Abstract:

Is it appropriate to say that the phrase "to be perfected in music" in Chapter VIII of the Analects refers to, as it used to be interpreted, the harmonious combination of the moral learning and musical accomplishment in a man of noble character? By studying the Rites of Zhou, "On Music" from the Book of Rites and other ancient Chinese classics, the author believes that "music" in the ancient times means a form of performance in a ritual ceremony, the scene of which is therefore described as "magnificence of rites and music." The orderliness achieved in the performance, which Confucius refers to as "proper conduct of rites and music", is indispensable from the systematic conduct or manoeuvre by a music master. To become a music master, the anchorman of the ritual ceremony, is to Confucius the highest goal of life. To understand the phrase "to be perfected in music" in this way will perhaps help us understand more of Confucius as a human.

Key words: orderliness of Heaven and Earth, magnificence of rites and music, bronze utensils for ritual ceremony, proper conduct, music master, great musical harmony