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

Section 1: The Drum and Thunder — Mythological Tracing of Ancient Drums

We have already cited the myth of the Kui drum from the Classic of Mountains and Seas ($\text{Shān Hǎi Jīng}$). This section explores further the original meaning of the drum in ancient mythology and shamanistic traditions.

The connection between the drum and thunder is profoundly ingrained in ancient belief. Thunder is the sound of Heaven—Heaven is inherently silent, and only thunder is Heaven’s utterance. The drum is a human instrument—when humans wished to produce a sound like Heaven’s, only the drum could approximate it.

The Classic of Mountains and Seas, Classic of the Great Wilderness: East, records:

"In the Eastern Sea there is Mount Liubo, extending seven thousand li into the sea. On it is a beast shaped like an ox, with a dark body and no horns, possessing one foot. When it enters or leaves the water, there must be wind and rain. Its light is like the sun and moon, its sound like thunder ($\text{shēng rú léi}$), and its name is Kui. The Yellow Emperor obtained it and made a drum from its hide, using the bones of the thunder beast as the drumstick. Its sound could be heard five hundred li away, used to awe the world ($\text{yǐ wēi tiān xià}$)."

This myth details the structure precisely:

• Kui’s "sound is like thunder" ($\text{shēng rú léi}$)—Kui itself is an incarnation of thunder.
• "Made a drum from its hide"—the drum is a "domesticated thunder."
• "Using the bones of the thunder beast as the drumstick"—strengthening the link between drum and thunder.
• "Sound could be heard five hundred li away"—the drum sound travels far, like thunder.
• "Used to awe the world" ($\text{yǐ wēi tiān xià}$)—the drum’s function is to "awe"—to intimidate and rule.

This myth reveals the drum’s primordial significance: the drum is an artificial simulation of thunder. By creating the drum, humanity "transferred" Heaven’s thunder to the human world, thereby acquiring Heaven’s "awe" ($\text{wēi}$) power—the power of rule and deterrence. The drum’s "grand beauty" ($\text{dà lì}$) is precisely the grandeur and brilliance of thunder. The drum's resemblance to Heaven ($\text{sì tiān}$) has its most fundamental basis here—the drum’s sound resembles thunder, and thunder is the sound of Heaven, thus the drum resembles Heaven.

The Zhen Trigram ($\text{Zhèn}$, ☳) in the Yijing symbolizes Thunder. The Trigram statement says:

"Zhen brings success. When thunder comes, it is startling ($\text{jìng jìng}$); when laughter follows, it is full of joy ($\text{xiào yán yā yā}$). The shock resounds for a hundred li, yet the ritual wine ladle and cup ($\text{bǐ chàng}$) are not spilled."

"The shock resounds for a hundred li" ($\text{zhèn jìng bǎi lǐ}$)—This echoes the Kui drum’s sound heard five hundred li away. The phrase "the ritual wine ladle and cup are not spilled" implies that although thunder (drum) is startling, it occurs within the context of sacrifice—the drum’s function in sacrifice is to shock and awe, aligning with this text.

The Yijing, Great Treatise states:

"Beating the drum with thunder, moistening with wind and rain." ($\text{Gǔ zhī yǐ léi tíng, rùn zhī yǐ fēng yǔ}$)

Here, the verb "to beat" ($\text{gǔ}$) is used, meaning "to agitate with thunder and lightning." The "beating" ($\text{gǔ}$) (vibration, agitation) of thunder and lightning is one with the drum's "beating" (striking, vibration). At the linguistic level, "drum" and "thunder" are already unified.

In ancient shamanistic traditions, the drum was the foremost tool for connecting humans and spirits. Shamans beat the drum to communicate with the divine, to dispel evil spirits, and to summon souls. The Songs of Chu, "Hymns to the Great Unity of the Eastern Emperor" ($\text{Jiǔ Gē: Dōng Huáng Tài Yī}$), states:

"Raise the drumstick and strike the drum ($\text{yáng bāo xī fǔ gǔ}$), slow down the measure and chant serenely, arrange the yú and sè and chant grandly."

"Raising the drumstick and striking the drum" ($\text{yáng bāo xī fǔ gǔ}$) initiates the sacrifice to the Eastern Emperor—the drum leads the ritual music.

Furthermore, the Songs of Chu, "Lament for the Fallen" ($\text{Guó Shāng}$), describes a battle scene:

"Holding Wu spears and clad in rhinoceros armor... Drawing the jade drumstick and beating the resounding drum ($\text{yuán yù bāo xī jī míng gǔ}$)."

The drum’s function in war is to stimulate morale and unify action—precisely the demonstration of the drum’s "grand beauty" ($\text{dà lì}$) and its role as the "sovereign of music."

In conclusion, the primordial significance of the drum in ancient culture was:

1. An artificial simulation of Heaven’s thunder (Drum resembles Heaven).
2. A shamanistic tool for communicating with spirits (used in sacrifice).
3. A command signal unifying the masses (used in war and politics).

These three meanings perfectly align with Xunzi’s discussion of "grand beauty" ($\text{dà lì}$), "sovereign of music" ($\text{jūn xié}$), and "resembles Heaven" ($\text{sì tiān}$). Although Xunzi describes these using rational language, the deep structure is rooted in ancient mythology and shamanism.