2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

The concept of Li, Qi, Shu in Zhu Zaiyu's philosophy of musical temperament in the Ming dynasty

Research Project

Project/Area Number	24820048
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Chinese philosophy
Research Institution	Rissho University
Principal Investigator	TANAKA YUKI 立正大学, 経済学部, 講師 (10632680)
Project Period (FY)	2012-08-31 – 2014-03-31
Keywords	朱載イク / 楽律全書 / 律呂精義 / 平均律 / 何トウ / 江永 / 中国音楽
Research Abstract	The goal of my research was to analyze Zhu Zaiyu's philosophy of figures. Zhu Zaiyu invented 12 equal temperament in the late Ming dynasty. He reconstructed frameworks of astronomical and musical theory from the Han dynasty using the mathematical philosophy of Zhou-yi from the Song dynasty. Previous research dominantly regards him as a scientist concerned highly with proof, but my research points out that his way of thinking was primarily influenced by the mathematical philosophy of Zhou-yi. My research clarifies the relation with He Tang's philosophy of yin-yang and analyzes Zhu Zaiyu's book of mathematics. Zhu Zaiyu's mathematical way of thinking which relied on Zhou-yi was taken up by Jiang Yong in his later years.Jiang Yong related a lot of mathematical theory of He-tu and Luo-shu to musical temperament. Apart from that, 12 equal temperament was not easily accepted by scholars in the Qing dynasty because of the emphasis of the aspects of mathematical philosophy of Zhou-yi involved.