Musical Sounds

指音乐，是由心中情感触动而发出的有节奏和韵律的声音。古人常以“音”与“声”相对：凡自然物所发声音叫做“声”，由人的内心情感触动而发出的声音叫做“音”；单一的声响叫做“声”，不同“声”的比配叫做“音”，不同的“音”组成有节奏的曲调叫做“乐”。古人认为，“音”发自人的内心，一国或一个地区的音乐往往反映该国或地区的民心民意和世风世情，由此儒家提出了文艺反映政治得失及具有社会教化功能的理论主张。

Musical sounds, or simply music, are artistically rhythmical sounds flowing forth from one's stirring emotions. Ancient Chinese often made a distinction between musical sounds and plain sounds. Sounds created by a natural environment are plain sounds, while those created when emotions well up in one's heart is music. A single sound is called sheng (声), different sounds that come together are called yin (音); when these sounds beautifully fit together, they are called music (yue 乐). Ancient Chinese believed that musical sounds derive from one's inner motions, and that the music of a country or a region reflects the popular sentiments and the social mores there. Hence Confucian scholars believed that art and literature demonstrate both virtues and flaws in a country's governance and therefore play the role of moral education.

引例 Citations：

◎凡音者，生人心者也，情动于中，故形于声，声成文，谓之音。（《礼记·乐记》）

大凡音乐都产生于人的内心。情感在心中激荡，所以表现为各种声音。声音组合成曲调，就叫做音乐。

All music is born in people's minds. One's stirring emotion is manifested in sounds. When these sounds are arranged into tunes, they constitute musical notes. (The Book of Rites)

◎音，声也。生于心，有节于外，谓之音。（许慎《说文解字·音部》）

音是声音的一种。产生于内心，有节奏地表现出来后，称为音乐。

Music is a particular kind of sounds. What flows forth from the heart in a rhythmical pattern is music. (Xu Shen: Explanation of Script and Elucidation of Characters)