Taoism in traditional Chinese music
Ancient Chinese philosophy included two types of concepts about "heaven": One was "the Dao (natural way) of heaven,"which was to say, heaven was nature. Just as Laozi said,"People should obey the earth, the earth obeys heaven, heaven obeys the Dao and Dao obeys nature"(Tao Te Ching·Chapter 25). The relationship between humans and heaven was actually about relations between humans and nature. The other was the concept of the "heaven's will," which held the view that "heaven" had its will. Such famous words as "when former kings had any (important) business, they gave reverent heed to the commands of Heaven" (Shangshu· Pangengshang), showing that "heaven"mentioned here could be equal to the gods.
The Taoists pursued harmony between music and nature, and harmony between humans and the universe. They opposed shackling human nature and music, advocating music as a way to express people's true and natural feelings, and upheld human freedom and music liberation. The Zhuangzi·qiwulun says, "The sound of humans, earth and heaven" were the foundation of music. Here, the "sound of heaven" was that of nature, which reflected the view of music focusing on the "integration of humans and nature." Ruan Ji also stressed "integrated nature" in Yuelun.
"Dayinxisheng" (an extremely loud sound can not be heard) reflected Laozi's view towards music that was a philosophical advance in the natural outlook on music at that time. Here,"loud" might equal such Taoist concepts as "dao," "nature" and "inaction." The so-called "loud sound" referred to sound in a natural state, and could be interpreted as the "sound of heaven."Also,"we call the sound that we listen to, but don't hear as'xi'.""Dayinxisheng" actually included two layers of meanings: i) The loudest and most beautiful music was that in line with the “dao"-the sound of heaven that was natural and not man-made;ii) The nature of music was beyond perceptual knowledge and silent.
Based on Laozi's theory of"Dayinxisheng," Zhuangzi further proposed a series of concepts: "The sound of heaven, earth, humans and natural happiness and ultimate happiness," "the heaven and earth show their beauty with no words,""simplicity is beauty," “transform nature in accordance with the laws of nature" and "cutting and polishing make it return to simplicity,"and so on. All these brought the ancient natural outlook on music to a higher philosophical level.
The core of Zhuangzi's view on music was the word "tian"(the heavens). "Heaven and earth show their beauty with no words," and the loudest and most beautiful music was the "sound of heaven," which rightly coincided with the "integration of humans and heaven" that was advocated by Taoists. Zhuangzi dealt a lot with the relationship between heaven and humans.Zhuangzi inherited Confucius's fatalistic inclination on this issue, abandoned the ideas that highlighted the positive action of people, and in the mean time, denied the role of people in nature and further established his own ethical system. He believed humans came from nature, and all the creatures on the earth were from nature as well. But humans couldn't change nature.
He also proposed to return to nature and the state of pureness and inaction.
Most traditional Chinese artists have a deep afffection for nature. Just as Ji Kang wrote in his Eighteen Four-word Poems on His Brother's Entry into the Army, "I feel free to use both my hands and eyes by playing the gin and looking up at the flying birds."This showed that traditional Chinese music focused on expressions of people's feelings and experiences in nature and the integration of "humans and nature," which was closely associated with the influence of music views advocated by Laozi and Zhuangzi. Undoubtedly, Zhuangzi was among the most outstanding representatives of ancient China's natural outlook on music.
