimei School may have had more pianos than all schools in Guangxi at that time. Chen Jiageng only knew how to speak Minnan dialect throughout his life, so singing Nanyin in Minnan dialect became his first choice for listening to plays. Songs such as "Before the Court", "Feng Da Li", and "Mid Autumn Moon" are all his favorite. In September 1950, Chen Jiageng returned to his hometown of Jimei to settle down. He believes that in a civilized village, there should be three sounds at night: the sound of reading, the sound of boxing, and the sound of string instruments. Under his advocacy, Jimei Nanyue Society was officially established in 1953. Chen Jiageng allocates a special fund of 20 yuan per month for the daily operation of Nanle Society. Every evening, waves of gentle, lingering and deep Nanyin melodies will come from Jimei Nanyue Society. Chen Jiageng attached great importance to Jimei Nanyue Society and often provided opportunities for members to showcase their talents. Since 1956, when Chen Jiageng held the Dragon Boat Festival Loong Boat Competition in his hometown Jimei, he would invite Jimei South Music Club to perform to cheer him up. September 19, 1956 is the Mid-Autumn Festival in the lunar calendar. On this day, Chen Jiageng, along with Zhang Chukun, Vice Mayor of Xiamen City, Lu Weite, Secretary of the Party Committee of Xiamen University, Lin Ying, Director of the President's Office of Xiamen University, Chen Cunmu, President of Jimei School, and Lin Chengzhi, an alumnus of Jimei School, boarded the "Lujiang" yacht to celebrate the holiday together. This was a rare "luxury" arrangement in Chen Jiageng's life. The yacht runs from Jimei Dock to the inland sea in Haicang area. Tan Kah kee specially invited actors from Jimei Nanyin Club to sing during the sea tour. The group enjoyed the beautiful Nanyin while chatting, and had a happy Mid-Autumn Festival. (New Society)