Music therapy in antiquity: a Sino-Hellenic comparison

Abstract

Among various written sources across regions, music was linked with magic, “shamanism”, and superpower etc. In Ancient Greece, Orpheus’ lyre was considered sacred and had healing powers; the four-fold domain and the allegorical relation of Apollo and Asclepius hence linked music and medicine. Then, Chinese considered music (樂) was heavily linked with medicine (藥): the five musical notes symbolized five basic elements, five celestial bodies as well as human’s five viscera and five emotions, etc. This, overall, constructed a systematic theory of music and human health according to the rule of heaven. In addition, both thoughts were highly influential: Orpheus’ lyre was often compared with David’s harp in Biblical tradition; the idea of music therapy was inherited and improved by the Arabs; the Chinese system was adapted by medieval Japanese, which further related musical modes and human moralities with the abovementioned Chinese system. However, both traditions are also different: the music and superpower connection mostly occur in Greek mythologies, the strict sense of “music therapy” was mostly a fringe medicine in the Hellenic world. The Chinese, however, quite systematically theorized music’s medical functions, makes it become a significant part of the Chinese medical science. Moreover, the tight connection of music and proto-shamanism in the Chinese tradition gradually emphasized the crucial usage of music in rites (禮) and divination, but such feature was never found in the Hellenic counterpart. My essay will start with a review and source compilation of music therapy in both Greek and Chinese tradition, followed by a comparison of their similarities and differences. In conclusion, I will summarize my findings of this study: to compare the most important similarities and differences of these two cultures in order to assess music as a way into the values of different ancient societies.