The Philosophy in the Ancient Chinese Musical Instrument-Guqin Geng

Guqin is one of China’s oldest and most revered musical instruments, which was listed as one of the masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of the world by UNESCO in 2003. It is deeply embedded in the Chinese culture that to embrace an all-encompassing moral philosophy known as the Dao ( 道 ) of qin or “ the Way of the qin. ” This ideology which contains a large sense of living philosophy is to be explored in this article, mainly from the traditional Chinese philiosophy of Confucianism, Buddhism and native Chinese Taoism.


Introduction
As early as in the primitive times, Chinese people began to use musical instruments, which has evolved today into three main types---wind, string, percussion, categorized by the way they are played.The string instruments could also be divided into two types: the one is two-stringed represented by er-hu (二胡), jinhu, (京胡) etc.; the other is represented by guqin (古琴) and guzheng (古筝), played unconventionally by plucking the strings with fingers.
Guqin is one of China's oldest and most revered musical instruments, which was listed as one of the masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of the world by UNESCO in 2003, also named as seven-stringed qin or sitong (丝桐), etc., with a history of over 3000 years.In Chinese history there are significant body of literary works, ancient stories and theories related to it.

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Volume 6, Issue 1, January-February 2024 2 Records indicate that it has been a favorite of the literati for more than 2500 years; Confucius himself was a great lover of the instrument.Over centuries, it became a representative of the life, taste and pastime of the Chinese literati.In addition to its contribution to solo and orchestral musical arrangements, a wealth of symbolic meaning also accrued to it over time.Not only was the knowledge of the instrument reserved for the literati, but its learning was also believed to be conducive to meditation and have an ability to facilitate intellectual enlightenment.
The guqin is so deeply embedded in the Chinese culture that to study it is to embrace an all-encompassing moral philosophy known as the Dao (道) of qin or "the Way of the qin," essentially a lifestyle of moderation (中庸), self-cultivation and decorum.A sincere follower of "the Way of the qin" does not seek fame but, like Boya2 , prefers a select audience of fragrant pines, craggy peaks, swirling mists and the occasional discerning human if he can not find a bosom friend who can truly understand his sound like Ziqi.Indeed, a true guqin devotee does not have to play the instrument at all.He can simply possess it and appreciate its "soundless music."He loves guqin not just for the music, but also for the ideology-the Dao (道) of qin which contains a large sense of living philosophy.

I. The Sound of Heaven
As we know, music has been an important part of Chinese people's life since the ancient times.There are several legends about the origin of the character "Yue"(Music) .One is that the upper part of the character resembles silk and the lower part is the wood.Another legend goes that the upper part looks like drums, and the wood is the wooden support base.But whatever maybe the origin of the character, we can see the relationship between Music and guqin.
The music of guqin well represents the traditional Chinese philosophical thoughts about the relationship between the heaven, earth and man.In Chinese, "gu" means old and "qin" means "musical instrument".Its long narrow body is made of two pieces of boards at the top with the bottom glued together.There is a great deal of symbolic connotation surrounding the instrument.For example, it measures "三尺六寸五分" (Three Chinese feet and six and half inches), to symbolize the 365 days of the year.The 13 holes or mother-of-pearls (灰位) inlaid along the outer edge represents the 13 months of the lunar year; the upper surface is rounded, representing the sky, and the bottom is flat, representing the earth.This is because ancient Chinese believed that the sky was round and the earth was flat (天圆地方).The three different tones of guqin: fanyin (泛音), anyin (按音), sanyin (散音), represents the heaven, earth and man (天,地,人) separately.Therefore, the performance of guqin signifies the union of the three.
Meanwhile, the five strings of the earliest qin symbolize the five elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth.(金、木、 水、火、土).Around the 11th century BC when Bo Yikao (伯邑考), the eldest son of King Wen (周 文王), first ruler of the Zhou Dynasty died, the Emperor added a sixth string to mourn his son's death; thus the sound of the sixth string is sorrowful.The seventh string was added by the second Zhou ruler, King Wu (周武王), to inspire his soldiers when his country went to war; so the tone of this string is very strong and inspiring.Therefore, guqin was believed to be the instrument best able to link man and the cosmos, to harmonize heaven and earth; some even claim it could summon ghosts, cure diseases, make birds dance and fish fly.In many ancient documents, the idea that guqin comes from the heaven and earth has been recorded.It actually comes from the simple traditional Chinese philosophy, that is "man is an integral part of Nature" (天人合一).The sound of guqin is the sound of heaven, which reflects the relationship between man and heaven.There are many ancient works discussing this aspect.
In the book of The Sound from Ancient Times (《太古遗音》), it is said that the origin of guqin is from the heaven and earth. 3ai Yong (蔡邕 133-192) in the Eastern Han dynasty (东汉), once said : qin is the most proper sound between the earth and heaven. 4i Kang (嵇康 224-263), the poet of the Wei and Jin period puts it in his works of "Qin Fu"(《琴赋》): Qin can bring the heaven and earth to harmony (感天地以致和) .Fan Zhongyan (范仲淹 989-1052) of the Song dynasty once said: It is said that the sages play the qin in harmony with heaven and earth thus harmonizing the world.Su Jing (苏璟 1810-?) of the Qing dynasty, also put it : qin, an instrument, having the original sounds of earth and heaven, nurtures the virtue of moderation and harmony, and possesses the delicacy of "Dao", therefore the player's heart goes beyond the material world and the music conforms to the Nature.Then the subtlety of music is hard be described and understood.And only the one who plays it can experience it.6 Furthermore， the thoughts of qin emphasizes the combination between the Nature and emotion (情景合一), which is also one of the traditional Chinese philosophical concepts, and subordinates the idea of the man and Nature .For example, whether you are playing and listening to the tune of Gaoshan and Liushui (《高山》《流水》) , you should experience the vivid natural scenes of the high mountains and flowing waters.That is just the starting of the friendship between Boya and Ziqi.Thus, from these observations we can see that the ideas of heaven, earth, man, and guqin are all just one embodiment of the traditional Chinese philosophical ideas as well as the simple aesthetics."Man is an integral part of Nature ".They also represent the traditional Chinese philosophical concept of dualism : Yin and Yang, which will be discussed later under Guqin and the Traditional Chinese Medicine.

II. Guqin and Confucianism
As we have discussed in the last chapter, the core of Confucianism is its thoughts of rites and virtue.The culture of Rites and Music is the ideal form of the Chinese culture, the nature of it is the pursuit for moderation and harmony，whether in the governance of the countries by emperors or in the cultivation of individuals.
Guqin as the major form of music in ancient China was used as a method by the governor or sages to regulate the whole society.One of the three legendary emperors Shun (舜) once played qin and sung the Song of Southern Wind (《南风歌》) to consolidate his power. 7After all, guqin was just a musical instrument, how can it play such an important role and has so huge impact on the society?This question has been raised numerous times since the ancient times, and it is best answered by Zhu Changwen (朱长文) in the book The History of Qin (《琴史》) : "In the time of stability, when people are happy, music could harmonize everything.While in the time of turbulence, people are worried, and music can increase the calamity." 8Guqin was said to be not only containing all the sounds between earth and Nature, and examining the stability or turbulence in the country; but it was the prosperity and reflection of the eight sounds 9 and the king of all the music. 10This is the reason why Confucianism puts guqin at the first place among the eight types of sounds, and regards it as something that embraces all the music.Certainly, here the music means the elegant one and that of the orthodox.
According to the Confucian ideas, guqin is the instrument of the Holy Sages; and is the foremost musical instrument that carries the orthodox culture of China.Since the music and rites are the core of Confucianism, it is The History of Qin, Nangjing: Jiangsu Phoenix Publisher , 2017, p.52.
9 The eight sounds refer to an ancient Chinese system of classifying musical instruments into eight materials as metal, stone, earth, leather, silk, wood, cucurbit and bamboo, (金、石、土、革、丝、木、匏、竹).Sometimes these were also used other than with a figurative or idiomatic meaning of music.not a common art form or skill, it has two social functions: one is that it carries the mission of ethical education and plays the function of political governance.And the other one is gentlemen playing it to nurture the essence of harmony and cultivation in themselves.Those who play the qin would first have to know the requirements of rites, aiming to fulfill the rites not just for the individual happiness. 11That is to say, the macro function is to help regulate the society and in micro way to help the individual to nurture his nature.Playing the guqin means the player should restrict themselves not allowing oneself to do any evil thing and keep the calmness and nobility all the time, and reach the final aim of cultivation, which also fits the claim that Confucianism asserts over all the scholars or the literati."穷则独善其身而不失其操，达则兼济天下无不通畅" 12 That is why we can see many names of the guqin as cao (操) or chang (畅).
On the other hand, the thoughts of being "moderate, just, mild, and harmonious" (中正平和) is the aesthetic standards of guqin music which greatly reflects the Confucian thoughts, especially the idea of the Golden Mean(中庸之道) and Rites (礼乐思想).In the Book of Music (《乐记》), it is said that the music comes from the inner life of a man, so it is serene (乐由中出，故静).Confucianism demands that a man of noble quality should restrain himself to reach benevolence and rites ( 克己复礼).This feature and demand are compatible with the characteristics of the tone of guqin, whose sound is extremely deep and restrained, lower than other musical instruments, and could be heard only in a very serene environment.Meanwhile guqin music is something that belongs to heaven.It helps people get the serenity and heavenly nature, which the qin can easily help the players to gain.
The Confucianism has been advocating the idea of rushi (入世), that means noblemen should adapt to the society and coordinate every aspect in a harmonious way."Harmony" is the first of the twenty-four features of the music of guqin that is summarized by Xu Shangying (徐上瀛) in the book of "Qin Kuang" (《琴况》): " The supreme sage of the distant past had his spirit connected with Nature and his virtue in accord with the gods.He nurtured the character of the common people through nurturing his own.Thus, he created the qin, with harmony as its foremost characteristic." 13Then he continuously explained the methods to reach the state of harmony."Playing guqin aims for harmony at three levels, namely concordance between strings and fingers, fingers and sounds, and finally, sounds and the spirit.Only in this way can ideal harmony be attained. 14esides, the feature of pentatonicism of guqin also reflects such Confucian aesthetic ideas.The five tones of guqin " gong, shang, jue, zhi, yu" (宫, 商, 角, 徵,羽) 15 , are the five pentatonic scale which fit harmoniously with the

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Volume 6, Issue 1, January-February 2024 6 aesthetic standards of being "moderate, just, mild, and harmonious" (中,正,平,和).Meanwhile it also corresponds to hierarchical elements of the metaphysical system and embodies the idea of three cardinal guides (三纲).The five sounds represent five elements in politics that are "emperor, minister, man, affairs and material" ( 君, 臣, 民, 事, 物).The theme of many tunes also reflect the Confucian thoughts, especially those connected with the famous or legendary persons or historical events.For example, Song of the Southern Wind (《南风歌》) and the Song of the Immortal (《神人畅》), both are expressions or odes to the glory or the harmony of a peaceful society.
Song of King Wen (《文王操》) is the first song that Confucius learned from his tutor, mainly reflecting the lofty character of King of Wen in the Zhou dynasty, and showing great respect and admiration to those noble persons.

III. Guqin and Taoism
Before the period of Wei and Jin (220-420), Confucianism exercised predominant influence over the qin and it used qin as an important method in the moral education.Since the period of Wei and Jin, many guqin started to directly represent the philosophy of Taoism, such as the idea of "Man and Nature are just one" (天人合 That is because of the social instability in the period of Wei and Jin, the literati and officials were exasperated with the turmoils of the society and urged the imperial governor to earnestly to find other spiritual moorings.The metaphysical idea of inaction and naturalism (自然无为) of Taoism represented by Laozi and Zhuangzi, replenished their spiritual void.So playing qin became one of their consolations in their pursuit for escaping politics.
Taoism advocates an attitude of inaction, chushi (出世), meaning keeping away from the human society.This differs from Confucianism by not emphasizing rigid rituals and social order, but is similar in the sense that it holds the disciplines for achieving "perfection" by becoming one with the unplanned rhythms of the universe called "the way" or "dao".This kind of consensus reflected on the guqin is just the thoughts of 琴道 (Qin Dao) .
On this aspect Taoism criticized the constrained rites of Confucianism, opposing the function of music just for the dominance of the ruling class.And Zhuangzi suggested that playing the qin should mainly be for the amusement of the players themselves (鼓琴足以自娱), advocating the simplicity and purity of being natural.So being a recluse or living an idyllic life became the dream of most people.Furthermore it is being inherited today and has already become a great tradition in the Chinese literature and culture.
The pursuit of tranquility and indifference while playing qin soon gained popularity.And being light and tranquil has become one of the features of ancient music of elegance.When people are playing the qin, what they are pursuing is beyond the sound and words.Tao Yuanming (陶渊明 365-427), the famous idyllic poet in the Eastern Jin dynasty once wrote: "Once knowing the pleasure beyond qin, why should we still bother to strive for the sound of strings?" 16 Or the poet Li Bai (李白 701-762) in the Tang dynasty:"The great music forms its tone itself, so just play the five strings of qin ". 17 16 但识琴中趣， 何老弦上声。 It tells the story of the poet Tao Yuanming in Jin dynasty, (陶渊明 365-427), who lived a poor and simple life.At his home there was a qin on the wall, every time after he drank with friends, he would pick up the qin and played it happily.People doubted the whether the tone was correct.He smiled and answered:"once knowing the pleasure beyond qin, why should we still bother to strive for the sound of strings?" 17 "大音自成曲，但奏五弦琴。", from the poem of Gifting to Brother Ling Hao (《赠临洺县令皓弟》).
In some sense, all the above have embodied the dialectic thoughts of Laozi.The yin and yang, the existence or non existence, inaction or action are the typical Taoist philosophic thoughts."Great music should sound sparse."(大音希声) is the main musical or aesthetic theory that has been put forth by Laozi.The sound of qin may sound low or even inaudible, but it endows us with endless imagination and connection to the heart.Whether playing it or listening to it, people could reach a realm of oblivion, forgetting the material world and the body, just as the tune "Ou Lu Wang Ji" (《鸥鹭忘机》), meaning the gulls forgetting the time and flying freely, but expresses the dreams of the literati of living a free and reclusive life.Another tiny tune called Xian Weng Cao (《仙翁操》) similarly describes an old man who achieved "the way" and lived a free and leisurely life.
The modern Chinese philosopher, Feng Youlan (冯友兰 1895-1990) categorized four realms of the traditional Chinese philosophy.The first is the realm of Nature, the second is the realm of utilitarianism, the third is of morality, and the last is the realm of earth and heaven. 18The thoughts of Taoism mostly belongs to last one, is of the relation between earth, heaven and men.Zhuangzi, in the chapter On the Uniformity of All Things (《庄子•齐物论》), said, "Heaven, Earth and I come into being together, and all things and I are one" (天地与我 并生， 而万物与我为一).This kind of metaphysics, is just what the Qin Dao and the art of guqin wants to present.
There is another guqin tune called "Qiu Shui" (《秋水》), or "Autumn Flood", directly named after the famous article "Qiu Shui" of Zhuangzi.It tells the story of the Butterfly Dream 19 of the Master, expressing a common sentiment and artistic conception with the essay after the Taoist philosophy that is "things and myself or the Nature and people are just one."

IV. Guqin and Chan
It could be said that Qin Dao is mainly influenced by Confucianism and Taoism.Since Buddhism spread to China in the Han dynasty, it has played such an important role in the Chinese culture, its impact on guqin cannot be overlooked, especially the thoughts of Chan.Today, while practising guqin, the term "chan qin" (禅琴), or "qin chan" (琴禅) can often be heard.
It is undeniable that Buddhism migrated to China from India.And the well-known Chan (Zen) Buddhism is deeply rooted in the Tantric Hindu-Buddhist practices of India.Taoism in China incorporated such practices in its doctrine and eventually Sinicized the components inherited from India.
Chinese Taoist philosophy traces its roots of Chan to the Indian practice of dhyāna ("meditation").It could be said that after the Song dynasty, Buddhism in China was known as Chan 20 .The thoughts of Chan is the core of Chinese Buddhism.Chan Buddhism emphasizes rigorous self-control, meditation-practice, insight into the nature 18 Feng Youlan (冯友兰), The History of of Chinese Philosophy, Shanghai: East China Normal University Publisher, 2011, pp.360-365.
19 《庄周梦蝶》Cf.,thetranslation of Lin Yutang: Once upon a time, I, Zhuang Zhou, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly.I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Zhou.Soon I awoke, and there I was, veritably myself again.Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming that I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming that I am a man.Between a man and a butterfly there is necessarily a distinction.The transition is called the transformation of material things. of things.Therefore, the essence of Chan is to nurture the mind, which has the same purpose as of practising the guqin.Just as Chen Yujian (成玉磵 1111-? ) of Northern Song dynasty in his works On the Qin (《琴论》) put "playing the qin is just like meditation; after years of practice, people feel the sudden enlightenment of knowing all the ways and could accomplish it easily.If the enlightenment could not be achieved, however hard you try, excellence can never be attained". 21an points directly to the human mind, to enable people to see their true nature and become Buddhas." 22The sutra of Chan holds that without text, waking instantly, the nature is empty, as free as the destiny.In some sense there is some connection with the thoughts of Taoism.A special transmission outside the teachings; not established upon words and letters; directly pointing to the human heart and mind; seeing nature and becoming a Buddha.
By far we have discussed a lot about the function of guqin like helping the governance of the ruling class, and to nurture the nature and bring calmness to the player.Then after achieving the calmness and tranquility of hearts, the enlightenment is the final aim, which is the ultimate purpose for both the way of qin and the teachings of Chan.
The practice of dhyana or meditation, especially sitting meditation is an important part of Chan Buddhism.By mediation people not only relieve themselves of the thoughts and feelings that arise in the midstream, but they also develop insight into the nature of body and mind, experiencing the awakening.That idea is similarly expressed by Xu Shangying (徐上瀛): "...However those playing with true elegance are different.They nurture tranquility and purity, and express their personality through the qin.While it depends on the listener if he can appreciate the elegance in the qin sound, for the player, the music itself suffices to mirror his own character.Such is the truly profound elegance." 23 There is a tune called "Pu An Zhou" (《普安咒》) which comes from the original chanting of a Buddhist sutra, composed by repetitive monosyllables, symbolizing the harmony of man and Nature.Same as in the modern guqin artist Cheng Gongliang (成公亮) who wrote a set of guqin tunes related to the Buddhist religion called "Pao Xiu Luo Lan"(《袍修罗兰》), among which the last stanza was created on a Buddhist music, called Chant of Zhun Ti (《准提咒》).
Even if there are not so many tunes that directly express the sounds of Buddhism but most of the guqin tunes could be related to the thoughts of Chan and could be used directly when people are meditating.Since there are so many connections between the Nature and Chan, there has been a lot of monks in Chinese history playing guqin, for whom another school was combined of qin called "sengqin" (僧琴), standing together with the qin of literati, or "wenrenqin" (文人琴). of action and education mixed with the Taoist notions of creativity, intuition, inaction and love for Nature, form the essential bedrock of Chinese art.Therefore, it could be said that guqin itself just the mixture of these philosophical thoughts.Sometimes it is hard to separate the impact of each philosophical school or religion, but we can still differentiate some distinct features that belong to different theories.

Fig. 2 . 1 :
Fig. 2.1: Names of different points at the front, inner and rear sides of guqin (Source: Google Images)