The Study On Epistemology And Way Of Thinking In Yue Ji

As the first music theory work with a relatively complete system in Chinese history,Yueji contains rich and profound philosophical wisdom and presents a unique epistemology and way of thinking in the process of discussing the origin,essence and function of music.Yueji was greatly influenced by the Confucianism,Taoism and Yi Zhuan in the Pre-Qin dynasty,and its epistemology and thinking mode must be inherited from them.Yueji was written in the early period of the western Han dynasty,when the centralized unification of the western Han dynasty was already taking shape,and there was an internal need for the cultivation of rites and music.Moreover,during the period from the establishment of the western Han dynasty to the accession of emperor wu of the Han dynasty,the ideological field had not formed a trend of "only respecting Confucianism and dethroning other schools of thought".This determines that the idea of "Yueji" can not only inherit the Confucianism,but also take advantage of the different thoughts in Pre-Qin period.The epistemology of Yueji emphasizes that man is the main body of cognition,and puts forward the epistemological subject theory of "born in the human heart" and the viewpoint of making rites and music with the emotion of the emperor and the sage.For the understanding of the object,Yueji thinks that it mainly includes "human nature","the way of heaven and earth" and "the way of the first king".Furthermore,human cognition is conditioned by objective things,which is manifested in the passivity of "the feeling of people’s heart on things".People’s cognition can also react to the objective things,which is manifested as the initiative of "the rites and music clear,heaven and earth official".It is not difficult to find that the epistemology of Yueji is materialistic in the relation between matter and consciousness,and has the color of naive materialism.At the same time,many of the viewpoints in Yueji finally point to morality,emphasizing the cognitive function of moral education and possessing the characteristics of moral epistemology.As for the mode of thinking,Yueji absorbs the dialectics of Lao Zi and Yi Zhuan,and its dialectical thinking is mainly reflected in the discussion of the dialectical relationship not only between "ritual,music" and "movement,stillness" but also between "voice,sound,music" and rhythm.Yueji also inherits the other two characteristics of Chinese traditional thinking modes,namely,system and intuitive thinking.It emphasizes the analysis of music and the way of governance from a systematic and holistic perspective,and draws conclusions about the nature of music and governance by intuition.In addition,Yueji also makes use of analogical thinking to make an analogy between "the way of heaven and earth" and "the way of rites and music";"the way of sound" and "the way of governance",and then deduces "the way of rites and music" and "the way of governance" from "the way of heaven and earth" and "the way of sound".In a word,the characteristics of the way of thinking in Yueji are mainly reflected in the following aspects: the emphasis on the unity of nature and man,intuitive understanding,and dialectical utility.The theoretical basis of Yueji was influenced by the feudal ethical and moral thoughts,so its epistemology and way of thinking were naturally stamped with the brand of feudal ethical and moral.The epistemology and way of thinking of Yueji also have some theoretical limitations,such as the intuitive understanding of mysterious color,the idealist historical view of "only a gentleman can know music",the lack of scientific argumentation in the occurrence process of cognition,and the drawbacks of the whole view of "the unity of nature and man".In the contemporary society,the epistemology and thinking mode of Yueji provide a reasonable theoretical basis for us to build a harmonious society,correctly understand and transform the world,effectively utilize the moral education function of music,combine rational logic with intuitive understanding,and conduct national governance with the supplement of moral thinking and legal thinking.Therefore,we should critically treat the epistemology and thinking mode of Yueji.