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

Section 6: "Táo, Zhù, Fǔ, Gé, Qiāng, Jié Resemble the Myriad Things" ($\text{táo zhù fǔ gé qiāng jié sì wàn wù}$) — Small Instruments and the Myriad Things

"The rattle drum (táo), striking block (zhù), beater (fǔ), drumstick (gé), wooden clapper (qiāng), and notched stick (jié) resemble the myriad things"—Various small percussion and rhythmic instruments resemble the myriad things.

This section introduces several small instruments or rhythmic aids not discussed in the initial description of qualities:

• Rattle Drum ($\text{táo}$): A rattle drum shaken by the handle, causing small spheres to strike the surface.
• Striking Block ($\text{zhù}$): A square wooden trough struck with a mallet, used to mark the beginning of a musical piece.
• Beater ($\text{fǔ}$): A small drum struck by hand.
• Drumstick ($\text{gé}$): A type of percussion instrument.
• Wooden Clapper ($\text{qiāng}$): Refers to the jié or similar wooden percussion tools.
• Notched Stick ($\text{jié}$): A wooden striking implement.

Why do these small instruments "resemble the myriad things" ($\text{sì wàn wù}$)$19

The characteristic of the myriad things is their immense variety, diverse forms, and specific functions. Heaven, Earth, sun, moon, and water constitute the grand framework of the cosmos; the myriad things fill in the details—flowers, insects, fish, birds, beasts, mountains, lakes, sand, and dust—infinite in variety and form.

The role of these small instruments in the ensemble is likewise—they are not the main players (the protagonists are the drum, bell, chime stone, wind instruments, qín, sè, song, and dance) but rather colorful supporting roles and embellishments. They are numerous in kind (wooden, leather, bamboo, etc.), with varied sounds (some crisp, some dull, some sharp), each with a special function (the zhù to start the music, the yǔ to stop it, the fǔ to support the drum's beat). Like the myriad things in relation to Heaven and Earth—Heaven and Earth are the grand framework, and the myriad things fill in the details, making it rich and colorful.

This correspondence reveals an important feature of Xunzi’s theory of acoustic imagery: completeness. Xunzi not only corresponds the main instruments to Heaven, Earth, Water, Sun, Moon, and Stars but also corresponds the secondary small instruments to the "myriad things," creating a complete correspondence between the lineage of musical instruments and the cosmological diagram. The cosmos contains Heaven, Earth, Water, Stars/Sun/Moon, and the Myriad Things—the ensemble contains the drum, bell, chime stone, wind instruments, and small instruments. Everything in the cosmos is mapped within the ensemble. The ensemble is a miniature cosmos.