On the role of music from the significance of Qin, Qi, calligraphy and painting to traditional literati

On the Silence of Piano from the Perspective of "Calm"

The special position of China's traditional music in China's overall culture leads to the fusion tendency of China's ancient philosophy and China's music thought. Mr Zong Baihua said: "Just as we must understand mathematics and geometry when studying western philosophy, we must also understand China's musical thought when studying China's ancient philosophy. If westerners are used to analyzing the world with mathematics. China people are used to interpreting the world with music.

First, the great influence of Confucianism and Taoism on traditional music

Confucian music aesthetics was founded in Confucius, developed in Mencius and matured in Xunzi. The symbol of its maturity is that it puts forward two categories of "neutralization" and "rites and music". Since ancient times, China has attached importance to the educational function of music, and even raised it to the height of controlling the rise and fall of chaos, so there is an old saying, "Listen to the music of a country and know the rise and fall of a country." Confucianism has always attached great importance to the function of music in "ruling the world". "Lu Chunqiu's Music" says: "All music is related to politics, changing customs. Customs are fixed and musical. " The Book of Rites also said: "If measures are taken, nothing is difficult in the world." In fact, China's unified order depended on the system of "rites and music" from the very beginning.

Confucius, the representative of Confucianism, is a person who loves music very much and knows music best. The Analects of Confucius said that he lived in Qi Wenshao and didn't know the taste of meat in March. Yue: "I'm so happy to be quiet!" " "The Analects of Confucius Bashu" records: "Zi is Shao. It's beautiful. As good as possible. This is the so-called Wushu. Perfect, but not perfect. "Confucius not only attaches importance to the beauty of music, but also attaches importance to the goodness in music. In his later years, Confucius arranged for 300 poems to be played on orchestral strings, which was in harmony with the sound of Shao Wu's elegant praise and was introduced to the society as one of the educational contents. It shows that he attaches importance to the psychological education function of music. Confucianism in the Han Dynasty advocated the unity of heaven and man, and music originated from people's perception of the world, which led to the rise of "Fansheng" born from the heart. When the heart moves, everything does its best. Feeling things and moving, shaped by sound. " Therefore, China's ancestors thought: "All happiness reaches the sum of heaven and earth, and is interlinked with human spirit. Therefore, his illness can be felt in his heart and his joy can be observed in his voice. Besides. People also found: "Love works in people's hearts and makes a sound in things. Sound and gas are harmonious, and those who hate people are also. "That is, the so-called music is not only produced by people's feelings about the world, but also can adjust people's hearts in turn with the voice of peace. With the help of the conditioning function of music, people have perfected the seven emotions, which cannot be suppressed, and joy cannot be suppressed. Stay happy and make peace. Complete Works of Ouyang Wenzhong (Volumes 7-5). Confucianism is based on etiquette. Morality is more important than emotion, goodness is more important than beauty, Tao is more important than desire, and the past is more important than today. The content of music must be music without lewdness, sadness without harm, anger and resentment, gentleness and gentleness, and peaceful form. That is to say, in a patriarchal society that values morality, China people have found a way to shape their ideal personality with music, and only then will there be "those who enjoy themselves and those who govern them". "

Laozi, a representative figure of Taoism, advocated "causing virtual diseases". Keep quiet and do everything together. I'll watch it. "Taoism advocates' nothing', which is the resolution of all restrictions, thus moving towards infinity." Nothing means that what you get in real freedom and balance is infinite existence. As a dialectical and philosophical philosophy of life, Taoism has profoundly influenced China's traditional art to pursue emptiness and finally achieve high characteristics. Therefore, in music, we should pay attention to the use of scattered boards, reject "countless masturbation sounds" and pursue "loud voices and happy voices", which is the embodiment of this philosophy of life. This kind of music thought of Taoism comes down in one continuous line with its philosophy of seeking "being" from "nothing". Zhuangzi's theory of music is different from Laozi's. He advocated "seeing it as invisible, listening to it as silent, invisible, seeing the dawn alone, silent, listening to it alone, so it is deep and profound, but meaningful". Heaven and earth are the deepest and smallest structural forms in the universe. In Zhuangzi's view, this deepest structure and law, which is what he called "Tao", is moving and changing, just like music. "Stop in poverty, flow. "The realm of this" Tao "and music is" chasing the forest, being happy but not seeing, not dragging, being faint and silent, not moving well, living in darkness "... exile is not the main voice. Full of heaven and earth, wrapped in six poles. "("Tian Yun "). This "Tao" is a five-tone symphony and music full of romantic spirit. Ji Kang, a famous thinker in Wei and Jin Dynasties, put forward the theory that there is no sorrow and joy in sound, and that heaven and earth produce everything, and joy is one of them. It is also the way of nature, born of the vitality of heaven and earth. It is believed that music and its movement form have its natural and harmonious essential attributes. "Harmony" covers the corresponding factors such as size, simplicity and complexity, height, speed, good and evil. In the final analysis, these changes in the form of music. Or unified in "and". The direct theoretical basis of sound without sorrow and joy is the theory of health preservation. It is believed that music is closely related to people's health care, and the highest state of health care is the "peaceful" state in which individual feelings transcend specific joys and sorrows. Therefore, Taoism advocates nature and opposes bondage. Its thoughts contain positive factors of liberating human nature and art, and the characteristics of its music show more quiet and peaceful beauty.

China ancient literati's aesthetic record of Qin.

Chinese guqin music is an art with profound historical and cultural background. Is based on the noble quality of multiple beauties. Give people unlimited pursuit. So Ji Kang said, "There are many devices. Diligence is the best, so I compose ideas and think it is natural. " In ancient China, guqin was always called Luqi, Stone and lyre. After Sui and Tang Dynasties, it was called Guqin because of its long history. Guqin art is unique and highly respected, not only because it is the "best piano virtue", but also because of its musical characteristics, which can conform to the "harmony" between sound and nature and the characteristics of pursuing artistic conception, advocating inner beauty and implicit beauty in China traditional culture. Therefore ... in the eyes of ancient literati, "a gentleman listens to it. Calm his heart. Peace of mind. Therefore. Guqin music has always occupied an important position in China's traditional music culture, especially in the cultural life of the "local" class, which emphasizes peace, goodness and beauty. Therefore, the ancients called "a person who plays guqin, calm and upright, easy to distinguish the listener."

The ancients have long explained the "ambition" of "being quiet and upright". Duan Yucai called "Zhi" "Ye Yi" in Shuo Wen Jie Zi Zhu. The Preface to Poetry interprets "ambition" as "where the heart lies". The Book of Rites, Shao Yi, said, "If you have an intention, you can ask. Is it possible? (Note) Meaning, business also. Wisdom, private. " This "private" actually refers to people's self-ambition. From the aesthetic point of view, the category of "ambition" has both the cohesion of individuals and the cohesion of the whole human ideal and free will, and its eternal vitality dominates the individual ideal and free will. It has formed an endless tacit relationship with the life movement of China culture, which makes "ambition" potentially guide the two-way movement of the mind, endows aesthetic activities with idealism and transcendence, occupies a basic position in individual personality cultivation, fundamentally promotes the artist's creation and restricts the formation of "qi, bone and artistic conception". Sima Qian described a conversation between Confucius and Xiangzi when they were practicing the piano in Historical Records of Confucius, which involved the meaning of "ambition": "Confucius learned to play the drums and the piano, but Xiangzi stayed away for ten days. Shi Xiangzi said:' It can be beneficial. Confucius said:' Qiu learned his songs, but not much. For a while, he said,' I have learned its number and I can benefit from it. Confucius said:' autumn has not won people. Sometimes, Mu Ran is thoughtful, he is ambitious ... "Although. Sima Qian didn't mention what music Confucius played. But we can look at it from what Confucius said: "learning its songs", "winning its ambition" and "winning its benevolence". He regards drum set as an important way and means of personality cultivation and spiritual sublimation.

In ancient China, literati and artists were integrated. Because, in the feudal society of China for more than two thousand years, the literati who cast their own personality with elegance always regarded piano, chess, calligraphy and painting as an important part of their life journey and tried to practice their ideals. In this sense, "ambition" can be said to be the gathering of "true self" hidden in the souls of ancient China literati. This gathering of "true self" is centered on "self" and can also be called another expression of "self". The so-called "self" is centered on "self". As Wang Fuzhi said in "Reading Four Books Volume One": "The so-called self-nature, the heart is also, the heart of self-cultivation is also. Those who cover their hearts are determined to win. " [3]。 According to the king. We can see that individuals have a general psychological pursuit of "self", which often shows some "liberalization" in the manners and music styles of China literati. This desire for "liberalization" is interpreted by Professor Xiong Wei of Peking University as "self-nature" and its essence is "benevolence". The so-called "benevolence" actually refers to "benevolence", that is, according to Mr. Yu Yingshi, it is to ensure that an individual scholar can undertake spiritual cultivation and become a key activity, and the self-employed is the biggest. Because objective support is so weak, they are not only spiritual cultivation. There is no reliable guarantee to affirm one's adherence to Tao. Therefore, from Confucius, "cultivate one's morality, cultivate one's nature and be benevolent" has become a necessary condition for ancient literati. "Self-cultivation" originates from the ancient tradition of "courtesy" and is an external decoration, while "benevolence" becomes an internal moral practice, and its purpose and utility are related to the reconstruction of political and social order. Judging from the process of its occurrence, it is precisely because the external dependence of China intellectuals is too weak that they are forced to find their own direction from the inside. This is one of the important reasons why ancient China literati expressed their "heartfelt wishes" through the piano.

Guqin music is an art with profound historical and cultural traces. It not only has many musicians and handed down works, but also has a wealth of piano papers. From the Book of Songs and Zuo Zhuan in the pre-Qin Dynasty to Xi Shan Qin Qing and Qin Xue Cui Yan in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the traditional guqin music and its development are outlined. Looking at these documents, it is not difficult to find that Guqin music and its musical thoughts are closely related to Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Since then, Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism have all influenced the development of traditional Guqin music. For example, the concepts of "the violinist is forbidden", "the violinist is like meditation" and "the violinist is also interested" respectively reflect the attitudes of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism towards the art of guqin and the aesthetic value orientation of guqin music. However, no matter how different they are in metaphysics, the thought of Qin expressing ambition is basically the same, which fully shows that Guqin music art has certain explanatory function and significance to human's ambition from connotation and extension.

"Poetry expresses aspiration" and "Poetry is based on emotion" are two very thoughtful aesthetic viewpoints in China's ancient poetics, and their vitality is still valued by the literary and art circles. Therefore, scholars are more accustomed to calling the two together as "emotion". Mr. Zhu Ziqing accurately analyzed the difference between "emotion" and "ambition" in Debate on Poetry Club, indicating that "emotion" contains more perceptual factors and has strong personality characteristics, while "ambition" is a category related to political ethics and has obvious social orientation. However, when it comes to China's ancient thoughts and the concept of Qin studies, people always associate them closely. On the one hand, this connection is manifested in the artistic practice of literati, bringing the ambition to achieve emotion and the ambition in emotion into all aspects of Qin learning thought. On the other hand, that is, in this practice, scholars often express their feelings by expressing their feelings on the piano music, which reflects their understanding of human nature and society. Therefore, those who have the ambition to help the people greatly borrow piano music like Nanfengcao to "solve the worries of our people" ... to enrich our people's wealth. Therefore, "Historical Records Tian Shijia" goes: "Qin Yin rules the world. Those who govern the country and the people are nothing more than five tones. "And those who have the ambition of floating clouds and wild cranes express" peace and stability, trust and auspiciousness: indifference "by playing piano music such as" Forgetting the Machine in Europe ". "Loneliness and inaction: giving up wisdom and not trying. It reflects that the ancient literati in China did not pay attention to the educational function of the piano "forbidding evil and returning to the right", nor did they simply pursue sensory stimulation and pleasure, but paid attention to expressing their hearts and publicizing their individuality. Therefore, Bai Juyi said in Qing Ye's Qin Xing: "When a bird comes out of the moon, it must sit in an empty forest. It's time to play the pipa freely. As cold as ice, calm. Peace of mind should be the beginning of sound. Around the rest of the group, the autumn night is deep. Positive voices are emotional and the world is clear. "And those who have experienced ups and downs but are determined to admit defeat express their feelings of' dispelling my grievances and washing away my discord' with the meaning of" Three Lane of Plum Blossoms ". In addition, there are those who are not afraid of violence, yearn for meritorious service, have great ambitions, and express their depressed feelings by playing "Youlan", and so on. These literati showed the inner world of ancient China literati who expressed their feelings through the piano from different angles.

To sum up, Guqin art has become one of the important ways for ancient China literati to express their feelings. On the one hand, it explains the musical significance of Guqin itself, and this significance, especially the Guqin instrument, has already contained certain political and cultural significance and attribute characteristics since its birth. On the other hand, it also reflects that Guqin art is an important carrier of ancient culture in China. It had an important influence on the formation of China's ancient literati thought. This influence is firstly reflected in their aesthetic interpretation of "true self", and secondly, this interpretation is transformed into an audio practice. As a way of activity, this kind of practice is to achieve the purpose of adults through the expression of joy and emotion, and finally to achieve the perfect combination of human ideals and free will.