Spirit of Hu Tong: Understanding of Chinese and Western Aesthetic Thoughts

Author: Village Cold Wind
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Publishing Date: 2002-01-01
Features: The Zuo Zhuan recognizes that the beauty of music arises from the harmonious fusion of the various elements that constitute its overall structure. The beauty of music cannot be separated from the overall artistic effect of these elements. "Harmony and the differences between them," "harmony" and "sameness" each have specific qualitative definitions and should not be confused. Yan Ying's theory of "complementing and mutually reinforcing" is quite insightful. "The ruler said, 'Is harmony the same as sameness?' The reply was, 'They are different. What the ruler considers acceptable may have unacceptable aspects, and the subject offers the unacceptable to complete the acceptable. What the ruler considers unacceptable may have acceptable aspects, and the subject offers the acceptable to remove the unacceptable. Thus, governance is peaceful without conflict, and the people have no disputes. Therefore, the Book of Songs says: "There is also a harmonious soup, already cautious and already peaceful. Sour and sweet are silent, and there is no dispute at all." The ancient kings harmonized the five flavors and the five sounds to calm their hearts and establish their governance. Sounds are like flavors—there is one breath, two bodies, three types, four objects, five sounds, six laws, seven tones, eight winds, and nine songs, all working together. Clarity and obscurity, small and large, short and long, fast and slow, sorrow and joy, firmness and softness, quick and slow, high and low, entering and exiting, dense and sparse—these all work together. The nobleman listens to them to calm his heart. A calm heart leads to harmonious virtue. Therefore, the Book of Songs says: "Virtuous sounds are without flaw." But now, it is not like this. If the ruler considers something acceptable, the subject also says it is acceptable. If the ruler considers something unacceptable, the subject also says it is unacceptable. This is why sameness is unacceptable."
The contradictions in the vast world are everywhere and always present, but they are still within a unified whole. The opposition between the two sides of a contradiction cannot be separated from the unified whole. Yan Ying's theory of "complementing and mutually reinforcing" reminds us of the words of the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus: "Opposites combine to create beautiful harmony." The Tong Yu·Zhou Yu Xia writes: "Government is like music. Music follows harmony, and harmony follows peace. Sounds harmonize with music, and laws regulate the sounds. Metal and stone move them, silk and bamboo carry them forward, poetry conveys them, and singing praises them. Gourds and clay spread them, and clay and wood support them. Leather and wood regulate them. When things are in their proper place, it is called music. The culmination of music is called sound. When sounds respond to each other, it is called harmony. When fine and coarse do not exceed their limits, it is called balance. There is no stagnant yin, nor scattered yang. Yin and yang follow their order, and winds and rains come timely. Abundant life and blessings flourish, and the people are harmonious and prosperous. When all is prepared, music is complete, and the upper and lower are not exhausted. Therefore, music is regulated."
Harmony in music leads to harmony, and harmony in politics leads to stability. Connecting music and politics closely together essentially treats music not just as an art but as a means of governing the state, using this means to achieve a well-ordered social and political order and to stabilize the mechanism of political governance. Indeed, music has its relative independence, but as soon as it becomes a means of governing the state, music is incorporated into the entire social system and plays a role that nothing else can replace. A nation's aesthetic ideals in music are unified with and reflected in its social and cultural psychological structure. Yu Min, in his monograph The Development of Aesthetic Concepts Before the Spring and Autumn Period, argues that by the late Western Zhou, discussions of harmony did not yet involve the transformation of contradictions or the degree and centrality of contradictions. By the late Spring and Autumn period, discussions of harmony involved the transformation of contradictions, with the core being moderation without excess. Moderation became the soul of harmony, and the essence of harmony. He points out: "In Shi Bo's 'Harmony gives birth to life,' the concept of the centrality of sound has not yet been touched upon, nor has it involved whether the harmony between sound and emotion is appropriate. By the late Spring and Autumn period, it delves into the centrality of sound and the relationship between emotion and reason. Thus, the harmony of sound and the harmony of emotion both have a degree, a moderate, excessive, and insufficient degree. In contrast to excess and insufficiency, there is moderation, which is also centrality. Therefore, at that time, anything that met the specifications of the five sounds was called 'central sound,' and 'the stopping point of central sound.' In this way, the core of harmony revolves around the degree, with centrality prominently expressed, while disharmony is clearly marked as 'excessive' (i.e., excess). This characteristic of moderate and unmoderate aesthetics is clearly reflected in the musical aesthetics of the late Spring and Autumn period."
Confucius, in his musical aesthetics, emphasized moderation. In Confucius's view, emotions that do not go to excess are in line with the requirements of moderation, and so are sorrows. Confucius's musical aesthetics highly advocate "harmony." The principle he proposed—"Music is joyful but not indulgent, sorrowful but not hurtful"—has a great influence on the Yue Ji. "The Master said, '(The Song of the Peacock) is joyful but not indulgent, sorrowful but not hurtful.'" "The virtue of centrality is the ultimate virtue!" "Centrality" is a branch of Confucian philosophy. It requires the two sides of a contradiction to depend on each other and develop within suitable limits, without disrupting the harmonious unity of contradiction. The principle of "Music is joyful but not indulgent, sorrowful but not hurtful" reflects his "centrality" philosophy. This principle emphasizes the moderation of emotional expression. It requires the subject to grasp the moderation of emotions when participating in aesthetic activities, which is beneficial to the cultivation of character and physical health. Therefore, this principle is based on the humanistic stance, genuinely considering the physiological and psychological functions of the subject and making a rational choice. Any behavior that excessively damages emotions is not the ultimate goal pursued by aesthetic ideals.
To achieve unity within opposition, without completing dialectical operation through one-sided negation, is one of the fundamental spirits of Chinese classical philosophy, Chinese classical art, and even Chinese traditional culture. It continuously opens the path of the spiritual world in the history of the Chinese nation's aesthetic consciousness. The Yue Ji emphasizes that music is the art of harmonizing relationships, and "harmony" is a main thread that runs through the Yue Ji. "Music promotes unity, and rites promote differences. Unity brings closeness, and differences bring respect." "Music" and "rites" each have different social functions. "Music" achieves unity among human relationships, while "rites" achieve differences among human relationships and society. "Great music harmonizes with heaven and earth, and great rites follow the rhythms of heaven and earth." "Music is the harmony of heaven and earth; rites are the order of heaven and earth. Harmony, so all things transform; order, so all things are distinct. Music is created by heaven, and rites are regulated by earth. Excessive regulation leads to chaos, and excessive creation leads to violence." The Yue Ji exaggerates the function of music to the point of encompassing heaven and earth, which is inevitably somewhat forced. In the Yue Ji's view, music embodies the spirit and will of heaven and earth and is the criterion for harmonizing objective things in the world. The "harmony" of music is not only the harmony of the melodies woven together by different instruments but also the harmony of the entire natural world. Extending the harmony of music to the harmony of nature shows the broad aesthetic vision of ancient Chinese people and their attitude and emotions toward nature. The harmony of music is indeed a concrete verification of natural harmony. Nature, as the place where humans live and rest, forms an organic body closely related to humans, thus full of the vitality of great transformation. Just as nature is meaningless without humans, humans are meaningless without nature. Not only is the musical practice of the subject itself harmonious, but even the natural rhythm of the subject's life is harmonious.
The German philosopher Schopenhauer once said something that eloquently explains this topic: "If corresponding music is matched to any situation, action, process, or environment, then music seems to reveal the profound meaning of all these situations, actions, etc.; music appears as the clear and correct annotation for all these things."
III. The Emergence of Music's Emotional Levels
Chinese classical musical aesthetics does not neglect the concern for the emotional levels of music. Because any art must rely on the subject's emotions to be created, appreciated, and criticized. As an art, music naturally cannot avoid involving emotional levels. The two theoretical threads mentioned above have already touched on some aspects of music's emotional levels. In this thread, we will focus on discussing them.
The Shang Shu·Yao Dian writes: "Kui! The ruler commands you to oversee music, to teach the young, to be upright and warm, generous and cautious, firm but not cruel, simple but not arrogant." It recognizes the characteristics of the emotional levels of music. Music can make people upright and warm, generous and cautious, firm but not cruel, simple but not arrogant. In the Analects·Yang Huo, there is a passage that expresses Confucius's that music can move the heart and promote benevolence. "The Master went to Wu City and heard the sound of string music. The Master smiled and said, 'Why use an ox knife to carve a chicken?' Zi You replied, 'In the past, I heard from the Master that "a gentleman who learns the Way loves people, and a small person who learns the Way is easy to command." The Master said, 'You, two or three, are right. What I said earlier was just a joke.'"