Research On The Moral Function Of Confucian Musical Education

Musical education thoughts have a long history in our country. In ancient China, there had already formed systematic music theories. Confucian praised highly on musical education, they argued that the rite and music was the most prominent symbol of human-being and human civilization, using musical education to promote social governance and management had special function that the law didn’t have. Administrative commands and law have coerciveness, they work quickly but can’t last for a long time, people dare not to do something evil because of fear, but they also have an evil heart with no shame. Moral enlightenment and musical education are subtle, their effects don’t look so vigorous and obvious, but they can work for a long time because they are deeply rooted in the hearts of people, they can arouse a sense of moral consciousness, make people feel ashamed of doing evil from the inside of the heart, in this way, their behavior will consciously conform to the rules.The pre-qin Confucian thought that musical education thoughts were not only a kind of elegant art education, but also a personalistic education and political education, Confucian regarded musical education as an important way to promote individual personality harmoniously, to maintain the social hierarchy, to coordinate the relation between human and nature. Confucian thought that those spiritual music which was in accordance with harmony in the content and form, had a positive function to cultivate harmonious personality, adjust social relations and implement "heaven-man unity". Today, without spirit support of traditional culture, we can’t build a harmonious society and develop advanced culture. So, researching and enriching positive factors in the Confucian musical education thoughts has a strong theoretical and practical significance.At present, we can acquire many art education, but they have little effect on the nation’s moral cultivation and moral edification, even have some serious negative effects because of the utilitarian operation for the needs of modern social economy and the needs of the development of cultural industries. In this background of "the pure entertainment" which is on the surface but not go deep into spirit, the modern art education and dissemination are difficult to have a positive impact on people’s moral promotion. We must inspire from the history of "the rite and music", research and develop the thick accumulation on the "musical education" of our country since ancient times, so as to realize its contemporary value.