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: "Sound and Music Imagery" and the Thought of "Rectifying Names" ($\text{zhèng míng}$)

Master Xunzi is famous for his doctrine of "Rectifying Names" ($\text{zhèng míng}$), systematically discussed in the chapter On Names ($\text{Zhèng Míng}$). The passage "Imagery of Sound and Music" can be seen as the application of "Rectifying Names" in the field of music.

Xunzi, On Names states:

"Names have no inherent appropriateness; agreement through designation, conformity to custom, is called appropriateness. If it differs from the designation, it is called inappropriateness. Names have no inherent substance; designation with names corresponding to substance, agreement with custom, is called a proper name ($\text{shí míng}$)."

A "name" (language, concept) has no inherent correctness; it is established through social agreement. However, once this agreement is successful, a stable relationship is forged between the "name" and the "substance" (the thing or phenomenon).

The "Imagery of Sound and Music" does precisely this: it establishes a precise "name" (the descriptive quality) for the "substance" (the actual acoustic character) of each type of sound and music—calling the drum "Grandly Beautiful" ($\text{dà lì}$), the bell "Comprehensively Substantial" ($\text{tǒng shí}$), the chime stone "Pure and Regulated" ($\text{lián zhì}$), and so on, naming each quality precisely. This naming process is extremely difficult—how can the essence of a drum sound be fully captured by just two words$10 Yet, Xunzi’s concise terms indeed capture the core characteristic of each instrument's quality. This is the work of "Rectifying Names"—using the most appropriate name to designate the most real substance.

Furthermore, viewed on a deeper level, the "Rectification of Names" in "Imagery of Sound and Music" is prescriptive, not just descriptive. When Xunzi says "The drum is grandly beautiful" ($\text{gǔ dà lì}$), he is not just describing the actual sound quality, but also stipulating the should-be quality—the drum sound ought to be grandly beautiful. If a drum sound is small and crude, it is not a good drum. When Xunzi says "song is purely exhaustive" ($\text{gē qīng jìn}$), he is setting a standard—song ought to be pure and complete; if the song is muddy and incomplete, it is not good song.

This is the deeper intention of Confucian "Rectifying Names"—it is not merely a tool for cognition but also a means of regulation. By establishing the correct name for a thing (the quality-name, like $\text{dà lì}$ or $\text{tǒng shí}$), a standard for that thing is simultaneously established—the standard for a good drum is "grand beauty," the standard for a good bell is "comprehensive substantiality." This is the rectification of names for sound and music, which also constitutes the rectification of standards for sound and music.