荀子论乐教的可能性

Xun Zi′ Theory on the Possibility of Music Education

音乐的产生是为了情感的表达,但是音乐本身却超脱于人的自然情感,又协和人的情感。中国传统思想认为,音乐能协和情感的原因在于以雅颂之音为代表的正乐本就含有天道。因此,乐教如同礼教一样,成为儒学重要的德性修养方式之一。但礼乐之间毕竟存在差异,简言之,礼有实践上的优先性,但乐却体现着最高价值,遗憾的是长期以来乐教却暗而不彰。在重提优秀传统文化复兴的今天,以恰当的方式复兴乐教当是题中应有之义,并或可成为文化自信的重要支撑。

The purpose of music is to express emotions, but music itself is beyond human emotions, and at the same time it can harmonize human emotions. In Chinese traditional thoughts, the reason why music can harmonize human emotions is that the orthodox music represented by Ya and Song contains Dao in itself, therefore, music education, as well as ritual, is one of the important ways to cultivate morality in Confucianism. However, the difference does exist between music and ritual. Ritual takes precedence over music in practice, but music stands for the highest moral value. It is regretful that music education has not been highlighted for quite some time. Nowadays, when we rejuvenate Chinese traditional culture, the revival of music in a proper way should be a necessity, or may be an important cultural support for cultural confidence.