Elephants are invisible. "Wang Bi's note:" If you don't hear its name, you won't hear its voice. If there is a voice, there will be points, and if there is a point, there will be no palace business. If we are divided, we cannot unify the masses, so those who have voices are not loud. The Original Meaning of Wei Yuan quoted Lv Huiqing as saying: "It is like a sound, but it is invisible, and the name is often contrary to the truth, while the truth of the Tao is hidden in nothing. "
The proposition of aesthetic concept
Aesthetic concepts in China's ancient literary theory. Language "Lao Zi Forty-one Chapters". He said, "I want to hear unknown voices." Wang Bi's note: "You can't hear the loud voice. If there is a voice, there will be points, and if there is a point, there will be no palace business. If it is split, it is impossible to unify the masses, so those who have voices are not loud. " (Interpretation of Wang Bi's Collected Works) "All" means the whole, and "Divide" means the part; What people hear, such as Gong Yin or Shang Yin, is only part, not all. It means that with the concrete and partial beauty of sound, the natural beauty of sound will be lost. Laozi believes that the most beautiful music is the beauty of nature, not artificial and partial beauty, which is related to his "Tao can be Tao, extraordinary Tao; The thought of "unusual name and unusual name" in Tao Te Ching is completely consistent with his thought of "governing by doing nothing" (Historical Records, Laozi and Zhuangzi's Application for Biography in Korea).
The continuous development of aesthetic concepts
After Laozi, Zhuangzi continued to develop this view. Zhuangzi divided the beauty of sound into three categories in the Theory of Everything: human voice, earth sound and natural sound. "people are better than bamboo", that is, flute pipes and subordinates; "The ground is noisy and the crowd is already", that is, the sound of the wind blowing on the cave is moderate; "Nature" means "blowing all kinds of differences and making itself. Salty is self-inflicted, who is angry? " That is, the natural spontaneous sound is better. In Tian Yun, Zhuangzi also discusses the characteristics of "nature": "Listen to its sound but not its sound, but not its shape, which fills the world and wraps the six poles." Guo Xiang's note: "This is the joy without happiness, and happiness is the best." In fact, this is the "big voice and great hope" advocated by Laozi. Therefore, Zhuangzi said in the Theory of Everything: "There are successes and failures, so Zhao Guqin also; There is nothing to lose, so the Zhao family does not play the piano. " Wang Xianqian's Note: "Drummers will lose their horns and waving palaces will lose their taxes. If you don't play drums, you are self-sufficient and still sentimental, so you forget your wisdom by taking the road, so you are true. " It means opposing the destruction or replacement of American natural voice with one-sided and limited vocal music.
Have a far-reaching impact on future generations
Laozi and Zhuangzi's worship of natural beauty has had a far-reaching impact on the literary theory of later generations. It has become the highest artistic realm pursued by writers and artists, advocating nature and not carving things. "Nature" and "True Beauty" advocated by Zhong Rong's Preface to Poetry: the beauty of nature and "whole tone" advocated by Yuan Jie's Ding Lesi; Si Kongtu advocated "taking beauty as a work" in Poems with Li Sheng: Xu Wenchang's Preface to Gifts said that "husband is true, and falsehood is also negative. Therefore, the five flavors must be light and the food is really good; You must hope five times and listen to the truth. Five colors are not flashy, depending on the truth "; Yu Zhaosheng's theory of "expressing happiness with loud voice and seducing others with drugs" in Preface to Yu Yang's Poems is an extension and further development of this view. In ancient painting theory, there are many similar views.
Music poem
However, for the melody of music or poetry, whether there is mutual existence or not, sound and silence are complementary to each other, exist in comparison and complement each other. The "silence is better than sound" in Bai Juyi's Pipa, which is very close to the realm of "loud voice and great music" advocated by Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi. However, if there is no "sound" such as "buzzing, whispering, and then mixing together, just like pouring large and small pearls into a plate of jade", under certain conditions, there will be no "silence is better than sound". Therefore, in Li Deyu's "On Articles", while criticizing that "today's prose is like a silk and bamboo drum, if it is forced to promote the festival, it will be very harmful to know the rhythm", it is correctly pointed out: "When the silk and bamboo are played, there will be graceful sounds, and those who listen will be happy; The stream is swift and violent, and there will be twists and turns, and the viewer will never tire of it. From my brother John's saying,' The article is like a horde of troops, and the storm is coming, and it is silent.' " This is more practical.
This is the artistic reflection of his philosophy and social beauty. "Da Yin" refers to music itself and is the origin of music-"Tao". "Hope sound" does not mean that there is no sound, but that people can't hear the sound. "If you don't hear its voice, you will hope" (Chapter 14 of Laozi). Here, I use music itself to "listen without hearing", which means that "Tao" is not only the object of feeling, but also the feeling can not be directly grasped, thus revealing the characteristics that all beauty and art resort to sensibility and surpass it. Based on his "no desire" view, he believes that music and other art forms will arouse people's psychological and physical desires, which will lead to the instability of the world. He said: "The disaster is greater than dissatisfaction, and the blame is greater than desire" (Chapter 46 of Laozi). Therefore, in music appreciation, he advocates that we should pursue a realm of "great sound and happy sound" beyond the direct perception of sound, that is, the realm of silence is better than sound. Every time I listen to music, I will hear it in silence.