The Wonder of Music Lies in Its Virtue
 
China used to be regarded as the land of ritual music. In The Book of Rites it says, “Music represents harmony between heaven and earth”, which means that music represents the most harmonious state of all things in heaven and on earth. The best music would provide people with harmony and encourage people towards kindness. Looking at today’s society, such an educational meaning of “music” has disappeared. Instead, music has become a tool for people to give bent to selfish, carnal desires. Contemporary pop music is filled with sensual desires and selfish resentment. Even worse are those brainwashing “red songs” of Communist China, as they are full of hypocritical praise and promote a fighting mentality.
 
Music exerts a subtle influence on people’s minds. Once music is provided for lyrics, people can naturally recall the lyrics when they hum the tune. After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) usurped state power, they replaced the lyrics of some good folk songs with lyrics that praised themselves, and used various means to popularize such songs nationwide in an attempt to change people’s minds with a soft approach. People may be able to resist coercive brainwashing, but are generally off guard against such cultural phenomena in their daily lives. People sing these songs day and night, and before they know it, their minds are embedded with CCP concepts. This in turn has provided a sufficient cover-up of the CCP’s suppression of the Chinese people, misleading people to think that whatever wrongs people suffer, it is always the individual’s fault and that the “Party” is forever glorious. Even though various other cultures have made their way into China, and people have started to enjoy a variety of music, they are still forced to sing “red songs”. Companies and universities have held all kinds of “red songs” contests, in an attempt to instill people’s minds with CCP concepts.
 
Ancient people have long realized that music can help educate and influence people, and it can also be used to destroy the country. The allusion of how decadent and immoral music on the Pu River led to dynastic elimination is one such story. It was said that during the Spring and Autumn Period (722 – 481 BC), Duke Ling of Wei went to visit the Jin State. On his way there, he stayed overnight on the Pu River. There he heard the sound of a stringed instrument at midnight and he asked musician Shi Juan to write down the music. When he arrived in the Jin State and met with Duke Ping of Jin, he asked Shi Juan to play the music he had written down. When the Jin State’s musician Shi Kuang heard it, he put his hand on the strings and stopped the music, saying, “This is music of state subjugation. It was decadent music written by musician Shi Yan for King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty. When King Wu launched an attack against King Zhou, Shi Yan fled towards the east. When he came to Pu River, he jumped into the river and committed suicide; so whoever hears this music, his state will surely decline.” Later, such music was regarded as music of state subjugation.
 
How can one differentiate between “music of state subjugation” and “music of state prosperity”? It depends on what the music expresses: whether it is virtue or resentment.
 
The Book of Rites explains that the inner spirit of music is harmony, not chaos, and the role of music is to make people happy with loving kindness. Therefore, we can see that the highest realm of “music” is that it can lead to “a disposition of harmony”. Music that can help people maintain a tranquil mind and enlighten to kindness is truly good music. What do those “red songs” bring about then? They are permeated with deep resentment. From an artistic angle, one can clearly see they are of low quality. For example, take the CCP's original song “Internationale”; it expresses a strong fighting mentality, hatred for God, and contempt for everything in ancient culture. CCP music thereafter reflects this same mentality. The CCP uses vigorous music to express intense emotions and to establish the “image” of the “Party”. If we take a look at our traditional culture, we will find that China has always been a tolerant country since ancient times and does not discriminate against foreign cultures. On the contrary, any culture that has set foot on the soil of China would leave their best attributes in the temperament of the Chinese nation and become assimilated to the Chinese nation. CCP culture is the opposite. Their “red songs” encourage people to destroy all traditions and to sever their belief in the divine so as to establish their own idolatry. When people sing such songs, they unwittingly accept the CCP’s arrogance, which fights against heaven and earth as well as the people; what they worship is blood and a spirit filled with hatred. There is complete absence of human kindness in such songs. When people listen to this music frequently, they will feel irritable, and when this music has become part of their life, they will gradually lose their original kindness and tolerance.
 
Then what kind of music is truly elegant and righteous? Truly good music should be “virtuous music” that is good in connotation and beautiful in form. Such music can guide people with its kind connotations and entertain people with its beautiful form, thus guiding people towards kindness and beauty. The beauty of life lies in one’s inner elevation that allows one to return to one’s true self instead of simply enjoying oneself to one’s heart content.
 
The wonder of music lies in its virtue. Music without virtue is no different than decadent, obscene music, and it will drag people into the abyss, whereas music of virtue will enable one to find his true self and enlighten to the true value of life.
 
乐之妙在于德
 
中国被誉为礼乐之邦，在《礼记》里说：“乐者，天地之和也。”意思是音乐代表了天地间万物最和畅的情态。最好的音乐，应该是给人以祥和，使人心向善。再看当今的社会，“乐”的教化意义已经荡然无存，变成了人们发泄私欲的工具，现代流行音乐里弥漫著情欲与泄恨，洗脑的红色歌曲，更是充斥著虚伪的赞美与斗争。
 
音乐具有潜移默化的影响的作用，歌词一旦与曲子结合起来后，哼起曲子则很自然的想起歌词，共产党夺取政权后，将好听的民间小调的歌词改为歌颂自己的歌词，并利用各种活动在全国推广，试图用这种软办法改变人们的思想。人们可以抵制强制的思想灌输，但对这弥漫在日常生活中的文化现象则放松了警惕。日日唱，夜夜唱，中共的概念则在不知不觉中溶入了中国人的观念中，这也给共产党迫害中国人找到了充足的掩盖，让人误以为再多的冤假错案都是个人的错，永远光辉的是这个“党”。在各类文化进入中国后，人们开始欣赏不同的音乐的今日，“红歌”依然被强制歌唱，各单位、院校举行的形形色色的“红歌”比赛，试图用音乐的形式给人们灌输中共的观念。
 
古人早已认识到，音乐具有教化人的作用，也有亡国灭种的作用。“桑间濮上之音，亡国之音也”的典故则讲述了这个道理。相传春秋时，卫灵公到晋国访问，途中夜宿于濮水之上，半夜听到琴声，就命令乐师师涓记下。到晋国，见晋平公，就使师涓弹奏，晋国乐官师旷听到，手按琴弦说：“此亡国之音，为纣王乐师师延所作，是一种靡靡之音。当武王伐纣时，师延向东逃逸，至濮水，自投江水而死，所以凡听到此乐者，国家必定衰败。”后以此比喻淫荡亡国之音。
 
何以分“亡国之音”与“兴邦之乐”呢？判断的根据就在于这乐曲表达究竟是什么，是德，是怨？
 
“论伦无患，乐之情也；欣喜欢爱，乐之官也。”《礼记》里的这段话说明了音乐的作用，音乐内在的精神是和谐而不混乱，音乐所具有的功能是让人欢乐友爱。从而我们也可以看到，“乐”的最高境界就是“性情的调和”，能让人心境宁静平和，并启悟善念的音乐才是真正的好音乐。而“红歌”带来的是什么呢？纵观“红歌”，无不弥漫著一股浓浓的怨气，暂且不从历史的角度谈其党音乐歌颂的内容，仅从艺术欣赏的角度来看“红歌”，亦可以看见其低劣之处。从其源头《国际歌》来看，表达的就是一种浓烈的斗争情怀，是对神的仇视，对一切古文化的蔑视。其后的音乐一脉相承，用激昂的音乐表达激烈的感情，并树立“党”的“形像”。如果看看过去的传统就会发现，自古以来中国就是个包容的国度，不轻易排斥外来文化，相反，任何文化来到中国都会将其优秀的一面留在这个民族的性情中，并被这个包容的民族所同化。但是党文化不是如此，从其“红歌”中可以看出，激昂的音乐中鼓励人们破除一切传统，割断对千年神明的信仰，从而树立起新的偶像崇拜。人们在演唱这类歌曲时，不自觉的就接受了其狂傲的思想，与天斗，与地斗，与人斗，崇拜的是鲜红的血，充满了仇恨的灵，全然没有了人性中应有的善念。这样的音乐听多了，会让人暴躁不安，当这样的音乐成为人们生活的一部份之时，人们则渐渐失去了先天的善良与宽容。
 
那么，怎么样的音乐才是真正的雅乐、正乐呢？
 
真正的好音乐，应该是内涵之善与形式之美兼备的“美德之音”，这样的音乐既能以善的内涵引导民心，又能以美的形式怡悦人心，也因此可以引导民心归于善美。生命的美好，不是尽情享乐，而是内心的升华，回归本真的自己。
 
乐之曼妙在于德，无德之乐，则乃靡靡之音，会将人拖入深渊，而有德之音，可让人找回自我，体会到生命的价值。