The mentioned earlier Grand Music of mine

Is a result of the closest collaboration

Between  Heaven and Man; and now I'm pleased

To demonstrate the way I'm in while composing it.

My Grand Music first has its response

In the affairs of both young men and adults,

And then is conformed to the uniform principles

Of Heaven and Earth; it indicates the action of virtues,

And corresponds to the spontaneity apparent in Nature.

After this it shows the blended distinctions

Of all the four seasons, and the grand harmony

Of all things -- the succession of the 24 solar periods,

One after another, and the production of things

In their proper order according to their characteristics.

Now it swells, and now it dies away, its peaceful

And military strains clearly distinguished and given forth.

Now it is clear, and now rough, as if the contracting

And expanding of the elemental processes

Blended harmoniously in its twisting notes.

These notes then flow away in waves of light, until,

As when the hibernating insects first begin to move --

At that very moment the terrifying crash of thunder

I command to come down. Its end is marked by

No conclusion, and it begins again without any prelude.

It seems to die away, and then it burst into life;

It comes to a close, and then it rises again.

So it goes on regularly and inexhaustibly

And without the intervention of any pause:

It is this which makes people stand in awe.

Then I make it describe the harmony of Yin and Yang,

And throw round it the brilliance of the sun and moon.

Its notes are now short and now long, now soft and now

Solid as a rock. Their changes, however, are marked by

An unbroken unity, though not dominated by a fixed norm.

They fill every valley and ravine; and you may shut up

Every crevice and guard your spirit against their entrance,

Yet there is nothing but give admission to them.

These notes resound slowly to be performed high and clear.

For this reason, the shades of the dead all keep themselves

In their obscurity. The sun and moon and all the stars

Of the fathomless Galaxy pursue their myriad tracks.

I make my instruments leave off when the entire performance

Comes to an end, and their echoes flow on without stoppage.

People think anxiously about it, and they are unable

To understand it; they look for it, and they are unable to see it;

They pursue it, and they are unable to reach it -- fully amazed,

They stand in the way all open around them, infinitely.

The power of their eyes is exhausted by what they wish to see;

Their strengths fail in their desire to pursue it,

But they can't reach it. Their bodies are but so much empty vacancy

While all together they endeavour to retain their self-possession:

It's that endeavour which makes them weary.

In the final part of my cacophony, I employ the notes

Which do not have that wearying effect: I blend them together

As at the command of spontaneity. Hence they come

As if following one another in confusion, like a clump of plants

Springing from one root, or like the hum of a forest

Produced by no visible form of its spirit-like King.

They spread themselves all around without leaving a trace

Of their cause; and seem to issue from deep obscurity

Where there is no sound. Their movements come from nowhere;

Their home is in the deep darkness -- conditions which

Some would call Death and some would call Life;

Some would call the Fruit, and some would call the Flower.

These notes, moving and flowing on, separating and shifting,

And not following any regular sounds, the world might as well

Have doubts about them, and refer them to the judgment of sages --

For the world's sages understand the nature of this music

And judge it in full accordance with the prescribed spontaneity.

While the spring of that spontaneity has not been touched,

And yet the regulators of these notes are all prepared --

This is what is called the Music of Paradise, delighting the Mind

Without the use of languages. Hence, it is said, "You listen for it,

And do not hear its sound; you look for it, and do not perceive its form;

It fills Heaven and Earth; it envelopes all within the silent vacuum."

Now you wish to hear it, but cannot take it in; hence your perplexity.

I perform first the music calculated to awe, and all men are awed,

As if by a godlike visitation. I follow it with that calculated to weary,

And in their weariness people have withdrawn. I finally conclude

With that calculated to perplex, and in their perplexity men feel stupidity.

But that stupidity is akin to the ways of Nature, and you may with it

Convey the naturalness in your person and have it ever with you, my friend.