Music, Cosmology, and the Politics of Harmony in Early China

240 Pages·2012·3.01 MB·English

by  Erica Fox Brindley

Music, Cosmology, and the
Politics of Harmony in Early China
SUNY series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture
Roger T. Ames, editor
Music, Cosmology, and the
Politics of Harmony
in Early China
Erica Fox Brindley
Cover image courtesy of Bigstock Photos
Published by
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS
Albany
© 2012 State University of New York
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brindley, Erica Fox.
Music, cosmology, and the politics of harmony in early China / Erica Fox Brindley.
p. cm. — (SUNY series in Chinese philosophy and culture)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-4313-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Music—Political aspects—China—
History. 2. Music—Social aspects—China—History. 3. Music—Philosophy and aesthetics.
4. China—History—Zhou dynasty, 1122-221 B.C. 5. China—History—Qin dynasty,
221–207 B.C. 6. China—History—Han dynasty, 202 B.C.–220 A.D. I. Title.
ML3917.C6B75 2011
780.931—dc23 2011036271
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Prologue ix
Introduction: Music and Cosmological Th eory 1
part one
Music and the State
chapter one
Music in State Order and Cosmic Rulership 25
chapter two
A Civilizing Force for Imperial Rule 43
chapter three
Regulating Sound and the Cosmos 63
part two
Music and the Individual
chapter four
Music and the Emergence of a Psychology of the Emotions 89
vi Music, Cosmology, and the Politics of Harmony in Early China
chapter five
Sagely Attunement to the Cosmos 111
chapter six
Music and Medicine 131
Conclusion 157
Notes 163
Works Cited 203
Index 213
Acknowledgments
Many lovers of music, aesthetics, ideas, and the history of science and reli-
gion helped in the making of this book. I am indebted to their insights and
thank them all graciously for taking the time to peruse parts of the work
and off er their thoughts. I am most grateful to the two anonymous review-
ers for this book. It is clear that both reviewers put a lot of care into their
feedback. One reviewer’s notes were so careful and on the mark that I have
no doubt that the current version of this book is signifi cantly better because
of them. Nancy Ellegate and Roger Ames at SUNY were also a pleasure to
work with and have given me many reasons to want to continue to publish
in this series and with this press. And many thanks to Joseph Lam, Scott
Cook, David Schaberg, and Miranda Brown for providing invaluable com-
ments on very early drafts of material that have since been incorporated
into this book.
At my home institution, Penn State, I would like to thank my col-
leagues, especially my amazing senior colleagues involved in Asian Studies,
who have all supported the publication of this book, if merely by the power
of their virtuosic collegiality. In particular, I thank On-cho Ng for being a
great mentor and friend and Eric Hayot for his friendship and our many
philosophic discussions about scholarly pursuits. In addition, I am grate-
ful to Penn State College of Liberal Arts, Asian Studies, and Department
of History for their funding to help defray publication costs. I also thank
Ronnie Hsia, Sophie de Schaepdrijver, Tina Chen, Carrie Jackson, Jen-
nifer Boittin, Chunyuan Di, Yuexing Li, and Michelle and Todd Rodino-
Colocino for their collegiality and friendship during the period of writing
and publishing this book.
I dedicate this book to my husband, Derek Brindley Fox, who never
ceases to amaze me with his kindness, big heart, helpfulness, and empathic
abilities. I also dedicate this book to my fi rst-born daughter, Claire “Pualani”
vii
viii Music, Cosmology, and the Politics of Harmony in Early China
Brindley Fox (Qian Yeming 錢業明), most of whose existence has covered
the period during which this book was created and refi ned. Incidentally,
Claire’s Hawaiian name means “Flower of the Heavens,” and resonates not
only with the work I have been doing but with my husband’s expertise in
astronomy. And lastly, speaking of the heavens, I thank my lucky stars for
my entire family, which includes the latest addition, Lia “Leilani” Brindley
Fox (Qian Yexin 錢業欣).
permissions
Parts of chapters four and fi ve of this book were previously published as
“Music and Cosmos in the Development of ‘Psychology’ in Early China,”
T’oung Pao 92.1–3 (2006), p1–49. Parts of chapter three were published as
“Sound Phenomena: Th e Cosmic Power of Sound in Late Warring States
and Han Texts,” Journal of Chinese Religions 35 (2007), p1–35. Th e author
thanks Koninklijke Brill NV and the Journal of Chinese Religions for their
permission to reprint these articles in this book.
Prologue
Th e concept of harmony is central to music and musical endeavors. It also
represents a foremost goal for political regimes all over the world, both
ancient and contemporary. In coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, for
example, newscasters on NBC read from Chinese scripts that explained
various musical performances in terms of the ancient value of harmony.
Viewers were presented with a picture of China as a world leader that
hopes to contribute to human fl ourishing in a peaceful, innovative, and,
indeed, splendid way. A multiplicity of ethnic groups entered the stage to
represent the diverse faces of the People’s Republic. Th e message of “har-
mony amid diversity” resonated throughout the Olympic Stadium, and the
world smiled at such a noble and magnifi cent goal.
Th e rhetoric of harmony in the People’s Republic, however, is com-
plicated, and some might claim that it does not always point to a satisfac-
tory reality for all. Recently, dissident voices in the People’s Republic have
coined the term “he xie 和協,” the contemporary word for “harmony,” to
point to the phenomenon of state censorship on the Internet.1 Th e ironic
use of this term attests to an intrinsic confl ict between rhetorical uses of
the notion of harmony by the state and the practices it supports. But it is
important to be clear about the various defi nitions of “harmony” in Chinese
culture. If “harmony” refers to the creation of a homogenous and unifi ed
sense of culture without serious dissent, then the state’s use of “harmony”
to justify censorship of “unsavory cultural content” on the web seems to be
an appropriate use of the term. On the other hand, if harmony refers not
merely to the conformity of similar items but to an appealing admixture
of many diverse ones—as it is defi ned in the Zuo zhuan, the locus classicus
for defi ning the term “harmony” in ancient China, then the state would
be more hard-pressed to justify its actions—such as Internet censorship
and the incarceration of dissident voices in the community—in terms of
ix