Page 249 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols 242

The warrior maiden Mu-lan (stone rubbing)

Music

yue

Five kinds of musical instrument were known in ancient China, each of which
corresponded to a human property or relationship. They were: the musical stone
symbolising uprightness; stringed instruments standing for purity and faithfulness; leather
instruments associated with leaders in war; the lute symbolising the moon, and the
lute or mandoline symbolising conjugal harmony. Confucius was deeply versed
in the music of his time, and it is said that wherever he travelled in feudal China he could
assess the state of government in any place from the quality of the music he heard there.
In this connection, ‘immoral’ (lewd, lascivious) (yin) music is mentioned – presumably a
reference to erotically stimulating dance music, which was always enough to make
Confucius take to his heels.