AbstractDespite considerable discussion in multicultural music education, the field is predominantly shaped by Euro-Western perspectives, leaving perspectives from regions such as Asia underexplored (Bokhorst-Heng, 2007). Responding to this lacuna, this research utilized an intrinsic case study (Stake, 1995) of a Han Chinese middle school music teacher to explore his practices of multicultural music education in his ethnically heterogeneous classrooms in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Guangxi). The Guangxi of southwestern China is distinguished by substantial ethnocultural diversity, including the Zhuang as the nation’s largest ethnic minority and eleven other indigenous ethnic groups (Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Committee of Ethnic and Religious Affairs, 2025; Luo et al., 2015). A single participant was purposefully selected for this study (Campbell et al., 2020) after securing ethical approval from the university’s Human Research Ethics Board. To ensure triangulation (Guba, 1981), we drew data from multiple sources, including a month of non-participant classroom observation, four semi-structured interviews, documents (i.e., national music curriculum standards and national policy), and the teacher’s reflective journals (Creswell & Poth, 2018). Additionally, we analyzed video recordings of the teacher’s national demonstration lessons on Chinese ethnic music (Zhang & Leung, 2025) through event mapping (Brown et al., 2019). The study was theoretically framed by Fei’s (2017) theory of the pattern of pluralistic unity of the Chinese nation, in which he affirmed that China’s diverse ethnic groups are characterized by their unique languages, cultures, customs, and traditions. While this theory recognizes unique ethnic characteristics, its overarching discourse ultimately prioritizes national unity over ethnic diversity (Chu, 2015). The findings reveal that the participant’s approach to multicultural music education was characterized by a strong focus on the content of China’s diverse ethnic music, a practice aligned with the national discourse of cultural confidence. It also exemplified how multicultural education is shaped by distinct national contexts (Banks, 2009). As a nationally award-winning teacher, he demonstrated high levels of pedagogical skills in analyzing musical structures and conveying cultural backgrounds to students. However, this content integration approach, while technically proficient, omitted critical discussion of power, social justice, and equity. This practice thus falls short of the transformative potential envisioned by scholars like Banks and Banks (2012), for whom multicultural education is not merely a curricular addition, but a comprehensive and systemic reform impacting pedagogy, policy, and school climate. This study contributes a critical case from a non-Western context and reveals the complex interplay between national discourses and classroom practices.Keywords: multicultural music education in China, ethnic diversity in China, policy, pluralistic unity, cultural confidence