The Image of Music and Sound in Xunzi's 'On Music': A Study of Character, Cosmos, and the Cultivation of Rites and Music
This paper offers an in-depth interpretation of the 'Image of Music and Sound' (Sheng Yue zhi Xiang) discussed in Xunzi's 'On Music,' clarifying the Pre-Qin meaning of 'Xiang' (image/analogy) and elucidating how the qualities of sound correspond to the myriad things in the cosmos. It further situates this correspondence within Xunzi's Confucian framework of 'transforming human nature through rites and music' to explore the cosmological significance and pedagogical function of music.
Section 2: Why Do Instrument Qualities Correspond to Heaven, Earth, and the Myriad Things$8
Second Question: Why can the qualities of musical instruments correspond to Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things$9 Is this correspondence objectively real or a human construction$10
As discussed earlier, this correspondence has both an objective basis (the natural quality of the material determines the natural acoustic trait) and a human construction (systematizing these natural traits into a complete correspondence diagram).
More profoundly, why does the material of a thing happen to possess a quality that connects with the qualities of Heaven and Earth$11 Why does leather sound like Heaven’s thunder$12 Why does metal sound like Earth$13 Why does stone sound like flowing water$14
The answer in pre-Qin thought is: because all things are fundamentally one body—"The myriad things share the same space but have different bodies... All things emerge from the Dao and are endowed with qi." Leather comes from animals, which live between Heaven and Earth, so the quality of leather naturally embodies the qualities of Heaven and Earth. Metal comes from underground ore, so the quality of metal naturally embodies the quality of Earth. Stone originates in mountains, and water flows over stone—the quality of stone naturally connects with the quality of water.
This is the cosmology of "the oneness of the myriad things" ($\text{wàn wù yī tǐ}$). Under this view, the correspondence between instrument qualities and cosmic elements is not coincidental or forced; it is the natural manifestation of the unity of all things.
The Yijing, Great Treatise, First Part, states:
"That which is above form is called the Dao; that which is below form is called the vessel ($\text{qì}$)."
The "vessel" ($\text{qì}$) of music (the instrument), though below form, presents an "imagery" ($\text{xiàng}$, quality) that points toward the formless Dao (the principle of Heaven and Earth). "The Imagery of Sound and Music" serves as the bridge from "vessel" to "Dao"—through the specific qualities of musical instruments, one perceives the abstract principle of Heaven and Earth.