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 Body as the Medium of Rites and Music

In pre-Qin thought, the body is not merely a physical entity but also the medium for Rites and Music ($\text{Lǐ Yuè}$), the vessel for morality, and the bridge connecting Heaven and Man.

The Book of Rites: Record of Music ($\text{Lǐ Jì: Yuè Jì}$) states:

"By achieving music to govern the heart, the easy, upright, straightforward, and sincere heart is made to arise spontaneously. When the easy, upright, straightforward, and sincere heart arises, there is joy. Joy leads to tranquility, tranquility leads to longevity, longevity leads to alignment with Heaven, and alignment with Heaven leads to the spiritual. The spiritual speaks without words yet inspires trust, and wields awe without anger. This is the governance of the heart through music."

"Governing the heart through music" ($\text{zhì yuè yǐ zhì xīn}$) must be achieved through the body—the sounds of music enter the heart through the ears, and the rhythm of music is internalized through bodily movement (dance) as the order of the heart. The body is the conduit through which music enters the heart.

Xunzi’s theory of dance places the body at the core of ritual and musical education. "Regulating bending and stretching, rising and falling, advancing and retreating, slowing and hastening" ($\text{zhì fǔ yǎng, qū xìn, jìn tuì, chí sù}$) are the concrete implementation of Rites and Music on the physical plane. The dancer's body is not a free body but one regulated by Rites and Music—every movement has a prescribed manner, prescribed rhythm, and prescribed force.

However, this regulation is not oppression. Xunzi emphasizes: "The eyes do not see themselves, the ears do not hear themselves"—in the highest state, the dancer does not consciously control the body; the body moves correctly on its own, naturally. This means the regulation of Rites and Music has become the body’s "second nature"—not external coercion but internal spontaneity.

This is the manifestation of "transforming nature and cultivating artifice" ($\text{huà xìng qǐ wěi}$) on the physical level. The natural body ("nature," $\text{xìng}$) is chaotic—flailing hands and feet without structure. Through the training of Rites and Music ("artifice," $\text{wěi}$), the body gradually becomes orderly—rising and falling are measured, bending and stretching are regulated, advancing and retreating are methodical, speed is controlled. When this training reaches its zenith, orderly bodily movements flow out naturally without conscious control—this is the completion of "transforming nature" ($\text{huà xìng}$).