Russian Studies in Culture and Society (Jun 2024)

PHILOSOPHICAL FEATURES OF THE CHINESE MUSICAL TRADITION. GENERAL ANALYSIS

  • Liu Yongxu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.12731/2576-9782-2024-8-2-233
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 2
pp. 35 – 51

Abstract

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The article is devoted to the consideration of an interesting topic, the influence of philosophy on the formation of ritual Chinese music, which is taken as the basis for the formation of a unified state culture that creates "correct ethical" views in society. Modern ritualism actively studies all the factors and conditions of the formation, conduct and influence of ritual on society, based on a large volume of heterogeneous material. The researchers identified the principles of ritual formation as a social sacred act, taken as the basis of social practice, where language, poetry, music, power, productive activity, and court are built on the basis of ritual. The ritual allows you to rank society by strata, systematizing it, defining each of its place and types of occupation in accordance with the sacred heritage. This aspect was implemented in the ritual tradition of the Chinese Empire, where the ritual itself corresponded to the creation of the empire from the original chaos. The complexity of the ritual required the formation of a mechanism for the harmonization of the sacred-ritual factor through music, songs and dances, which was realized in Chinese culture through the creation of ritual music, which was included as a necessary element in the system of ritual (sacred) and the structure of society (profane) combining them. The ritual musical tradition arose and developed on the basis of a deep philosophical analysis of the experience of the formation of music and songs of the states of ancient China, conducted by Kung-tzu and his followers. As a result, we have practical experience of centuries-old state development, a powerful cultural system, and an ethnic group capable of development under the leadership of the state. At the same time, ritual music developed based on the integration of the traditional cultural achievements of the Han people and neighboring ethnic groups. The ethical principles embedded in culture by Confucian philosophy made it possible to develop music through the synergy of musical traditions of different peoples. Based on philosophy, the musical structure, lyrics, dance movements were selected and the composition of the participants was determined.

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