The ritual and music system of the Zhou Dynasty regulated people’s conduct to follow the moral and social order, which not only kept the dynasty for 800 years, but also laid a solid foundation for the ultimate founding of a unified culture fixed by the Qin and Han empires.

The significance of ritual and music culture in modern times

The substance of ritual and music culture has the value of imbibing and building a harmonious society for modern China. The concept of order and harmony has both the meaning of code of ethics from immanent consciousness and regulation of conduct from exterior restriction. It has positive effect on strengthening the appetency of the society and people’s socialization by some kind of ritual form to adjust patterns of behavior.

The fine tradition of ritual and music culture goes together with the Olympic Spirit of “sport at the service of the harmonious development of man” by giving prominence to the concept of a “People’s Olympics”. The rite, singing and dancing of ancient ritual and music culture were quite similar to sports and ceremonies of ancient Olympic Games.

Actually, “Xiang She Li” and “Da She Li” listed in rite were sports meeting hosted by village and by feudal lords. Although these archery games were competitions with definite rules, gamers would make greeting each other before the game and after go to drink together, so they were friendly and harmonious competitions.

The dance of ritual and music culture looks like modern artistic gymnastics, and people dance and sing to music, to pursue the harmony between soul and body, between peoples, between nature and human beings.

The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games is the first great handclasp between old-line Olympic and long standing Chinese culture, a Games of cultural exchange. The concept of order and harmony of ritual and music culture is a valuable idea exhibited to the world through this “People’s Olympics,” which unveiled oriental spirit of Chinese culture, and showed the nice willingness of maintaining peace and bringing about common development with the whole world.