Joy and Music: Music is Joy 乐
I recently discovered that the Chinese character for music is the same used for joy: 乐
A graduate student taught me this symbol, responding to my request to learn some simple characters. “I have an easy word for you!” she assured me, smiling broadly, “and this is a good one.” She wrote it quickly and elegantly. “This is the simple Chinese symbol for music and for happiness. It is the same symbol.”
I was stunned by her matter-of-fact pronouncement. What a profound thought, that the figure for music and joy should be one. How is it I had never heard this?
Once she laughingly convinced me, I awkwardly copied her graceful strokes. I then checked with a Chinese-American colleague, who assured me it was true. “Yep,” she confirmed, “this is why I tell my students they can’t play and mope. Music is joy”
This unpretentious icon can mean yue, music, or le, happy or happiness, cheer, laughter, joy. While I know this is a naive explanation of a subtle and complex language (I beg forgiveness upfront of any Chinese-speaking readers), I still find it a poignant discovery.
According to Groves, Chinese musical scholarship is both ancient, and
interconnected to established society. In Confucian writing, “comprehensive theories of music philosophy and pitch systems evolved. These theories served to establish the principles of a ‘refined music’ (yayue), believed to reinforce state-sanctioned norms of behavior and, through regulation of pitch systems, reconcile the empire with the cosmological order” (Trasher, 2007). This was considered so important, governments established offices of “yuefu” to oversee this activity, and the Confucian Gujin tushu jicheng lists music under both “art and science” and “politics.” Bringing all things into harmony is central to Chinese thought. The “ethos” or philosophy of music (yuelun) centered on this theme. Music (yue) was regarded as an instrument, or path to this state of accord, an idea most of us are familiar with through the study of ancient Greek writings.
So, why did I find this simple thought so profound? For my entire teaching career, a large part of our professional energy has been devoted to advocacy. Music is good because
___________ . Fill in the blank. Students do better in math, English, interpersonal skills, intrapersonal skills. Or finally (and better, we realized, because other activities might achieve these extra-musical results as easily as music), because music is an intricate part of what makes us human.
MENC wrote that, “anthropologists have found no society anywhere that functions without music” (1974). Every music education student now writes a philosophy statement, and this is generally a standard job interview question. Most philosophy statements also tend to be advocacy statements of some sort. While as a profession we have moved from “put a horn in his hand, not a gun” toward recognizing the intrinsic benefits of music education, we are still in a constant state of advocacy, which is a defensive position. I think we should take a more confident stand.
A superior explanation for why we study music is set forth by Samuel Hope in the MENC Housewright collection. He states that music is not only “hardwired into our basic mental, emotional, and intellectual equipment,” but is also one of the five ways that human beings communicate with each other:
When we put letters and words together, we have language. When we put numbers and symbols together, we have mathematics. When we work to create still images, we produce the work in the fine arts, architecture, and design. When we work with the moving image, we produce dance and film. When we work with abstract sound, we create music (Hope, 2000).

Hope identifies the essential human need to create and share music, a better rationale for music education than any extra-musical reasons we can list. However, as children we discovered an even more fundamental reason for the study of music, and it is simply this: music is joy. 乐

Sources Cited:
Hope, S. (2000). “Why Study Music?” in Vision 2020. MENC: Reston, VA.
MENC, (1974).The School Music Program: Description & Standards, Music Education National Conference, Reston, VA.
Thrasher, A.R. (2007). “China,” Grove Music Online ed. L Macy (Accessed [25, January, 2008]), http://www.grovemusic.com.