Spring and Autumn Period - Court Musicians

According to records, the court music in ancient China has always been famous for its huge scale and grandeur. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the royal family monopolized music The situation of culture has gone forever. Musicians from various countries adapted to the hedonistic needs of the rulers of various vassal states and opened up a music world that was more developed and broader than the previous generation.

Court music in the Spring and Autumn Period Musicians generally have two characteristics; one is that their names are all preceded by the title "Shi", such as Shi Kuang, Shi Juan, etc., to indicate their higher social status at that time. Second, the musicians are often A blind man who is blind. Because blind people have stronger music memory ability.

1. Shi Kuang, a famous musician in the Jin Dynasty (572-532 BC), was good at using the sound of the piano to depict flying music. The soaring, chirping, and graceful posture of the crane can also express various shocking sounds in nature, such as the sound of wind, rain, thunder and lightning. The music he played is called "Qing Shang", "Qing Zhi" Qing Jiao "He has extraordinary musical talent and superb playing skills.

Shi Kuang's hearing is much more sensitive than that of Jin's Zhuzhong musicians. He is a musician who values ??art and dares to give direct advice. , he also played the piano well and had quite exquisite skills.

Allusion: "Historical Records Shi Guo" records that "Shi Kuang assisted the piano and drummed it. Once he played it, there were two Xuanhe and others Eight sets were played at the corridor door; when they played it again, they stretched their necks and sang, stretched their wings and danced." Ping Gong was overjoyed, sat back, and asked, "Is it the saddest thing to have no sound?" Shi Kuang said, "Yes. In the past, the Yellow Emperor used great harmony with ghosts and gods. , Now your virtue and righteousness are too weak to listen, and if you listen, you will be defeated." Ping Gong did not believe it, so he wanted to hear it. Shi Kuang had no choice but to play it. When he played it the first time, there were white clouds rising from the northwest; when he played it the second time, there was a strong wind and rain followed. He flew to the eaves of the corridor and ran to the left and right. Ping Gong was frightened and crouched down between the corridors and houses. There was a severe drought in the Jin Dynasty and the country was bare for three years."

2. Shi Juan, the musician of the Wei Dynasty, Shi Juan (534 BC- 492) was also famous for his good playing of the piano and his ability to collect and play folk music. "Historical Records·Music Book" records Shi Juan's deeds when he accompanied Duke Ling of Wei to visit the Jin Kingdom: "When Duke Ling of Wei went to Jin, at midnight, When I heard the sound of drums and harp, I asked around, and everyone said, "I don't hear it." So I recruited my teacher Juan and ordered him to write it for me while he listened to it. Because Shi Juan sat upright and supported the harp, he listened and wrote it. A few days later, he saw me Jin Ping Gong and Ling Gong wanted to hear the new sound. Ping Gong ordered Shi Juan to sit beside Shi Kuang and play the piano and drums..." Before the song ended, Shi Kuang held down the piano and refused to play any more, saying that this was the sound of the country's subjugation. He couldn't hear it. When Ping Gong asked why, Shi Kuang said that this was the "extreme music" made by the musician Yan during the reign of King Zhou of Shang Dynasty. This story illustrates the richness of folk music in the place where the Shang people of Wei State live together and Shi Juan's musical understanding. and an extensive collection of folk music.

3. Shi Wen An outstanding master of Zheng Guo once studied with Shi Xiang. Shi Xiang praised him and said that Shi Kuang's "Qing Jiao" and Zou Yan's His playing skills were not as good as Shi Wen's. "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" records that when Shi Wen was playing the twenty-five-stringed qin, he played it like a charm all day long. He even prostrated himself in front of the qin and murmured to himself: I am a good person. "The effect of the child is endless." This shows that Shi Wen has an extremely rich inner world of music. He is an outstanding representative of Zheng Guo's court music musicians. Shi Wen's attitude towards music learning is very serious. It is said that he failed to learn the piano for three years, and the teacher made a mistake. He thought he was clumsy and asked him to go home. Shi Wenwen gave a philosophical speech. He said that the music is not in the strings, and the intention is not in the sound. Moving strings. This is also the origin of the idiom "handy", which has become an important aesthetic principle in ancient Chinese music performance.

The Autumn and Warring States Period was an important period for the development of Chinese classical music. Due to the ideological field With the great opening up, the musical thought in this period showed a colorful scene, and music theory was unprecedentedly active. In terms of musical aesthetics, Confucian Confucianism, Xun Qing, and Gongsun Ni emphasized utilitarianism and emotion; Taoist Lao Pin and Zhuang Zhou emphasized art. , emphasizing spirit. Their opinions have a profound impact on the future development of Chinese music. Contemporary research on the musical thought of this period mainly focuses on the debates between Mohism, Taoism and Confucianism, and aesthetic thought is this debate. The focus.

Mohism advocates "non-music"

Mo Zhai, the founder of the Mohist school, believes that music is a waste of money and cannot relieve the people of "the hungry will not have food, the cold will not have clothing" , the "three troubles" of "the tired man cannot rest", can only

It harms the country and the people, so it should be banned. Mo Zhai believes that music - "the sound of bells, drums, harps, harps, and yusheng" can arouse people's sense of beauty and make people happy. However, its existence is harmful to the country. Governance will not benefit the people. He believes that if "farmers" and "women" listen to music, it will definitely hinder farming and weaving; if "gentlemen" listen to music, it will definitely affect their energy and intelligence; if "princes" listen to music, it will definitely affect their energy and intelligence; Music must not "retreat to Yan (early) and listen to the government of the prison", and the result will inevitably be "the country is in chaos and the society is in danger". In Mo Zhai's view, the more advanced and developed music is, the more difficult it will be to govern the country, " "Those who enjoy more music will govern more than the few". He believed that "music is not the reason for governing the world", that is to say, music is useless for governing the country and bringing peace to the world. Mo Zhai's views are based on his sympathy for the lower class people and his opposition to "princes and princes". "Excessive music enjoyment has certain progressive significance, but after all, it is purely utopian and completely unworkable. He simply emphasizes politics and production, completely denies the social function of music, and opposes the progress and development of music, which is also unrealistic. Therefore, it did not have a great influence on society. After the Qin Dynasty unified the six countries, this school disappeared.

Taoism advocates "big sound and small sound"

Taoism and Mohism is the same, they all oppose music and deny music. Taoism is represented by Laozi and Zhuangzi. They advocate nature and deny all man-made music. Taoist music aesthetics ideas are explained in the book "Laozi". "Laozi" Chapter 8 In Chapter 11, there are only four discussions involving music, namely "the harmony of sounds", "the five tones are deafening", "music and bait stop passers-by", and "the sound of great sound is like sound". Among them, "the sound of great sound is like sound" is one The language can be regarded as the core of the entire musical aesthetic thought of "Laozi", which directly influenced the subsequent formation of the musical aesthetic thoughts of Zhuangzi and others, and occupies an important position in the history of ancient Chinese music aesthetics. Based on the philosophical thought of "Laozi" Based on the analysis and summary of his musical aesthetic thoughts, it can be found that "Laozi" divides music into two categories: one is Tao music, that is, inaction and natural music; the other is secular music, that is, artificial and non-human music. The music of nature. The music of Tao conforms to the characteristics of Tao. It is the foundation of all man-made music, omnipresent and omnipresent. It is the most beautiful and silent, and is the highest state of music. Man-made music is beautiful, Therefore, it will "stop passers-by", but the beauty of this kind of vocal music is worldly and temporary, and will "deafen people", so it should not be promoted. For a sage, when governing the people, he should "take care of himself and not do anything" "Eye", therefore, the enjoyment of the eyes and ears must be abolished, and all culture, including music, must be abolished. Only in this way can the world be governed and achieve the state of "doing nothing and doing everything" desired by "Laozi". Various Taoist views, on the surface It seems to have a negative attitude towards both music and beauty. In fact, it is just the opposite. It attaches more importance to music - music as an artistic existence than any other school; it pays more attention to beauty - the inner and spiritual beauty that is higher than formal beauty. In other words, it What is emphasized is the non-cognitive law of artistic creation, that is, the law of aesthetics. This is exactly what other schools of thought have not noticed.

Confucianism regards "goodness" and "harmony" as beauty

Confucian music theory fully affirms the role of music in social life. In terms of music content and artistic form, Confucian music theory puts the "goodness" and "harmony" of the content first, and The beauty of the art form is placed second. Traditional Chinese music aesthetics centers on "harmony" and has a profound impact on the development of musicians in our country. As the founder of the Confucian school, Confucius is a key figure in the history of Chinese music and culture. One of the important representatives of Confucius. His musical thoughts are mainly concentrated in "The Analects". Politically, Confucius advocated "politics with virtue", advocated "rule by etiquette", emphasized the political role of etiquette and music, and emphasized that music can morally Inspire people. He once said: "No one is good at music when changing customs, and no one is good at etiquette when it comes to governing the people." Confucius believed that the ideological nature and art of music are "goodness" and "beauty". Anyone who conforms to the so-called benevolence is good and expresses peace. The golden mean is beauty, forming the earliest music aesthetic standard in human history. Later, Confucius' disciple Gongsun Ni inherited and developed Confucian music theory, and his insights were preserved in the music treatise "Yue Ji" compiled by Han Dynasty scholars. .Gongsunni opposed the view of some people at that time that music was simply a luxury product or a pastime, and also opposed the view that denied the existence of music. He believed that music is a subjective reflection of the objective world, and "music" is the result of the human heart being affected by external things. Influence, when excited, certain thoughts and feelings are produced, and then they are vividly reproduced with sounds and dance movements organized according to certain rules. Secondly, the author also

It clearly discusses the relationship between music, life and politics, and believes that music must express social politics and serve politics, which means that music and politics are interlinked. Therefore, music in the peaceful era must be full of peace and happiness, and politics must also be enlightened and harmonious; troubles still occur in the era. The music of the era must be full of resentment and the politics are perverse; the music of the era when the country is dying must be full of sorrow and the people's livelihood is miserable.

Gongsun Ni believes that in order for music to give full play to its educational function, it must emphasize its political and moral The so-called "morality and virtue" means that only those with thoughts and feelings that are in line with "rituals" (feudal ruling order and moral standards) - "virtue" are superior works. In this sense, artistic standards It is secondary, the so-called "art comes down to success". However, the author does not think that "art" is irrelevant. He points out that music is a flower blooming from "morality". To attract people's love, it cannot be without beautiful appearance. and fragrance. Therefore, music must be artistic; it must "manage its decoration", that is, it must be expressed in a beautiful form. It must make the melody ("sound"), lyrics ("text") and various beautiful forms and expression techniques ( ("quickness, simplicity, simplicity, rhythm") all meet the requirements of the content and can move people's heart towards "goodness". In the view of "Le Ji", all works that integrate ideological and artistic qualities should be promoted The "virtuous music" and "harmonious music", otherwise, it is the "indulgent music" and "obscene music" that should be opposed. It can be seen that what Confucianism emphasizes is the connection between music and real life, the unity of emotion and reason. It is the practical utility of music in serving social politics, and this is something that other schools of thought have not discussed. However, "from the beginning, Confucianism regarded music as a tool for "cultivating the mind and character" and did not have the concept of independent art. Everything must be Moralization, such music can turn the listener into a saint, or it can turn the listener into a beast. From a Confucian perspective, it is reasonable to control the development of music.

Vertical Looking at the debate on musical thought during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Confucianism has the most positive views on music. It denies the traditional concept of subordinating music to "gods" and various opinions that deny the existence of music since the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and affirms the relationship between music and real life. The connection between music and music has established the realist tradition of our country’s music. However, over-emphasis on the practical utility of music often restricts the development of art and aesthetics, causing music to lose its beauty and soul-stirring power. In this regard, the Taoist thought of "being and non-being are mutually beneficial" It becomes its opposite and supplement. It provides the development of Chinese music with its transcendent power (imagination, emotion, beauty, and the later expression, artistic conception, etc., which are all extensions and developments of this idea). In short, Confucianism and Taoism in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods have initially established the ideological system of my country's music aesthetics. In the feudal society for thousands of years, they have played a decisive role in the development of my country's music

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