Listen to this articlezhèngshēng 正声
Proper Music / Finest Poetry
原为中国古代音乐概念。主要含义有二：其一，指儒家与官方倡导的典雅、纯正的音乐；有时也指五正声，即宫、商、角、徵、羽五音。其二，因儒家认为《诗经》的音乐体制与思想内容最为纯正典雅，是“正声”的典范，故后世用“正声”转指在内容与意境上纯正典雅、堪为典范的诗歌作品。如明代高棅（bǐnɡ,1350—1423）编选的《唐诗正声》，就是通过精选唐诗各体的代表性作品，试图为后人确立诗歌写作的正宗轨范。
It is originally a term in ancient Chinese music. It has two meanings: 1) The refined and pure music encouraged by Confucian scholars and official circles; sometimes it was also a general term for the five notes of ancient music gong, shang, jue, zhi, and yu. 2) Examples of the finest poems and songs. Confucian scholars believed that the content and music of The Book of Songs were the best and most refined, and thus were set as the models for zhengsheng, or the finest poetry. Gao Bing of the Ming Dynasty named his collection of carefully selected Tang poems A Selection of Finest Tang Poems in an effort to present the finest and purest examples of different styles of Tang poetry for later generations.
引例 Citation：
◎凡奸声感人而逆气应之，逆气成象而淫乐兴焉。正声感人而顺气应之，顺气成象，而和乐兴焉。（《礼记·乐记》）
（凡是邪恶的音乐作用于人，人自身的不正之气就会被激发而荒淫享乐就产生了。凡是纯正的音乐作用于人，人自身的和顺之气就会被激发而和谐安乐就产生了。）
Vicious music affects people by arousing their negative instincts, so licentiousness and degeneracy surface. Pure music moves people and stimulates their decent and amiable and obedient impulses, therefore harmony and peace prevail. (The Book of Rites)
◎正声何微茫，哀怨起骚人。（李白《古风其一》）
（如《诗经》那样的大雅风调非常微弱，屈原创作《离骚》呈现出新的哀怨风格。）
The refined notes as in The Book of Songs are remote and weak, in Li Sao Qu Yuan created a new sorrowful style. (Li Bai: A Poem in Ancient Style)
