The Image of Music and Sound in Xunzi's 'On Music': A Study of Character, Cosmos, and the Cultivation of Rites and Music

Section 12: The Overall Structure of the Ten Instruments and Ten Virtues

Reviewing the entire passage of "The Imagery of Sound and Music," the qualities of the twelve instruments/activities can be summarized as follows:

• Drum: Grandly Beautiful ($\text{dà lì}$): Sublime and splendid, the sovereign of music.
• Bell: Comprehensively Substantial ($\text{tǒng shí}$): Unifying and substantial, the foundation of music.
• Chime Stone: Pure and Regulated ($\text{lián zhì}$): Crisp and restrained, the standard of music.
• Yú, Shēng, Xiāo: Harmonious ($\text{hé}$): Coordinated and concordant, the confluence of music.
• Guǎn, Yuè: Emitting Fierceness ($\text{fā měng}$): Vigorous and resolute, the spirit of music.
• Xūn, Chí: Expansive and Ample ($\text{wēng bó}$): Deep and broad, the substance of music.
• Sè: Easily Good ($\text{yì liáng}$): Gentle and kind, the warmth of music.
• Qín: Pleasantly Feminine ($\text{fù hǎo}$): Subtle and beautiful, the grace of music.
• Song: Purely Exhaustive ($\text{qīng jìn}$): Clear and complete, the sincerity of music.
• Dance: Combines the Intent of the Dao of Heaven ($\text{yì tiān dào jiān}$): Encompassing the Dao of Heaven, the totality of music.

The qualities of these twelve items neatly form a spectrum moving from hard to soft, from external to internal, and from part to whole. The drum is the most rigid, external, and largest; dance is the most complete, internal, and encompassing. The entire arrangement represents a progression from "instrument" to "person," from "part" to "whole," and from "one aspect of the Dao of Heaven" to "the totality of the Dao of Heaven."

This is not merely an aesthetic description but a miniature cosmology—using the framework of the twelve sonic elements to mirror the structure of the myriad things in Heaven and Earth. The next chapter will discuss the specific unfolding of this cosmology.