a Taoist view of music

In Chapter 14 of _Chuang Tzu/Zhuangzi_, the Yellow Emperor answers why he
performed a piece of music the way he did, thus elucidating a Taoist view of
music:

" 'My Majesty, while you were performing your music in the Lake Tung Ting
area, I listened and was at first frightened. I listened again and I was
exhausted. I listened to the end and I was puzzled. I became perturbed - unable to
speak clearly - and , finally, I lost my sense of self-assurance.'
The Yellow Emperor answered: 'That is exactly the effect I expected!
Ideal Music
primarily must attain its powers of effect in the Earthly Realm of Sentient
Beings.
'It must be in [dynamic] balance with the Principles of Heaven and tread
the Way of the Five Virtues. It should be mixed with spontaneity - resulting
in the ordering the sequence of the Four Seasons, bringing powerful Harmony to
Life Itself.
This will be evidenced in the sequence of the Four Seasons - birthing all
life. One moment expanding, at another contracting [ ... ] One moment clear,
at another obscured - the Yin-&-Yang are in Harmony - the Sounds flow out.
'Next I played this music with the Harmony of Yin-&-Yang - illuminating
it with the light of the sun and moon. Tones flooded vales and canyons; it is
futile for you to attempt to dam them out or guard your spirit for such
tonalities rush were they will. I ceased and the music ceased but the Sounds flowed
onward.'
'This perturbed you - you could not comprehend this - you searched for
them, but could not find them - you pursued them, but could not capture them.
You were stunned so you stand before the universal evidence of the Tao or
stagger against an old tree and groan. Your eyes could not perceive, so failed you -
your strength retreated into the earth. I could not grab it. Your body melted
into emptiness - you lost control, attaining liberation. This is what
exhausted you.
'In the final part, I played tones that did not exhaust you. I brought
them together spontaneously. Some call this Death, others Life. Some call it the
fruit, others the flower. The tones moved, flowed, separated and changed
following no evident order. Naturally, the Earthly Realm is uncertain in regards
to this. The world seeks wisdom from Sages, believing the Sage to comprehend
True Form and True Destiny. "Listening for it, you do not hear it. Searching for
it, you miss its form. It fills all Heaven and Earth, encompassing the Six
Directions."
'You desire to hear it, but it is beyond you thus it perplexed you.'
' I first performed the music to create awe... because of this awe, fear
reared-up like some ghost-demon. Then I brought upon exhaustion, this
exhaustion induced complacency in you. I ended with confusion, making you feel
ignorant.'
'But it is this ignorance that reveals the Tao, the Tao that can be
embodied within you wherever you may be.' "

---
Hanuman Zhang

"...So what is life for? Life is for beauty and substance and sound and
colour; and even those are often forbidden by law [socio-cultural conventions].
. . . Why not be free and live your own life? Why follow other people's rules
and live to please others?..." ~Lieh-Tzu/Liezi, Taoist Sage (c. 450- c. 375
BCE)

"To live is to scrounge, taking what you can in order to survive. So,
since living is scrounging, the result of our efforts is to amass a pile of
rubbish."
- Chuang Tzu/Zhuangzi, China, 4th Century BCE

"The most beautiful order is a heap of sweepings piled up at random."
- Heraclitus, Greece, 5th Century BCE

Ars imitatur Naturam in sua operatione.
[Latin > "Art is the imitation of Nature in her manner of operation."]

" jinsei to iu mono wa, kichou na geijyutsu to ieru deshou "
[Japanese > "one can probably say that 'life' is a precious artform"]
in more radical, paracultural terms: "the (R)Evolution of the Everyday"

"There is no total revolution, there is only _perpetual_ Revolution,
real life, like love, dazzling at every moment." - Paul Eluard

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