In the pre-Qin period, Chinese music was dominated by Confucianism, Mohism and Taoism. Regardless of the time, just talking about the comparison of music aesthetics, I think the Baroque period was divided between Mohism and the West, and the Baroque period was divided between Confucianism and the West. During the classical period, the concepts put forward by Taoism, especially Zhuangzi, and the romantic period divided by Western music had relatively similar characteristics in musical aesthetics.

First of all, regarding the Baroque period in the West, the generally accepted view is that the origin of the word baroque is derived from the Portuguese barroco (also barroco in Spanish), which means "unconventional" and refers specifically to various A flawless pearl. Originally used in art criticism before the end of the 17th century, it generally refers to all kinds of unconventional, bizarre, and therefore deviant things. It was used as a derogatory term in the 18th century, generally referring to practices that violate the laws of nature and classical artistic standards. Until the mid-19th century, it was still used as a derogatory term rather than as a name for an artistic style. The Mohist school in China also adopted a derogatory view of music and proposed a policy of "non-music". Mozi believed that for the country's rulers, music would disrupt the country's normal governance and progress; for the common people, music would disrupt the country's normal governance and progress. , who believes that music can make people lack money, degenerate people, and affect normal life and survival. Comparing the Chinese Mohist musical aesthetics with the Western evaluation of the Baroque period, the Western view that Baroque music is deviant and the Mohist school’s view of the influence of music on the country and the people are indeed similar in terms of the concepts expressed, even in extreme terms. , both believe that music at this time is unnecessary.

The characteristics of the Western classical period are summarized in three points in "The Musical Aesthetic Characteristics of Classicism", which I think is very comprehensive, as follows: 1. Pay attention to the social function of music; 2. Pursue individual liberation, Emphasize perfection and harmony; 3. Advocate rationality without losing passion. That is to say, the aesthetic thought of classicism does not advocate the expression of emotions, but should express classical content with an objective attitude. Comparing Confucianism's aesthetic thoughts on music, the "ritual and music system" of Confucianism has always emphasized the role of music in society. In addition, the "doctrine of the mean" proposed by Confucianism in music reflects the hope of using upright and peaceful music to educate and cultivate people's moral character. Comparing the musical aesthetics of Chinese Confucianism with the style of the Western classical period, one is that both emphasize the social functionality of music; the other is that the harmony of music advocated in the classical period is different from the "golden mean" in Chinese Confucianism. "Tao" has the same meaning; thirdly, the educational role of music considered by Chinese Confucianism coincides with the rational thought of the Western Classical period.

The style characteristics of the Western Romanticism period are mainly manifested in opposing respect for reason and praising instinct and emotion. Romantic musicians experienced and expressed life things from a subjective perspective in a fantasy way. Similar to how the personal pronoun "I" appears a lot in poetry, composers also work hard to discover themselves, and they are keen on highly emotional themes. Therefore, autobiography and lyricism have become the main characteristics of romantic music. In addition, Romantic composers also loved nature. They not only used nature as a subject matter, but also as a source of strength and inspiration. The Chinese Taoist school advocates the music aesthetics and advocates the joy of nature. On this basis, Zhuangzi of the Taoist school also proposed the appropriate music, emphasizing the use of music to express personal emotions. Therefore, comparing the two, it is clear that their main similarities are firstly advocating nature and secondly emphasizing the expression of personal emotions in music.

Through horizontal comparison, it can be seen that no matter the speed and method of the civilization process, in terms of musical aesthetics, they are all moving in the same direction, so don’t talk about the “Western” nature of music. "", "centralization" and "colonization", look at the comparison of time, our Chinese thinking in music aesthetics has been more than ten centuries ahead of the West! The author believes that our country has always been at the forefront of music aesthetics.