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

Section 3: Five Notes, Twelve Pitches, and Yin and Yang

Although Xunzi’s "Imagery of Sound and Music" does not directly address the Five Notes ($\text{wǔ shēng}$—palace, horn, angle, beam, wing) or the Twelve Pitches ($\text{shí èr lǜ}$—Huang Zhong, Da Lü, Tai Cu, etc.), these concepts hold immense importance in pre-Qin cosmology and must be discussed.

The correspondence between the Five Notes and the Five Phases, Five Directions, Five Colors, and Five Tastes is recorded in various pre-Qin texts. Guanzi, Five Phases ($\text{Wǔ Xíng}$), states:

"Palace note moves the Spleen, Horn note moves the Lungs, Angle note moves the Liver, Beam note moves the Heart, Wing note moves the Kidneys."

The Five Notes correspond to the five viscera of the human body. Lüshi Chunqiu ($\text{Lǚ Shì Chūn Qiū}$), Twelve Records ($\text{Shí Èr Jì}$), links the Five Notes to the Four Seasons: Palace is the central note, Horn is the spring note, Beam is the summer note, Horn is the autumn note, Wing is the winter note.

This correspondence system runs parallel to Xunzi’s mapping of instruments to the cosmos. Xunzi’s correspondence is at the level of instrument material and quality corresponding to the elements of Heaven and Earth. The Five Notes/Twelve Pitches correspondence is at the level of pitch height corresponding to Yin-Yang, the Five Phases, and the twelve months. Both systems construct a comprehensive linkage between sound and the structure and operation of the universe.

The correspondence between the Twelve Pitches and the Twelve Months is particularly precise. Lüshi Chunqiu aligns each of the twelve pitches with one of the twelve months:

"First month of Spring... its note is Horn, the pitch is Tai Cu."

The twelve pitches correspond to the twelve months, forming a complete temporal-pitch system. Each month has a specific pitch played to correspond to the qi of that month. The presupposition behind this system is that pitch height and time share an isomorphic structure—the cycle of the year is mirrored by the cycle of the pitches.

Taken together, the pre-Qin correspondence between sound/music and the cosmos operates on at least three levels:

1. Instrumental Level: Xunzi’s "Imagery of Sound and Music," mapping instrument materials and qualities to Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things.
2. Pitch Level: The Five Notes and Twelve Pitches, mapping pitch height to Yin-Yang, the Five Phases, and the twelve months.
3. Rhythmic Level: The tempo of the music (fast/slow, strong/weak, start/stop) corresponding to the operation of Heaven and Earth (day/night, waxing/waning, birth/death).

These three levels combine to form a complete "Acoustic Cosmology"—sound and music comprehensively map the structure and operation of the cosmos. This is the concrete meaning of "Great Music corresponds in harmony with Heaven and Earth" ($\text{dà yuè yǔ tiān dì tóng hé}$).