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

Section 4: "Chime Stone Resembles Water" ($\text{qìng sì shuǐ}$) — Stone Sound and Water Virtue

"The chime stone resembles Water" ($\text{qìng sì shuǐ}$)—The chime stone’s quality resembles that of Water.

This correspondence is particularly striking. The chime stone is made of stone, the hardest of materials; water is the softest and most yielding. How can the sound of a hard stone instrument "resemble" soft water$17

We briefly touched upon this earlier. Here we explore further.

The quality of water is described richly in pre-Qin thought.

Master Laozi states:

"The highest good is like water. Water benefits myriad things and does not contend; it dwells in places that people disdain, thus it is close to the Dao... Because it does not contend, it is blameless." (Laozi, Chapter 8)

"Nothing under Heaven is softer and weaker than water, yet in attacking what is hard and strong, nothing can overcome it, because nothing can replace it. That the weak overcomes the strong, and the soft overcomes the hard, is known by all under Heaven, but none can put it into practice." (Laozi, Chapter 78)

Master Kong also offered profound observations on water. Xunzi, Regarding the Seat of the Cauldrons ($\text{Yòu Zuò}$) records Confucius's words on observing water:

"Water, it benefits all things impartially and without self-interest—it resembles virtue ($\text{dé}$). Where it flows, things live—it resembles benevolence ($\text{rén}$). Its course is low and winding, yet it follows its principles—it resembles righteousness ($\text{yì}$)... Thus the gentleman, when he sees a great body of water, must observe it."

This passage correlates the qualities of water with eleven virtues: virtue, benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, courage, discernment, encompassment, transformation, correctness, measure, and resolve. It is a culmination of the pre-Qin "Water Virtue" theory.

The chime stone’s "resemblance to water" ($\text{sì shuǐ}$) should be understood in several aspects:

First, the clarity of sound ($\text{qīng}$). The chime stone’s sound is crisp like the clarity of water. Water’s most apparent quality is "clarity" ($\text{qīng}$): transparent, seen through to the bottom. The chime stone sound is similar: crisp, clean, pure in timbre, without muddy overtones.

Second, the flow of sound ($\text{liú}$). The chime stone’s sound is clear and flowing, like running water. Water flows following the terrain, separating around stones and reuniting in pools—flexible yet persistent. The chime stone’s sound plays a similar role in the ensemble—its crisp punctuation penetrates the deep sounds of the drum and bell, flowing flexibly, like water moving among stones.

Third, the regulation of sound ($\text{zhì}$). Although water is soft, it possesses "regulation" ($\text{zhì}$): water flows along its proper course, not overflowing its banks; the surface of still water finds its level ($\text{zhì liàng bì píng}$), not being biased. The chime stone’s "purity and regulation" ($\text{lián zhì}$) matches this quality of water—measured and restrained, never overstepping boundaries.

Fourth, the contrast between stone and water. Stone is extremely hard; water is extremely soft. Yet the stone chime stone produces a water-like sound—this is the wonder of the interplay between hard and soft. The hard produces a soft sound, just as the strong follows the gentle way. Master Laozi states "the soft overcomes the hard," and the stone chime stone producing a water-like sound illustrates this principle in practice.

The idea that the chime stone resembles water also has a deeper cosmological significance in pre-Qin thought. The drum resembles Heaven (above), the bell resembles Earth (below), and the chime stone resembles Water—Water flows between Heaven and Earth, moving on the ground and evaporating to the sky, serving as the medium connecting Heaven and Earth. The chime stone's function in the ensemble is similar—its crisp sound punctuates the deep sounds of the drum and bell, acting as a communicator, coordinator, and marker of nodal points, serving as the medium between the "Heaven" (drum) and "Earth" (bell) of the ensemble.