Contents of the Music System
4 min read“Music”originated from the common people and could best express their feelings.
Chinese ancestors understood the importance of music in the governance of people.Early in history，the ruling class of every dynasty paid much attention to the music for the same reason，and special organ was set up for the creation of the music system and the administration of the music，which was put in the equally important place with the rites，traditionally called“rites and music”collectively.There had been two important historical periods for the division of the music system-with Confucius’lifetime being the dividing-line-but actually the ancient music had undergone four stages before the time of Confucius：
First Period:The Music System before Confucius
1）The music made by ancient sages in the remote past-The Idealized Music:It was certain that the music in the remote past had been even extremely idealized by Confucius and others，reverently regarded as the supreme model for later generations to follow.
2）“Licentious Music”appeared near the end of the Shang Dynasty-The Decadent Music：In the recordings of Records of the Grand Historian and other literature，the last emperor of the Shang Dynasty，Emperor Zhou，had indulged in”witchcraft of the ancient times” and “maintenance of a large number of professional woman dancers”in his court，to which many historians attributed the downfall of the Shang Dynasty.
3）The Rites and Music at the beginning of the Western Zhou Dynasty-Morally Correct Music:The newly established Zhou Dynasty had thoroughly changed the decadent music of the previous dynasty and based its own music on the idea of proper rites.In sacrifice-offering ceremony，they elevated the delicious smell of the oblation to the high plane of internal moral spirit，and gradually incorporated moral elements into the music.
4）Music near the end of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty-The General Decay of the Rites and Music:Near the end of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty，the whole country was politically chaotic and disorderly，vying among the kingdoms for the hegemony over other states.It was characterized by a“general decay of the rites and the music”，which Confucius condemned with bitter hatred from his Confucian position.During this period，the ancient music system itself had evolved within the music，symbolized by the formation of“five notes”….
The ancient pentatonic scale”，and the absolute high pitch of“twelve-tone”，the ancient Chinese standard of pitch.Confucius set his Confucian standards clearly，advocating the music system of the Western Zhou Dynasty，eulogized“the imperial ceremonial music”，and condemned“Xin Sheng” as decadent music.As he says，“For music one would take as model the Succession Dance，and would do away altogether with the tunes of Zheng；one would also keep clever talkers at a distance.For the tunes of Zheng are licentious and clever talkers are dangerous.”（ To Confucius，the music of the time of King Shun，the Great Shao，had been the most refined music，which could be labelled as both“good”and”beautiful”，appealing to our moral sense and aesthetic sense.However，the music reflecting the just war King Wu launched against the corrupted King Zhou，could be listed as“mighty”，“magnificent”，belonging to the”holy music”，but could not be regarded as“good enough”music morally，which had revealed the psychological tendency of Confucius as lack of martial spirit and also demonstrated his idea of education through music as”transforming the local customs” and“differentiating human relations”.
Second Period:The Music System after Confucius
Since the Qin and Han dynasties，a special department for the management of music was set up and only brought to perfection in the reign of the fifth emperor of the Western Han Dynasty，Emperor Wu，symbolized by the establishment and improvement of the system of official conservatory for the collection of folk songs and ballads.The well consolidated Western Han Dynasty inherited the tradition of the music system from the Western Zhou Dynasty，learning about the opinions and feelings of people，and morally cultivating people through music.With boldness of vision，they took in all the music from different regions or former kingdoms with no regional or stylistic discriminations，and thus reconciling the previous antagonism of the refined and vulgar music and moving beyond previous antagonism.
The Wei，the Jin，the Southern and the Northern Dynasties，maintaining the traditiona music system，absorbed the religious music from Buddhism and the music of minority people as wel1.In the Tang Dynasty，with an ever increasing tolerance and magnanimity，there emerged a general pattern of gradual integration of the music of the Han with that of other minority people，with the line between the refined and the vulgar music blurring.The Tang emperor，Emperor Xuanzong especially indulged in the minority music intoxicatedly.During the Northern Song Dynasty，there sprang up a group of musically talented officials，such as Sima Guang，Zhou Dunyi and Zhu Xi，but the court music was not prosperous as the emperors did not pay enough attention to the court music.Whenever there were some court ceremonies and celebrations，folk artists had to be invited to attend the occasions for the accompaniment，as the court music was irrevocably declining.
