Between Rhetoric and Reality: An Ecological Systems Review of Chinese National Music Education in Higher Education (2019–2025)

This systematic review synthesizes six years (2019–2025) of scholarly discourse on Chinese national music education in higher education. It employs Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory to diagnose multi-level challenges and strategize pathways for sustainable development, positioning the issue at the intersection of cultural policy, digital transformation, and human development in the Asia-Pacific region. Adhering rigorously to PRISMA 2020 guidelines, a qualitative synthesis was conducted on 64 peer-reviewed studies from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database. The analysis employed a hybrid inductive-deductive approach: open coding allowed themes to emerge from the data, which were then systematically mapped onto Bronfenbrenner's ecological framework—macrosystem (policy/culture), mesosystem (institution), microsystem (pedagogy), and individual level (student)—with attention also to the chronosystem (temporal change). The ecosystem is characterized by policy-practice decoupling, curricular Westernization, a digital divide, and a crisis of cultural confidence. A paradigm shift is evident in post-2020 literature, advocating for digitally-enabled pedagogies (AI, VR), interdisciplinary “New Liberal Arts” fusion, and a transition from cultural inheritance to innovation. The findings underscore the necessity of synergistic, multi-level interventions. External validity concerns, similar to those noted in the broader Chinese educational research landscape, are also discussed. This is the first review to apply a robust ecological framework to this domain, transforming fragmented findings into a coherent diagnostic and strategic model. It explicitly links cultural heritage education to global development agendas and offers evidence-based, scalable policy insights for stakeholders across the Asia-Pacific, contributing to comparative studies on cultural sustainability in education.