A Comparison of Music Aesthetics Thoughts Between Record of Music and Plato’s Republic
Abstract
By comparing the Music thoughts contained in two classical music books, Record of Music (yue ji樂記) and Plato’s Republic, this paper analyzes the similarities and differences in their cognition of "the origin, essence, and function of music" due to their different social backgrounds and cultures. Both Record of Music and Plato’s Republic were born in the era of the alternation of the old and the new in the slave society. However, the slave society in the Spring and Autumn Period of China and the slave society in the democratic era of ancient Greece have different specific historical characteristics, and their different characteristics in economic development are bound to be reflected in ideology and culture. Thus, different cultures have developed different music.
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