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

Section 5: Musical Instruction and Civilizing the People — The Educational Intent of the Imagery

Xunzi’s assertion regarding the civilizing function of music is explicit:

"Thus, the entry of sound and music into man is deep, and its transformation of man is fast. Therefore, the former kings carefully composed its literature. When music is balanced, the people are harmonious and not dissolute; when music is solemn and stately, the people are orderly and not chaotic. When the people are harmonious and orderly, their armies are strong and their cities secure, and neighboring states dare not encroach upon them." (Xunzi, On Music)

"The entry of sound and music into man is deep, and its transformation of man is fast" ($\text{shēng yuè zhī rù rén yě shēn, qí huà rén yě sù}$)—The depth of music’s penetration into the human heart and the speed at which it changes people surpass other means. This judgment reveals the unique advantage of music education—it does not persuade through rational argument (like verbal instruction) or compel through external force (like legal punishment), but directly inspires emotion to change the heart. When people hear the solemn sound of the drum, they do not need to "understand" its meaning or "judge" its correctness; reverence naturally arises. This is why it "enters deep" ($\text{rù rén yě shēn}$) —it bypasses the rational intermediary and directly accesses the core of emotion.

Furthermore, music possesses a collective power of infection. A verbal teaching can only be one-to-one; the issuance of a law, though public, relies on specific enforcement. Music, however, can affect hundreds or thousands simultaneously. As Xunzi states, "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." The key is "listen together" ($\text{tóng tīng zhī}$)—hearing the same music simultaneously, being moved by the same emotion simultaneously. This is the collective power of music, explaining why it "transforms fast" ($\text{huà rén yě sù}$).

Finally, music engages the entire sensory apparatus. Speech primarily engages hearing (requiring comprehension); law primarily engages intellect. Music engages hearing (the sound), sight (the dance), kinesthesia (the unconscious bodily rhythm), and even touch (feeling the vibration of low-frequency drums). Sensory engagement on all levels gives music a power that surpasses means 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 aspect of human emotion—that primal core preceding rationality, judgment, and all cultural constructs.