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The Spontaneity of Therapeutic Improvisation from Zhuangzi’s Perspective

The main theme of this study is focused on the spontaneity of therapeutic improvisation from Zhuangzi’s perspective. Based on the free spirit of life, Zhuangzi’s musicology emphasizes ‘one-self [自]’ and ‘joy [快]’ from nature’s point of view. It means that we should be able to pursue ‘joy in oneself’ by ourselves. This is also why musicians, who complain about performance anxiety, need music therapy, such as therapeutic improvisation. In fact, young Korean musicians can feel joy by communicating with the audience through their emotions in music and by exchanging them with many people. However, what is waiting for them, even before empathizing with the audience, is severe competition and evaluation. Why do young Korean musicians need spontaneity? Which implications and ideas for the spontaneity of therapeutic improvisation and Zhuangzi’s philosophy can be given to those musicians complaining about performance anxiety based on eastern culture? On Zhuangzi’s perspective, when young musicians can get free from external stuff WàiWù [外物] like ranking, they can overcome performance anxiety and be absorbed in their own music. This is why Zhuangzi talked about ‘Do not depend on external stuff WàiWù’ and emphasized ‘one-self’ and ‘joy.’ The goal of this project is to find answers to (1) how individual musicians can maintain spontaneity, (2) how musicians can solve the performance anxiety that they have had, and (3) finally how they can maximize their competence and ability as professional musicians from Zhuangzi’s view of spontaneity. Ultimately, this study reviews a music therapy article on young Korean musicians and applies the concept of spontaneity as the free spirit of life in Zhuangzi’s philosophy to the empirical case and interprets the case’s results to answer those questions above. There is one condition: If young musicians want to be able to enjoy music, they have to set themselves free from others’ eyes. They can feel joyfulness accompanied with a kind of catharsis, which can be only possible when they express their own feelings and get absorbed in their performance. This is the meaning of spontaneity as the free spirit of life, which is namely shēngzhīdé [生之德] in Zhuangzi’s philosophy.