A Dual-Process Model of Xunzi's Philosophy of Music.

This article focuses on Xunzi’s philosophy of music within Confucian moral education, addressing how music functions as a transformative moral tool despite Xunzi’s pessimistic view of human nature. It critiques existing interpretations—hydraulic (music as emotional outlet), symbolization (music as moral symbol), and stimulus-response (music as automatic emotional trigger)—as insufficient to fully explain Xunzi’s views. Instead, the article proposes a Dual-Process Model drawing on analytic aesthetics, particularly Jenefer Robinson’s concepts of music’s physiological effects and emotional misattribution, to explain how music can induce lasting moral change both in the morally cultivated junzi ("gentleman") and the uncultivated xiaoren ("petty man"). This model accounts for music’s communal and ritual context, its selective use of virtuous ancient music, and its ability to morally educate individuals regardless of their initial motivation, thereby responding to Mohist critiques of music’s social value.