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 6: Why Sound and Music Can "Move Deeply" and "Transform Quickly"
Sixth Question: Why is sound and music able to "move people deeply" and "transform people quickly" compared to other means of moral instruction (language, law)$34
Xunzi asserts that "the entry of sound and music into man is deep, and its transformation of man is fast." The basis for this assertion is:
Answer 1: Direct Affect on Emotion. Verbal instruction relies on rationality—one must first comprehend the meaning, then judge its validity, and finally decide to accept it. This involves "comprehension—judgment—decision," a process where resistance can arise at any step. Legal instruction relies on fear—people comply out of fear of punishment, but their hearts may not agree. Sound and music are different—they directly affect emotion, bypassing rational deliberation. Hearing a solemn drum, one does not need to "understand" or "judge"; reverence arises naturally. This is why it "enters deep" ($\text{rù rén yě shēn}$)—it penetrates directly to the core of emotion without rational mediation.
Answer 2: Collective Contagion. Instruction from one person to another is limited; the issuance of a law, though public, depends on specific enforcement. Sound and music can simultaneously affect hundreds or thousands. As Xunzi notes, "When music is performed in the ancestral temple, the ruler and ministers, the high and the low, listen together, and none is not harmonious and respectful." They "listen together" ($\text{tóng tīng zhī}$), being moved by the same emotion simultaneously. This collective power explains why music "transforms fast" ($\text{huà rén yě sù}$).
Answer 3: Engagement of All Senses. Speech primarily engages hearing (requiring interpretation); law primarily engages intellect. Music engages hearing (sound), sight (dance), kinesthesia (unconscious bodily rhythm), and even touch (feeling the vibration of the drum). Engagement across all senses grants music a pervasive influence beyond methods relying on a single sense.
The Record of Music states:
"Music is that which is an unchangeable aspect of feeling ($\text{qíng}$)."
The reason sound and music "feel deep and transform fast" is that they touch the most fundamental, unchangeable aspects of human emotion—the core that precedes rationality, judgment, and all cultural construction.