古琴 道樂 Guqin - Daoism

古琴受道家思想影響其審美觀甚深, 並成為主要的琴樂之審美標準

Daoism is the major philosophy that influences the Guqin aesthetic standards deeply. 

如葛瀚聰先生的[中國琴學源流論疏]中所說: 道家的"無為"琴觀, 幾乎就是一種被著音樂藝術外

衣的哲學

As what Mr. Ge Han-cong said in his book [Zhōngguó qín xué yuánliú lùn shū] (The Study of The Chinese Qin Origin): The daoism philosophy of "effortless (wuwei)" to the guqin, is almost like a philosophy wearing a coat of musical art.

他提出莊子[知北遊][齊物論][天道][天運]等篇及老子之大音希聲, 為道家之琴觀, 點出精華

Mr. Ge quoted several essays from Zhuangzi and the saying of Laozi's Da Yin Xi Sheng (the greatest sound is almost no sound), to point out the essence of qin philosophy.  

其中, 我對[天運]篇中的[咸池]印象頗深, 越讀越覺得很精彩

Among Zhuangzi, in the [Tian Yun] (The Revolution of Heaven) chapter, the story about the musical piece [Xianchi] gave me the most impression about the qin daoism philosophy. I think it is very interesting to read these conversations between Yellow Emperor and Bei-men Cheng.

{ 北門成問於黃帝曰：帝張咸池之樂於洞庭之野，吾始聞之懼，復聞之怠，卒聞之而惑，蕩蕩默默，乃不自得。」 帝曰：「女殆其然哉！吾奏之以人，徵之以天，行之以禮義，建之以太清。夫至樂者，先應之以人事，順之以天理，行之以五德，應之以自然，然後調理四時，太和萬物。四時迭起，萬物循生；一盛一衰，文武倫經；一清一濁，陰陽調和，流光其聲；蟄蟲始作，吾驚之以雷霆；其卒無尾，其始無首；一死一生，一僨一起；所常無窮，而一不可待。女故懼也。 

吾又奏之以陰陽之和，燭之以日月之明；其聲能短能長，能柔能剛；變化齊一，不主故常；在谷滿谷，在阬滿阬；塗郤守神，以物為量。其聲揮綽，其名高明。是故鬼神守其幽，日月星辰行其紀。吾止之於有窮，流之於無止。予欲慮之而不能知也，望之而不能見也，逐之而不能及也，儻然立於四虛之道，倚於槁梧而吟。目知窮乎所欲見，力屈乎所欲逐，吾既不及已夫！形充空虛，乃至委蛇。汝委蛇，故怠。 

吾又奏之以無怠之聲，調之以自然之命，故若混逐叢生，林樂而無形；布揮而不曳，幽昏而無聲。動於無方，居於窈冥；或謂之死，或謂之生；或謂之實，或謂之榮；行流散徙，不主常聲。世疑之，稽於聖人。聖也者，達於情而遂於命也。天機不張而五官皆備，此之謂天樂，無言而心說。故有焱氏為之頌曰：『聽之不聞其聲，視之不見其形，充滿天地，苞裏六極。』汝欲聽之而無接焉，而故惑也。 樂也者，始於懼，懼故祟；吾又次之以怠，怠故遁；卒之於惑，惑故愚；愚故道，道可載而與之俱也。」}

For English translation, one can check out this site for reference: 
http://ctext.org/zhuangzi/revolution-of-heaven

咸池是一篇樂章, 是黃帝在洞庭湖畔使樂官們演奏的樂曲

從 "帝曰: 女殆其然哉！"... 一直到"道可載而與之俱也。" 把一首樂曲如何承現,如何表現不同情緒,讓北門成由一開始的害怕, 到鬆懈睏倦, 再到困惑聽不懂, 述說地有聲有色.  這不正是跟很多古琴曲的情緒很像嗎?特別是感到聽不懂或聽了想睡. 

難怪葛瀚聰先生認為[咸池]極可能是一首以琴為主要樂器的音樂作品, 但葛先生是就"奏"字的使用 以及"清角"調性兩點,認為[咸池]可能是琴樂.

From the conversation between the Yellow Emperor and Bei-men Cheng and the reaction of Bei-men Cheng, one can sense what the musical piece [Xian Chi] might feel like, that it started with fears, then weary, then puzzled. Isn't that the reaction similar to many qin pieces to many people? Especially the feeling of puzzled. No wonder Mr. Ge thinks that [Xianchi] might be a musical piece for instrument like the qin. But Mr. Ge is based on two arguments: the character "奏" (the way of playing) and the tuning mode "清角".

而黃帝在最後的"惑故愚；愚故道，道可載而與之俱也" 指出了只有到了愚的境界, 道才真正與你同在了. 可是什麼是愚的境界? 什麼又是道?

At the end of the conversation, Yellow Emperor said that when one reaches to the stupidity stage one reaches the Dao. Then what is the stupidity stage and what is the Dao?

葛瀚聰先生認為"現象形式音樂的成份越多, 該樂段的價值就越低; 道琴天樂的成份在樂段中越純粹, 該樂段的價值就越高. "

Mr. Ge thinks that the more of phenomenon forms in a musical phrase, the less value of that phrase of music has. The purest form of a music is, the higher value it is. 

我想聽得懂的多半是現象形式音樂, 如大小聲, 如或快或慢或輕或重或模擬自然界人界等等的音樂技法上的變化, 以吸引聽眾之心. 

So I think when one can hear the variation on volume, rhythm, tempo, playing techniques,imitation of different sound,etc, the more attraction it is to audience, and that is what phenomenon forms of music is. 

葛瀚聰先生說 "聽之不聞其聲, 視之不見其形... 一種無形沉默的音樂, 一種已超然於人的感知之
外, 對它的傾聽, 除了運用心靈以外, 別無它途. 用心傾聽心靈可獲得愉悅, 即所謂無言而心悅.... 從有限的物性突破而蛻變成無限的靈性... 超越物象, 超越時空, 遺忘自我, 處於絕對的自由之中"

Mr. Ge says: when hearing it, one doesn't hear a sound; when looking at it, one doesn't see a form. It is a silent music with no form. It is beyond human's cognition. To listen to it, one can only listen by heart and mind, there is no other method. When you listen it by heart and mind, you will gain happiness. It is beyond limitation, beyond phenomenon, beyond time and space. One will be in a stage of freedom and forgotten oneself.  


但道家的音樂觀並不是將一切現象形式音樂打入冷宮, [咸池]的前中段是為引入最後段的的天樂漸次進入. 如果只求現象音樂而無超越物象進到無象, 只智不愚,並不是道家音樂的理想境界.

Daoism musical aesthetic standard is not against phenomenon forms. In fact, it is the combination of having forms and formless and the phenomenon forms are the path to the formless. 

如此

So

你~得道了嗎? 

You ~ got it?