Chengbo Che

Music aesthetics, reflecting cultural practice and philosophical thought, varies in perceptions of sound, time, and meaning across civilizations. This volume compares Chinese and Western musical aesthetics along three axes: the construction of musical meaning, the role of silence and space, and music’s ontological status, mapping two contrasting systems. Western traditions emphasize structure, independence, and analytic interpretation, locating meaning in harmonic relationships and compositional intent, with silence as structure or figure; Chinese aesthetics views music as a contextual event embedded in ritual, moral practice, and natural resonance, evoking meaning through gesture, breath, and environment, where silence enables emergence and transformation. This cross-philosophical contrast reveals not only aesthetic but philosophical differences in music’s ties to time, self, and world, enhancing appreciation of music as diverse, embodied, culturally grounded practices amid global cultural contact.

comparative study; music aesthetics; Chinese and Western music; aesthetic logic

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