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

Section 2: "Not Seeing Oneself," "Not Hearing Oneself," and Self-Cultivation

The state of "not seeing oneself, not hearing oneself" ($\text{bù zì jiàn, bù zì wén}$) has deep significance within the Confucian tradition of self-cultivation.

The Analects records Confucius’s saying:

"If in the morning I hear the Dao, I can die content in the evening." (Analects, Li Ren)

"Hearing the Dao" ($\text{wén dào}$) here does not mean auditory hearing but apprehension of the Great Dao through the entirety of one’s mind and body.

The Analects also records:

"The Master said: 'To set one's heart on the Dao, to be attached to Virtue, to rely on Benevolence, and to take pleasure in the Arts ($\text{yì}$)'." (Analects, Shū Er)

"To take pleasure in the Arts" ($\text{yóu yú yì}$) —to find easy pleasure in the Six Arts (Rites, Music, Archery, Charioteering, Calligraphy, Mathematics). The character "pleasure/wander" ($\text{yóu}$) is significant—it implies ease and self-possession, not arduous effort, when engaging with the Arts. When cultivation reaches a high level, the actor no longer needs strenuous effort; action flows spontaneously within the domain of the "Art."

The dancer's state of "not seeing oneself, not hearing oneself" ($\text{mù bù zì jiàn, ěr bù zì wén}$) is the bodily realization of "wandering in the Arts" ($\text{yóu yú yì}$): the dancer no longer needs to "watch" their movements or "listen" to the music's rhythm, because the dance has become the object of their effortless "wandering"—smooth, natural, and unthinking.

This state corresponds to the process of learning described in Xunzi: Exhortation to Learning ($\text{Quàn Xué}$):

"Thus, without accumulating the measure of a foot, one cannot travel a thousand li; without accumulating small streams, one cannot form a great river and sea... If one cuts persistently, metal and stone can be carved."

"Without accumulating the measure of a foot, one cannot travel a thousand li" ($\text{bù jī kuǐ bù, wú yǐ zhì qiān lǐ}$)—any high state requires accumulation starting from the basics. The dancer’s state of "not seeing oneself, not hearing oneself" is not innate but achieved through the accumulation of "small steps," i.e., long-term, repetitive training. From initially focusing intently on one’s movements and listening carefully to the rhythm, one progresses to the spontaneous outflow of action—no longer seeing oneself, no longer hearing oneself. This involves countless repetitions of training.

"If one cuts persistently, metal and stone can be carved" ($\text{qiè ér bù shě, jīn shí kě lóu}$)—Through perseverance, even metal and stone can be carved. Is not the dancer’s body also a piece of "metal and stone"$1 Through persistent training, the chaotic, natural body is carved into a cultured, orderly body—this is the concrete process of "transforming nature and cultivating artifice" ($\text{huà xìng qǐ wěi}$).