On Musical Aesthetic Thoughts Of 《Yue Ji》

Yue Ji is the first self-contained, consummately thought musicaltheoritical monograph in the history of Chinese ancient aesthetic thoughts.Many musicians and aestheticians studied the musical aesthetic thoughtsin Yue Ji from different angles, and wrote some works. But most ofthem are concentrated on the dissertations of the relationship between "li"and "yue" and the functions of music in the social politics. However, onthe one hand, as the subject thought, Confucian culture predominates andblends each thought permeating in Yue Ji, and winds through Yue Ji. Onthe other hand, musical practices are closely related with Yue Ji theories.Therefore, it is of special significance to take inheriting Confucianism asa breakthrough point and relate the social and cultural background andmusical practices of the time with the discussion of the musical aestheticthoughts of Yue Ji.Firstly, Yue Ji broke away from the theocratic confinement, combinethe practice of mankind, started off work, love, totem and religiousactivities, took music as the host and guest unifies art activity, discussedin depth exquisite with the relationship between accomplish basis objectand popular feeling of main body, discussed the origin and nature ofmusic, its theory embody the dialectics unifies of thought.The Centralism and the Agriculture Social Formation had existed fora long time in China. They connected music with religion, sorcery andother activities closely, which made music mysterious. As a result, musicin ~ue Ji has the characteristic of making the poem, song and danceunified,harmonized and graded. Because of this characteristic, the rulerstook music as a tool for their government. In Yue Ji, therefore, it isthought that creating music must follow the "Harmonious Rule", thecontent of music must embody and give award to good moral qualities, tomake hierarchical system harmonious which the rulers had built. Meanwhile, the rulers stressed that people should connect music withsocial trends, and follow the "Harmonious Rule" when they wereappreciating music.Music activities gradually prospered with the development ofproductivity. It was taken as implement for conveying emotion,imprecating spirit and forecasting the weather. Music became the bestway to entertain and relax in people's lives. The rulers not only tookmusic in various ceremony rites, but also used it for the other importantmeans such as educating, commendeding loyal behavior, governing thenation and maintaining social order. According to these, in Yue Ji, it paysmuch attention to the function of music, using a great deal of words toelaborate on music's effects of entertaining, molding, dominating, and soon; It also deeply revealed music's functions of influencing people'sbehavior,keeping the public moral,making people polite and deifying therulers.Yue Ji has magnificent structure, rich and complicated contents,perfect and mature system. It means much more than music. So manysubjects such as philosophy,art,literature,sociology,psychology,pedagogy,ecology have been deeply influenced by it ,which has beeninfiltrating these subjects and promoting their development.