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Journal of Beijing Normal University(Social Sciences) ›› 2018, Vol. 0 ›› Issue (4): 125-131.

• Philosophy • Previous Articles     Next Articles

On the Spirit of Xunzian Music Cultivation in Light of Life Philosophy

WANG Kai   

  1. School of Philosophy,BNU,Beijing 100875,China
  • Received:2017-06-25 Online:2018-07-25 Published:2019-06-21

Abstract: Since Confucius “advocated” and “created” Confucianism,his students and followers have taken the liyue-based society as the ideal.However,the moral education at the community level would take effect only if personal wills or desires went through their personal life changes.In light of intellectual history,early Confucians did not pay enough attention to this issue until Taoists,especially Zhuanzi,criticized Confucianism about it.In fact,even before the age of Confucius,the intellectuals had thought the significance of music in light of self-cultivation,but the study of it basically stayed on the level of health of non-moral sense.Early Confucians greatly changed this tradition,and turned to pay more attention to moral self-cultivation rather than non-moral heath,and Xunzi accomplished most philosophical theory in this respect.In his theory of music education,Xunzi did not take one's emotions negatively,but instead emphasized the balance between moral reason and natural emotions.Specifically,Xunzi sought to achieve a real human accomplishment in both natural life and moral life.Xunzi called this ideal a “good and fine delight in each other”.

Key words: Xunzi, music, Self-cultivation, “good and fine delight in each other”, life philosophy

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