The Semantics of Chinese Music -- Editorial page -- Title page -- LCC data -- Table of contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Tables and figures -- 1. Introduction -- 1.1 What musical concepts? -- 1.1.1 Musical concepts as cultural key words? -- 1.1.2 Musical concepts and domain-specificity -- 1.2 Musical "meaning" in academic discussions since the 20th Century -- 1.3 Musical "meaning" in linguistic discussions since the 20th Century -- 1.3.1 Cognitive semantic approach -- 1.3.2 Semiotic approach -- 1.4 Analysing and discussing Chinese musical concepts -- 1.4.1 Analysing Chinese musical concepts using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) -- 1.4.1.1 Semantic molecules -- 1.4.1.2 Cultural script -- 1.4.1.3 Application or applicability of the NSM to analysing Chinese musical concepts -- 1.4.1.4 Core versus peripheral meaning in NSM analyses -- 1.4.1.5 The "sememe" in Chinese lexicon and its implication for NSM analyses -- 1.5 Chinese music and Chinese language: a case of pas de deux -- 1.6 Chapter plan -- 2. "Where Have the Geese Gone?": Chinese concepts related to sonic experience -- 2.1 Chinese interpretation of sonic presence ("sound") and sonic absence ("non-sound") -- 2.2 Chinese concepts related to sonic presence ("sound" and "music") -- 2.2.1 Sheng -- 2.2.2 Yin -- 2.2.3 Yin yue 樂 and yue 樂 -- 2.2.4 Compound words between sheng, yin and yue -- 2.2.5 Qu 曲 -- 2.3 Chinese concepts related to sonic absence ("non-sound") -- 2.3.1 Jing -- 2.3.2 Mo -- 2.3.3 Ji 寂 -- 2.3.4 Xiu 休 -- 2.4 Concluding remarks -- 3. "Following one's intonation": Concepts related to musical articulation, interpretation -- 3.1 Yiyang duncuo 抑揚 挫 -- 3.2 Yun -- 3.3 Shi 實 versus xu -- 3.4 Nong 濃 versus dan 淡 -- 3.5 Conclusion -- 4. Being "graceful", "well-moderated" and "restrained": concepts related to expressions of music.

4.1 Emotion words and emotional musical concepts -- 4.2 Emotional, musical concepts weiwan, wanzhuan, wanyue, hanxu and daqi -- 4.2.1 Weiwan, wanzhuan, wanyue, hanxu and daqi: their semantic and translational issues -- 4.2.2 Cultural underpinnings of weiwan, wanzhuan, wanyue and hanxu -- 4.2.2.1 Indirect expressions of emotions -- 4.2.2.2 Indirect and implicit expressions of emotions -- 4.2.2.3 Indirect and restrained expressions of emotions -- 4.2.2.4 Expressions of emotions: two important provisos -- 4.2.3 Semantic analyses of weiwan, wanzhuan, wanyue, hanxu and daqi -- 4.2.3.1 Weiwan 委婉 -- 4.2.3.2 Wanzhuan 婉 -- 4.2.3.3 Wanyue 婉約 -- 4.2.3.4 Hanxu 含 -- 4.2.3.5 Daqi 大氣 -- 4.3 Conclusion -- 5. Interpreting Guqin Master Xu's "24 virtues" with NSM -- 5.1 Preliminaries -- 5.1.1 Guqin aesthetics as a significant dimension of Chinese musical aesthetics -- 5.1.2 The 24 guqin concepts by Master Xu as a representative dimension of guqin aesthetics -- 5.1.3 Taking stock of the 24 guqin concepts as "virtues of guqin music" -- 5.2 Semantic analyses of the "24 virtues of guqin music" -- 5.2.1 He 和 'harmonious' -- 5.2.2 Jing 'quiet, silent, tranquil, still' -- 5.2.3 Qing 清 'clear, pure' -- 5.2.4 Yuan 'distant, far and profound' -- 5.2.5 Gu 古 'ancient, archaic, nostalgic' -- 5.2.6 Dan 澹/淡 'placid, plain, simple, quiet, unsophisticated' -- 5.2.7 Tian 恬 'calm, peaceful, tranquil, serene' -- 5.2.8 Yi 'leisurely' -- 5.2.9 Ya 'exquisite, elegant, graceful, refined' -- 5.2.10 Li 'beautiful' -- 5.2.11 Liang 亮 'bright, resonant, transparent, clear' -- 5.2.12 Cai 'luminous, lustrous' -- 5.2.13 Jie 潔 'clean' -- 5.2.14 Run 潤 'warm, moist, moderate, smooth, sleek' -- 5.2.15 Yuan 圓 'well-rounded, seamless, unblemished, immaculate' -- 5.2.16 Jian 堅 'firm, solid, strong' -- 5.2.17 Hong 宏 'grand, impressive, magnaminous' -- 5.2.18 Xi 細 'fine, minute, subtle'.

5.2.19 Liu 溜 'gliding, slippery' -- 5.2.20 Jian 健 'lively, energetic' -- 5.2.21 Qing 'light, soft' -- 5.2.22 Zhong 'heavy, weighty, strong' -- 5.2.23 Chi 'slow, delayed' -- 5.2.24 Su 'swiftly, rapidly' -- 5.3 Conclusion -- 6. Conclusion -- 6.1 "Musical meaning" revisited -- 6.2 Appreciating Chinese music with the mind's ear -- 6.3 Appreciating Chinese music with the mind's eye -- 6.4 Musicking -- 6.5 Chinese musical, linguistic and literary concepts -- 6.6 The main findings -- 6.7 Outstanding issues -- 6.8 Suggestions for further research -- Appendix I. Xi Shan Qin Kuang 溪山琴況 'The State of Guqin Art of the Xi Shan School' -- References -- Index.