Journal of Critical Reviews

ISSN- 2394-5125 Vol 7, Issue 13, 2020

MUSIC AND PHILOSOPHY IN CHINA, PAST AND PRESENT

1Li Zhenyu, 2Samsonova Tatiana Petrovna
1Teacher Of Piano At Shifeng University China, Graduate Student Of The Institute Of Theater, Music And Choreography Of The
Russian State Pedagogical University Named After A.I. Herzen Department Of Music Education And Education;
E-Mail: 931132369 @Qq. Com
2Doctor Of Philosophy, Candidate Of Arts, Head Of The Department Of Musical Disciplines Faculty Of Philosophy, Cultural

Studies And Art Of Leningrad State University Named After A.S. Pushkin, Professor Russian State University Named After A.I.
Herzen

Received: 02.04.2020 Revised: 18.05.2020 Accepted: 03.06.2020

Abstract
The article is devoted to the historical existence of music in China, which was determined by the convergence of philosophical and musical
aesthetic ideas into the spiritual context of the nation, which remained unchanged for many millennia. Modernity has made adjustments
to these aspects of national culture without violating their traditional foundations.

Keywords. Philosophy, music, traditions, culture, musical instruments, opera, singing, mutual influence, convergence.

© 2020 by Advance Scientific Research. This is an open-access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.31838/jcr.07.13.450

INTRODUCTION
China is a great multinational state with ancient culture, original
art, philosophy and music. China has a long history and ancient
artistic traditions. China's philosophy has had a decisive impact on
the entire Far Eastern area. Chinese folk music has preserved its
uniqueness, having travelled a long way from time immemorial to
the present, absorbing medieval folk traditions, while retaining
the unique features of national culture in the form of theatre,
instrumental music and singing. Over the centuries, five
fundamental types of traditional music in China have gradually
emerged: folk songs; dance music; legend music; provincial opera;
and instrumental music. All musical genres and styles have
continued to exist and develop in China's musical life, gaining new
fans on their way and becoming more and more popular and
famous around the world. For many centuries and millennia, the
musical art of China has been shaped not only autonomously, but
also absorbed numerous directions of music in the regions of
Mongolia, India and Central Asia. Different nationalities living on
the territory of China have also contributed to the establishment
of musical art of the great country [11].
Aim of the research. To analyze the phenomenon of the
convergence of philosophy and music in the history of Chinese
culture. To show the importance of the philosophical component
to the state of musical culture in modern China.. Short review of
the literature used. The volume of literature in Russian devoted to
Chinese philosophy is quite extensive. Let us note such
publications as: Yang Hin Shuin. Ancient Chinese philosophy.
Moscow: vol. 1-2, 1972-1973; Chinese philosophy //
Philosophical encyclopedic dictionary. Beijing. 1989; Litvinova L.V.
Ancient Chinese Philosophy. Collection of texts in 2 volumes.
Moscow: 1973; Lao Tzu. "Tao Tse Ching. Book of the Way and its
Virtue”. М.: 2019.
There is a separate block of literature dedicated to Chinese musical
culture. Let us note such publications as: R.I. Gruber History of
Musical Culture. M-L: 1941; Wang Yuhe. Chinese Contemporary
Musical History 1840-1949. Beijing: People's Music Publishing
House, 1994; Li Huangzhi. Musical China of Our Time. Beijing,
1997; N.G. Shakhnazarova Intonation " Dictionary" and the
Problem of National Ethos in Music. Moscow: 1966; Internet
resources: " Chinese Musical Art", " Music of Ancient China, "
Traditional Music of China". However, it should be noted that in
the above mentioned literature the problem of interrelation and
convergence of philosophy and music of China as an important
aspect of spiritual life of the nation is either not considered at all,
or not enough attention is paid to this problem. An exception is Wu
Geng-Il's book "History of East Asian Music: China. Korea. Japan.
St. Petersburg - Moscow, 2011" [9], where the author plans to
analyze the phenomena of the connection of music and philosophy
as a factor of convergence and an important component of the
spiritual life of the nation. Our article is an attempt to find new
nuances in the complex problem of reunification of music and
philosophy in Chinese culture.
METHODOLOGY
Methods of historical, cultural studies, source, musical-theoretical
and comparative analysis have been used in the article "Music and
Philosophy in China, Past and Present". We followed the path of
study from general to particular, trying to understand the object
in the context of its historical time and worldviews of different
epochs.
MAIN PART.
The formation of music in China since archaic times was
influenced by philosophical and religious dogmas. In the books of
Confucius times (c.551 B.C. - 479 B.C.) "Yueji" worked out
cosmological theory of musical life, defined its socio-political
significance for the whole country. Music in ancient China was one
of the means of state management, upbringing of people and
achieving universal necessary harmony; music was used as a
means of education and improvement of man. Music was believed
to establish a link between ethics and aesthetics. According to the
teachings of Taoism, music helped to awaken the natural psycho-
emotional reactions of man and to unite him with nature. The
teaching of Buddhists determined the supernatural birth of music,
which helped to understand the essence of existence, contributed
to the spiritual development of man. The concept of "yue" defined
not only music, but also other arts, but also something "ideal" in
general, which can be characterized by the highest degree of
organization. Confucianism developed a whole collection of ideas
that combined morality, ethics and aesthetics. "Music is the
fragrant flower of virtue. If you want to know how a country is
governed and what its morals are - listen to its music" - said the
great Confucius in the VI century BC. [3, p.13]. Under the influence
of Confucianism, a coherent set of court ceremonies was built, on
the basis of which the order of instrumental parts and vocal parts
of Shang Shui was determined. The sound of musical instruments
was maintained in strict harmony with the developed altitude

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 MUSIC AND PHILOSOPHY IN CHINA, PAST AND PRESENT
scale, failure to comply with which, according to the Chinese, could
entail both cosmological and socio-political negative
consequences. As for musical instruments, there is a separate
subculture in the centuries. The first musical instruments: guqin
and bamboo flute appeared in China in the III millennium BC.
These musical instruments are considered the oldest in the world.
According to Chinese tradition, musical instruments are divided
by the material of the sounding element: bamboo, clay, wood,
stone, leather, silk, metal. In ancient China, separate classes of
musical instruments were singled out: plunk (bells and stone
plates), strings, bands and percussion (drums), both of which
were to sound in unison. Drum corresponded to midwinter (birth
of Yang inside Yin), while at war is was a signal
of the attack. For spring - the time of flowering - instruments were
selected from bamboo, a very resilient plant. Silk string
instruments were associated with summer, the time when silk
cocoons appeared. Instruments made of metal, hardened liquids
corresponded to autumn, which in the war announced the retreat.
In addition, drums traditionally symbolized the sky, bells and
gongs - earth, stone instruments - water, wind - celestial bodies.
The most complete classification of instruments included eight
types of "sound sources" - stone, metal, silk (string instruments),
bamboo, wood, leather, clay and pumpkin [8]. Traditional Chinese
music is also unimaginable without bells. They could be humming
and loud or barely audible and iridescent. The most common
plucked instrument in Ancient China was qin, reminiscent of a
seven-stringed harp. Guzheng, a Chinese zither, was also often
present in the orchestras. The musician's special skill required
playing hutsin - a kind of violin with only two strings. One of the
most amazing types of Chinese music is drum music. In ancient
times, drumming accompanied military parades and campaigns.
Very often a certain rhythm of drums was used to intimidate
enemies. Today the sound of drums can be heard during
traditional Chinese holidays, when the procession of drummers
turns into a real theatrical performance [11].
Each instrument was not just a means for the Chinese to extract
certain sounds, but a personification of special elements of being.
The sounds of many instruments, which are played a due, seemed
to reproduce the universe itself in the world of music.
Like everything in China, music is inextricably linked to Chinese
philosophy. Many directions were formed by Buddhist and Taoist
monks and developed as part of religious doctrine. For example,
Confucian followers believed that music played a huge role in the
political life of the country, it contributed to the unification of the
nation, its spiritual enrichment. In Taoism, music contributed to
the fusion of man and nature, while Buddhists used music to grasp
the essence of the universe. Thus, for several millennia, music was
an integral part of the Chinese people's life. Chinese music is
characterised by gentle sounds reminiscent of a gurgling stream
or birds singing. Many medieval Chinese musicians specifically
imitated the sounds of nature, thus creating a harmony between
music and nature. Unlike the same European music, Chinese
melodies are the melodies of one sound and its variations.
Musicians can play the same sound for several hours in different
tones and on different instruments, and it will seem to you that
you hear a full melody of several different sounds.
The essence of Chinese music is described in the ancient
monument "Liu-shi Chun Qiu" (III century BC), in the chapter
"Great Music". Characteristically, the music in this book is
presented in the context of life values: the basis of life granted by
the sky, the values of relationships in which respect for
themselves, i.e. human dignity, categories of justice, the concept of
the integrity of life and others. The chapter directly devoted to
"great music" gives a brief description of music as a process and
expression of great harmony. According to the narrative, the music
originates from the faraway, its foundation is in the great
beginning, in the great single Tao. Therefore, it is not by chance
that it was created according to certain rhythms and tones. The
great beginning gave birth to heaven and earth, and they - the
constantly changing "Yin" and "Yang", which then fly up and down,
then diverge, converge, connect with each other, forming a
Journal of critical reviews
phenomenon. This is the unchanging path of the sky. So in music,
in its rhythmic movement high and low sounds are harmoniously
combined. Heaven and earth in their movement resemble the
wheel of a chariot, which makes a roundabout. It is noticed that
the stars, sun and moon have different rhythms of motion, which
rhythmically change each other four seasons of the year, when the
days are short or long - and this also has to do with great music.
All bodies occupy certain places, and each of them has its own
sound. Sound is generated by harmony, and harmony comes from
matching the middle of opposite beginnings. This is how the great
process, the movement of the world and the movement in the
world are carried out, which is certainly relevant to music. Music
is essentially great because "music is what expresses the harmony
of heaven and earth, the harmony of Yin and Yang" [5, p. 298]
China's music, like everything in this amazing country, is built on
the balance of "Yin" and "Yang", which embodies minor and major
sounds the basic components of Chinese traditional music.
According to the ideas of Taoism, music was supposed to promote
the manifestation of natural psycho-emotional reactions of man,
merging him with nature. The Buddhist worldview emphasized
the mystical beginning of music, helping to comprehend the
essence of being, the process of spiritual perfection of man.
Symbolic thinking in music reflected attempts to establish
conformity of separate musical tones, musical instruments, types
and genres of music with elements of the universe, social and
political systems. Thus, in the system of lui-liu sounds of 12-step
sound system were associated with periods of the day, with the
position of the Sun and the Moon, with the months of the year, etc.
On its basis, the pentatonic was justified, the steps of which were
associated with five types of semantic intonation in the Chinese
language and identified with the five elements of nature, sides of
the world, the ranks of the social hierarchy, etc. In the V-III
centuries B.C. two additional sounds were added to the
pentatonics, thus forming a seven-step scale corresponding to the
ancient Lydian way.
Under the influence of Confucian doctrine, the developed system
of court ceremonies was formed, which corresponded to the
established sequences of vocal and instrumental compositions [2,
p.10].
Folk music is a separate layer in Chinese musical culture. As
researchers note, the origin of folk music in China dates back to
the V century BC, with a work entitled "The Book of Songs" or
"Canon of Poems" ("Shi Jing"), which describes the miraculous
songs, praises (Zheng-ya, Xiao-ya and others) and psalms of the
Sung. This collection contained 305 lyrical poems reflecting the
many facets of Chinese life.
The next stage in the development of traditional Chinese music is
characterized by the creation in the IV century BC of the song
poetic school, which was founded by the first of the famous lyrical
poets in Chinese history, Qiu Yuan. The most significant work of
Qiu Yuan was a collection called "Chu Tsi" ("Chu Strophes») [4].
"Chu Strophes" is a style of poetry created by poets in the kingdom
of Chu, combined with the most ancient myths of southern folk
songs [7].
During the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and Song Dynasty (518-618)
music continued to develop. Court composers wrote hymns, works
for the general and select public, and lyrical creations that praised
the Chinese people and the beauty of nature. In Chinese, the words
"music" and "beauty" are indicated by the same hieroglyphs,
differing only in pronunciation. Chinese music developed in a
closed environment, which created a special "closed" space,
"codification", rare "conservatism" and an infinite variety of
musical forms. Thousands of years ago, traditions were
transformed into genres that differed slightly from each other, but
also paved the way for the unique phenomenon of the Beijing
Opera, which included singing, dancing, theatrical action,
conversational dialogues, martial arts, acrobatics and elements of
circus art. Each element of the Beijing Opera had a symbolic
meaning and hidden meaning. In the repertoire of the Beijing
Opera there were more than 1000 plots, at the moment only 200
of them operate, the popular being "Trick with an empty fortress",
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"Collection of Heroes", "Fisherman's Revenge". The Beijing opera
has assimilated to different regions of China. There are more than
360 regional variations of the Beijing Opera, which uses dialects
and techniques of local operas: Henan, Huanmei, Shaoxing, Pingju
and others, folk songs from the North and South By the 20th
century, the processes of penetration of European musical trends
had become noticeable in China, including the penetration of a
completely new instrument, not typical of the Chinese mentality
and traditional thinking - the piano. The emergence of European
opera on stage in major Chinese cities played a stimulating role.
For example, in 1945, the authors from the Academy named after
Lu Xun created the first Chinese national opera "The Grey Girl",
which brightly exposed the social nature of the plot and received
great public recognition. In the wake of the opera "The Gray Girl"
a new genre in China - children's opera started to develop. In
children's theater were tested techniques of European opera art,
which then moved to the main theater scene. However, with the
spread of "adult" opera, children's opera has not disappeared: this
genre, as well as related practices of musical and aesthetic
education are still alive in China today. As a multi-faceted musical
genre, the Chinese opera reflects the full extent of China's
historical development without forgetting the basic philosophical
dogmas that have served the country's cultural development.
Findings and discussion. The philosophy of music is an
interdisciplinary science that relates to musicology, philosophy,
sociology, psychology, cultural studies and pedagogy. In music
philosophy, ontological, gnoseological and axiological problems
are of great importance. In the context of our article, we have
discussed the historical existence of music in China from ancient
times to the present day, where the aspect and social existence of
music was touched upon. The pivot point was the factor of
convergence of philosophical ideas in the musical life of the
country. In addition to Confucianism, the concepts of Taoism and
Buddhism created their own universe in this geographical area,
which is fundamentally different from European. The archetypes
of the "individual" and "unconscious" cultural "code" of the
Chinese nation have taken a firm place in the social consciousness
and have existed invariably for millennia, maintaining their
meaning and significance to this day.
Nowadays, in Chinese music, the philosophical meaning of musical
works has not disappeared. Some ancient songs have survived in
the society and even in the distant regions of Shaanxi, Shanxi and
Hubei provinces one can sometimes hear the singing of Guo feng
verses [8]. Modern Chinese composers Ding Shangde (1911-
1995), Wang Jianzhong (1933-2016), Li Yinghai (1927-2007) and
others, having studied modern trends of European music of the XX
century, actively use them in their creative work while remaining
committed to the traditional culture of their country. In many of
their works, they demonstrate the relationship between
philosophy and music, referring to ancient Chinese poetry, where
they show a deep connection with the general cultural national
traditions of China, the philosophy of human life and nature, the
psychology of a wide range of emotions in the movement of the
human soul, as in the vocal cycle "Five Poems by Li Qingzhao" by
contemporary Chinese composer Wang Jianzhong [6].
CONCLUSION
Centuries-old history of Chinese music, in the process of its
emergence from the simplest, elementary, to the most complex,
has developed a philosophy of musical culture, which over time,
undergoing all kinds of transformations, has remained a
fundamental principle of construction and development of
musical art in China. The inextricable historical connection with
the present time leads to an understanding of the philosophical
meaning and significance of music in the life of the Chinese people.
Although the origins of music culture date back to ancient times,
Chinese music has not stopped its development and absorbs the
world's musical experience without losing the historical folk traits
of this great nation.
Journal of critical reviews
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