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영어

Scholars usually refer to Zhuangzi as the source of the spirit of Chinese art. But there are little studies that explore the relationship between Zhuangzi and Chinese art in detail. While there are some works that deal with Zhuangzi's idea of art in relation to Chinese pictorial art, there are not enough studies to examine specifically Zhuangzi's idea of music in relation to its influence on the East Asian history of art. In fact, the concept of yue/le (樂論) is considered the most original and important one in the history of East Asian philosophy of art. Considering that Confucianism and Daoism constitute the backbone of Chinese culture and thought, it would be very difficult to understand fully the spirit of Chinese art without a detailed examination of Zhuangzi's concept of yue/le. Although Zhuangzi does not give a full account of his theory of music, we can reconstruct his theory of music out of the fragments found in the "Zhuangzi." We can understand Zhuangzi's concept of art only if we approach his philosophy of art via his concept of yue/le. The most distinctive features in Zhuangzi's theory of music can be summarized as follows ; first, Zhuangzi attempts to liberate music from the mannerism of form and to let music express authentic human feelings and emotions. Zhuangzi also argues that music should not be subjected to politics ; for he thinks that creative mind of art can exist only when freeing music from political influences. Zhuangzi maintains that music is not to be considered a tool to unite people but to be deemed "opening" that leads people to respects diverse, idiosyncratic personalities. He also insists that music should not be listened only by ears, and that one should appreciate the essence of music to reach "aesthetic horizon." This article particularly attempts to find the trace of the Zhuangzian ideas in the traditional Korean theory of music. Zhuangzi's philosophical position that does not encourage a sectarian succession makes it difficult to find hard evidence by which to confirm Zhuangzi's influence. Seen from the fact that scholars in the Chosun dynasty stick to Confuian ideology, it is even more difficult and tricky to unearth the Daoistic elements in their writings. However, only when we carefully explore Zhuangzi's influence on the traditional Korean concept of music, it would be possible to understand fully the characteristics of Korean culture and music and to grasp firmly the Korean sense of beauty.