Confucius is the founder of Confucianism. He is an outstanding thinker and educator who has influenced China for thousands of years and will continue to influence the world. However, people may not know that Confucius was also an outstanding musician. A writer and music educator, his musical thoughts are profound, profound and radiant, and can give us useful enlightenment. Confucius’ outstanding talent in music is reflected in the following aspects: The first is singing skills. Various documentary materials show that Confucius can be said to have "not stopped singing every day." Even when he was in poverty, his singing never left Confucius. "The Family Sayings of Confucius: The Oath of Difficulty" contains: "Confucius was in trouble between Chen and Cai. He was without food for seven days, and his disciples were sick, so Confucius sang." Even when he was dying of poverty and illness in his later years, Confucius did not forget to sing. "Historical Records: The Family of Confucius" said: "Confucius was ill, and Zigong asked him to see him...Confucius sighed and sang: 'Taishan is ruined! The beams and pillars are broken! The philosophers are withered!'... He died seven days later." Of course, there were days when Confucius never sang. "The Analects of Confucius·Shuerpian" says: "If you cry every day, you will not sing." The second is playing ability. He can not only play the harp, drum and harp, but also play the chime. In other words, he is not only proficient in string instruments, but also proficient in percussion instruments. "The Analects of Confucius: Xianwen Chapter" records that when Confucius was in Weiguo, because Wei Linggong was old and neglected political affairs, and without Confucius, his political ambitions could not be realized, so he had to leave Weiguo and beat the chime to produce shallow and hollow notes. Shu felt depressed in his heart. "Kong Congzi·Jiyi" records: Confucius rested in his room during the day and played the harp, because "when he saw a cat, he took a mouse and wanted it to get it, so he made the sound." Confucius hoped that the cat could successfully catch the mouse. , playing a deep tone to stimulate the cat's strong desire. This shows Confucius' excellent playing skills. The third is the ability to write lyrics and compose music. Relevant literature shows that Confucius composed many pieces of music. "Historical Records: The Family of Confucius" records in detail the process of Confucius composing the zither music "Zou Cao": "Confucius could not be used as a guard, so he went west to see Zhao Jianzi. As for the river, when he heard about the death of Dou Mingdu and Shunhua, he sighed while walking by the river. "The water is so beautiful, it's so vast! If Qiu Zhi doesn't help it, it's my fate!" Zigong came forward and asked, "What do you mean?" Confucius said, "Dou Mingdu, Shun Hua, was a wise official in the Jin Dynasty." When the ambition is not achieved, these two people need to be engaged in politics; when they have achieved the ambition, they should be killed to serve in politics. Qiu Wenzhi also said that if the fetus is killed, the unicorn will not reach the suburbs; if the lake is dry and the fishing is exhausted, the dragon will not match the yin and yang, and the eggs will be overturned. Then the Phoenix Emperor will not fly. Why? A gentleman will avoid harming his kind, and he will avoid it if it is unjust. To mourn." According to Cai Yong's "Qin Cao" of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Confucius also composed "Jianggui Cao", "Yilan Cao", "Guishan Cao" and so on. According to "Historical Records: The Family of Confucius", when Confucius was fifty-six years old, "the great minister Kou Xing took charge of the affairs of the prime minister", and the Lu State issued a new government order, which caused panic in the neighboring state of Qi. So Qi State presented eighty young and beautiful dancing girls to Ji Huanzi, the ruler of Lu State, resulting in "three days of no listening to politics." Faced with this situation, Confucius had to leave the state of Lu. "The teacher Ji sent him off and said: 'Master, it is not a crime.' Confucius said: 'Is my song okay?' The song said: 'That woman's mouth can leave; A woman's visit can lead to death and defeat. You can live happily even if you are dead! '" Confucius showed extraordinary talent in his ability to improvise lyrics and music. The fourth is good music appreciation ability. There are two paragraphs about the music of the ancient song "Shao" in "The Analects of Confucius", which can well reflect Confucius' musical aesthetic ability. The first is "Shu Er Pian": "When Zi heard "Shao" in Qi, he didn't know the taste of meat in March, and said: "I don't want to do it just for pleasure."" This may be the first time Confucius heard the music of "Shao" , so he lamented that he didn’t expect to appreciate music to such a level! The second is "Eight Yi Pian": "Confucius said of Shao, 'It is perfectly beautiful, but it is also good'. He said of 'Wu', 'It is perfectly beautiful, but it is not perfect'." This should be enriched by Confucius. After gaining experience and deeper thoughts, this paper makes a comparative evaluation of Shun's music "Shao" and Zhou Wu's music "Wu". Because in his view, Shun's position as emperor came from Yao's "abdication" and was full of "neutral" spirit, so his music was "perfectly beautiful" and "perfectly good"; while King Wu of Zhou's The throne came from the crusade against King Zhou of Shang Dynasty. Although it was a just act, it was still unavoidable to have a murderous spirit. Therefore, its music is "perfectly beautiful" but "not perfect". Here, Confucius put forward an important criterion for judging the quality of musical works: beautiful sound alone is not enough, there must also be noble content. Only a high degree of unity between content and form can truly be "perfect". The fifth is the unique ability to organize and revise ancient music. "The Analects of Confucius: Zihan Chapter" said: "Confucius said: 'I defended myself against Lu, and then I was happy to be upright, and "Ya" and "Song" each found their place.'" "Historical Records: Confucius' Family" also said: "Three hundred and five chapters (referring to "The Book of Songs") Confucius sang all the string songs in order to match the sounds of "Shao", "Wu", "Ya", and "Song". "Although the music scores of Confucius' string songs have not been handed down, the text of the "Book of Songs" would not be preserved if it were not available. It is probably difficult for Confucius’s compilation and teaching to be passed down so completely to this day. Sixth, and most importantly, Confucius established the standards of musical aesthetics and the ethical standards of music workers. Confucius's aesthetic concept emphasizes the pursuit of the perfect combination of music and lyrics, and the pursuit of a high degree of unity between content and form, that is, "perfection" as mentioned above - the content must be "good" and the form must be "beautiful".

For those who engage in musical activities, Confucius put forward the requirement of "benevolence": "Confucius said: 'If a person is not benevolent, what is etiquette? If a person is not benevolent, what is joy?'" "Benevolence" is the core of Confucius' thought, and naturally it is also The core of Confucius’ musical thought. According to statistics from Yang Bojun's "The Analects of Confucius", the word "ren" appears as many as 109 times in the "Analects of Confucius", such as: "Confucius said: 'Aspire to the Tao, base on virtue, rely on benevolence, and swim in "Art" ("Shu Er Pian") "Zhong Gong asked about benevolence. Confucius said: '...Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you.'" "Fan Chi asked about benevolence." "Yan Yuan Chapter") Confucius once said: "No one is good at music when changing customs." ("The Book of Filial Piety Guangdao Yaozhang") Since music has such an important role, people who engage in music activities naturally have higher requirements. personality requirements. Let’s take a look at what Confucius himself said. The two remarks of Confucius recorded in "The Analects of Confucius: Shu Er Pian" are very illustrative. One is: "I am not born with knowledge. I love the past and am keen to pursue it." Min means diligence and agility. It can be seen that the reason why Confucius possessed rich knowledge (including, of course, musical knowledge and skills) was due to his own diligence. The second is: "Three people must have my teacher: choose the good ones and follow them, and change the bad ones." This shows that Confucius is good at learning from others humbly. Of course, in the process of learning from others, You must have certain identification capabilities. The conversation between Confucius' disciple Zi Qin and Zigong recorded in "Xue Er Pian" also illustrates Confucius's humble and studious spirit: "Zi Qin asked Zigong: 'Master, as for being a state, you must hear about its politics. Do you want to seek it? "Zigong said: "Master is gentle, kind, respectful, thrifty and generous." When Confucius traveled around the world, it can be said that Confucius' knowledge was famous all over the world. Confucius did not rest on his laurels because of this. On the contrary, he treated others with a more gentle, kind, sincere, rigorous and humble attitude. Therefore, people were willing to interact with him and tell Confucius what they knew. Of course, Confucius was more willing to tell others the knowledge and knowledge he had mastered, and he was tireless in teaching others. "Bayi Pian" records a passage where Confucius told the chief music officer of the Lu State how to play music: "You can know how to play music: when you start to compose, you will be like it; when you follow it, it will be as pure as it is, and it will be like that, and it will be like that." Also, with success.” Let’s look at what Confucius did. "Shuerpian" records: "When a disciple is good at singing with others, he will restore it and then make peace with it." "Historical Records: Confucius Family" records the process of Confucius learning the piano from his teacher Xiangzi, which better reflects Confucius's tireless Learning attitude. Confucius learned the drums and harp from the musician Xiangzi, and he did not change the music for ten days. Shi Xiangzi said: "You can change the music and learn." Confucius said: "I have only mastered the tune, but not the music theory." After a while, Shi Xiangzi said again: "You have mastered the music theory, you can change the music to learn." Confucius said: "I haven't mastered it yet. You know the composer's creative ideas!" After a while, Shi Xiangzi said again: "You have understood the composer's creative ideas, and you can change the music to learn." Confucius said, "I haven't figured it out yet. What kind of person is this composer?" After a while, Confucius looked thoughtful and looked up to the sky with joy and profound will. Confucius said: "I know what kind of person this composer is. He is dark and tall, with deep and clear eyes. He has a kingly demeanor that transcends everything and benefits all people! Who else can do this except King Wen of Zhou? How can such a piece of music be composed?" After hearing this, Shi Xiangzi stood up from his seat, bowed to this extraordinary student, and said, "My teacher said that it is "King Wen's Exercises"! "I remember reading Tao Yuanming's "The Biography of Mr. Wuliu" and I really liked the sentence "If you are good at reading, don't ask for a deep understanding." Although I also know that Tao Yuanming's original intention is not what I think, I just want to use what I think to find a strong support for my reading without asking for deep understanding. When I read the story of Confucius learning the piano from his teacher Xiangzi, I felt a little ashamed. To learn anything, it is not enough to just "know how it is"; you must also "know why it is so". Confucius's diligent, agile and tireless attitude in learning music, his method of choosing what is good, "being gentle, courteous, thrifty and giving way to get it", and his spirit of striving to "know what it is but know why it is" are exactly what we need.