Equilibrium and Harmony of Confucianism

Equilibrium was an important idea in Confucianism. It stood for fairness, properness, harmony, and peace. In fact, equilibrium combined the ideas Doctrine of the Mean and Harmony, as discussed in Chapter 2. As a philosophical idea, equilibrium was firstly recorded in Doctrine of the Mean: "Doctrine of the Mean indicates that one's happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy are not expressed; harmony indicates that one's happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy are expressed but in a moderate way. Doctrine of the Mean is the cardinal principle in the world and harmony is the embodiment of Tao. When equilibrium has been achieved, the heaven and earth are in good order, and all are nurtured." This was the most complete discussion of the idea Equilibrium in the early Confucian classics. In spite that the explanation of the idea Doctrine of the Mean sounded unreasonable, to understand harmony as equilibrium was sensible, which was also how Confucius understood the nature of Doctrine of the Mean. Definitely, equilibrium embodied strong moral color, which could be seen from the nature of Doctrine of the Mean. Besides, equilibrium was an ideal, as the lines suggested, "the cardinal principle in the world," "the embodiment of Tao" "the heaven and earth in good order and all nurtured." Generally speaking, equilibrium was not clearly discussed in Doctrine of the Mean. Then, how should we understand the idea Equilibrium?

In fact, equilibrium was an aesthetic idea to a large extent. No matter as a morality or an ideal, the idea Equilibrium closely related to music, and developed and matured in the discussion of music. In this sense, we may call it the beauty of equilibrium and harmony. How were equilibrium and harmony combined in musical theory? How were equilibrium and harmony formed in musical theory?

As above mentioned, the idea Harmony in China was recorded as early as in Book of Documents and related to music, "Poetry is the expression of earnest thought; singing is the prolonged utterance of that expression; the notes accompany that utterance, and they are harmonized themselves by the standard-tubes. (In this way) the eight different kinds of musical instruments can be adjusted so that one shall not take from or interfere with another; and spirits and men are brought into harmony." {Canon of Yao) Later, in Discourses of the States, there was a dialogue on music between King Jing of Zhou Dynasty, Duke Mu of Shan Kingdom, and Lingzhou Jiu:

Duke Mu of Shan Kingdom said, "The bell made by the late king was not larger than jun (a tool to measure weight) and heavier than 60 kg. Now, the bell made by Your Majesty cannot sound and does not agree with the scale. Now that the bell sounds disorderly and looks unshapely, what's the use of it except that it harms music and wastes citizen's wealth?

If vision and sound disharmonize, one will feel dazed. Then, he cannot taste the delicious. Then, he cannot maintain the vigor. Then, he cannot remain harmonious with others. Consequently, he will utter irrational words, bear absurd ideas, give inconstant orders, and make wrong rules. (The Discourse of Zhou II)

Here, Duke Mu of Shan Kingdom reiterated harmony, which helped to form the idea Equilibrium and extended the opinion in Canon of Yao of Book of Documents. Meanwhile, he mentioned such ideas as Jie and Du, which actually meant moderateness or the inherent rationality in things. Similarly, Lingzhou Jiu said,

To rule is similar to play music. Playing music requires harmony. The Five Notes (Wu Yin) make the tone pleasing and the Twelve Temperaments (Shi Er Lii) make the sound even.

Perfect music means all the instruments are used properly; tone means all the sounds are collected; harmony means all the sounds are coordinated; peace means all the alt and undertone are played in an order way.

The wiry tone is covered by the vast tone, which sounds unpleasant to ears. It is unequal when it sounds low and tortuous. When the tone is hurt and wealth is wasted, the official in charge of music cannot control.

If there is harmonious tone, there is increased wealth. The poem that expresses harmony accords with morality and the song that eulogizes harmony accords with temperament. When morality and temperament are right, the music can connect the heaven with human. As a result, the heavenly spirit is peaceful and citizens are obedient. If a ruler gratifies his desire by wasting wealth and tiring citizens, the musical instrument sounds neither harmony nor legal. This hinders edification, loses citizen's heart, and infuriates the heaven. I have not heard this.

Temperament determines the tone and loudness. In the past, the drum uses it to judge whether the sound was harmonious.

That the high and low sounds are played means long harmony.

The heaven and human communicate with number and echo with sound. When number and sound are harmonious, the heaven and human are coordinate.

Evidently what Lingzhou Jiu discussed embodied new ideas, such as moderateness and peace, meaning that music should be gentle or moderate. In the discourses of Duke Mu of Shan Kingdom and Lingzhou Jiu, we have the aesthetics ideas related to music: Harmony, Moderateness, Rationality, Meanness, and Peace. These constituted the idea Equilibrium. In other words, the idea Equilibrium formed in the musical practice and thought in late Western Zhou Dynasty.

In Zuo Zhuan, equilibrium was also embodied in Ji Zha's discussion of music (Ji Zha, prince of Kingdom Wu): "A musician played Song (Sacrificial Songs). Ji Zha said, "It is so great! It expresses righteousness but does not sound arrogant, deviousness but not tiring, sorrow but not distressful, pleasure but not incontinent, vastness but not uncontrolled, reception but not greedy, peace but not static, smoothness but not too quickly... The Five Sounds {Wu Sheng) are harmonious and the Eight Instruments {Ba Yin) are coordinate. The rhythm is well controlled and the instruments are in order. These represent the commonness of the great morality." {The 29th Year of the Reign of Duke Xiang) Here, Ji Zha used 14 groups of sentences with the "... but not..." structure, which indicated the idea Equilibrium. Besides, there were other ideas, like Harmony, Peace, Moderateness, and Order. In The V Year of the Reign of Duke Zhao, Yi He, a famous doctor, said, "The late king composed music to control things, so there were the Five Sounds {Wu Sheng). The slow and quick sounds coordinate each other. When the Five Sounds turn to low and stop, one cannot play any longer. Otherwise, it will turn to the decadent music. Man will hear fidget and lewdness and cannot remain peaceful, so a gentleman never hears that kind of music." Here Yi He firstly applied the Five Sounds in music into medicine. The Five Sounds referred to Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zhi, and Illustration in Three Character Classic for Children Learning with Illustrations: The Eight Different Kinds of Musical Instruments, drawn by Jinzhang Bookstore in the early Republic of China. In the ancient musical and ritual system, there were eight musical instruments, namely, gold, stone, string, wood, earth, leather, gourd, and bamboo. Gold referred to bronze instruments; most were bells and some were Zheng and Nao. Stone referred to stone instruments; most were Bian Qing. String referred to string instruments, like Zheng and Se. Bamboo referred to bamboo instruments, like Pal Xiao and Chi. Earth referred to earth instruments, like Xun. Wood referred to wooden instruments, like Zhu. Gourd referred to gourd-like instruments like Sheng. Leather referred to leather instruments, like drum.

Yu. As we know, in the ancient Chinese seven-tone scale, Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zhi, and Yu were complete sounds while Bian Gong and Bian Zhi were half sound. According to Yi He, Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zhi, and Yu were harmonious, whereas Bian Gong and Bian Zhi were not, which caused the fidget and lewdness, or what he meant Fan Shou and Yin Sheng in Chinese. Yi He's view impacted enormously on ancient Chinese musical theory. And he also used such ideas as Doctrine of the Mean, Moderateness, Peace, and Harmony.

The idea Equilibrium had a direct impact on Confucius. He stated, "Crying Osprey sounds joyful but not indecent, sorrowful but not deplorable." (The Analects, Ba Yi) and "The music in Kingdom Zheng is indecent." (King Ling of Wei) To Confucius, good music could cultivate one's temperament and make him kind, while bad music might corrupt public morals and make him evil, which embodied the idea Equilibrium. Confucius expressed the idea Equilibrium in a wider way: "Doctrine of the Mean was the greatest virtue!" (Yong Ye) and "A gentleman seeks harmony but not uniformity. A petty man seeks uniformity but not harmony."(Z/' Lu)

Afterwards, Theory on Music and Record on the Subject of Music, the first books on musicology inherited and developed the thoughts. In Record of Music, it was said:

The late king made rules in music to restrain citizen's behavior. (Nature of Music)

The great music is as harmonious as the heaven and earth; the great rite is as moderate as the heaven and earth. (Theory on Music)

Music is the harmony between the heaven and earth. (Theory on Music, Rite of Music)

A gentle despises the music that destroys equilibrium. (Language in Music)

These remarks not merely suggested the ideas Moderateness, Harmony, and Peace, but also viewed equilibrium as a gentleman's virtue. More importantly, both mentioned music as "guideline of equilibrium": "Music is the order of the heaven and earth and the guideline of equilibrium. Human cannot act against it." (Edification in Music) In addition, it was notable that the thoughts in Theory on Music and Record of Music were consistent with what Doctrine of the Mean meant, as above mentioned:

Doctrine of the Mean indicates that one's happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy are not expressed; harmony indicates that one's happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy are expressed but in a moderate way. Doctrine of the Mean is the cardinal principle in the world and harmony is the embodiment of Tao. When equilibrium has been achieved, the heaven and earth are in good order, and all are nurtured.

Therefore, equilibrium and harmony became an important part in the cultivation of ideal character. Certainly, equilibrium and harmony were extended to edification, which was embodied in a similar passage in Theory on Music and Record on the Subject of Music:

Therefore, when music is played in the ancestral temple, the ruler and officials hear and no one shows disrespect; when music is played in a clan, the old and the young hear and no one shows disharmony; when music is played in a family and the father and son hear and no one shows defiance. In accordance, the tone should be firstly decided to coordinate the sound and rhythm should be controlled with instrument. The movement that formed with harmonious tone can harmonize the relationships between the ruler and official, father and son, and win citizen's support. This is the goal the late king strived to achieve when he made rules in music." (Edification in Music)