"the Book Of Songs" Musical Aesthetic

The poem and the music are two forms of art of their own systems in terms of contemporary art and literature, with distinct elements and characteristics. However, the two were inseparable at the initial stage of literature emergence. This argument proves true in the wake of probe into the relation between the early poems and music in the western culture, and the study of the origin and evolution of ancient Chinese poems.The thesis consists of three parts. Part one discusses the relation between poems and music, starting from the correlation of components found in them. It is concluded that both poems and music are based on the sound, i.e. rhythm and prosody. The other common grounds include their expression of people's inner world and freedom of imagination. The thesis then takes a review of the evolution of poems and music in ancient China. It is found that, from The Book of Songs the earliest Chinese poetry,to the modern China, music has always been playing an auxiliary role in perfecting the art of poems.Chapter Two is devoted to an inquiry into the music nature of The Book of Songs, though it is a pity that the musical feature has been lost due to the long history. The author starts with the study of five ancient Chinese modes, namely, gong, shang, jiao, zheng. and yu.The three sections, i.e.v feng. ya, song, employ the five modes in conformity with different occasions. The sections of shi and song, often sung in the activities at the ancestral shrines, are rather solemn and grave. The section of feng, however, is very sprightly, for it is composed of folk rhymes. The chapter also looks into the musical feature of The Book of Songs from the perspective of the relation between form of poems and music.This is done by means of the employment of bi and xing, two popular descriptive way, as well as the lines, vocabulary, and rhyming patterns. Part Three examines the aesthetic character in the light of music in TheBook of Songs. This poetry is seen as the basis on which the Chinese literary mind develops for the past two thousand years. The poetry shows that the most impo0rtant beauty is found in "greatness" and Neutrality". The part supplies the answers to the questions such as how does the poetry display these beauties?" and "how can a literary aesthetic feature be combined with music?" by analyzing the content and music.The thesis attempts to restore the true picture of music through the discussion of the form of The Book of Songs, so that we are able to " Listen to the musical poems. It also helps us to find the musical beauty of poems.