Walking on Thin Ice

Walking on Thin Ice: A Collection - "Walking on thin ice" aptly describes the author's feeling when engaging in research. Some of the articles in this collection have been published, while others have not. The reasons vary: concern over incomplete sources, misunderstanding of materials, unreliable conclusions, or inadequately crafted prose. In short, there was always some apprehension. Now, by gathering these writings for publication, the author accepts the scrutiny of readers, which can only be a positive outcome.

After passing the age of sixty, the author has come to understand a fundamental truth: the goal of any research is the pursuit of truth, and every achievement is but a provisional one. All research is a process of seeking further knowledge in the pursuit of truth, and seeking truth again in the light of new knowledge - an unending cycle. The pursuit of truth occurs on a path with no final destination, and results remain within unfinished conclusions. New materials, new reflections, or new understandings may surpass previous findings or overturn prior conclusions. Without this, knowledge would cease to advance, and research would lose its originality. In this sense, the writings contained in this collection are records of the author's past efforts in the quest for knowledge and truth. Their success or failure, rightness or wrongness, are left to readers to judge.

The articles collected here touch on several areas in which the author has worked and conducted research: temperament studies (tuning systems), intangible cultural heritage safeguarding, music criticism, and the art of the guqin (seven-stringed zither).

The essay "Walking on Thin Ice: A Collection" included in The Academic Library of the Chinese National Academy of Arts: Walking on Thin Ice builds on the author's earlier paper "The Structural Essence and Cultural Attributes of Tuning Systems," offering further reflections on issues of tuning theory and a deeper understanding of the discipline. These understandings have gradually taken shape through continuous study of the academic concepts and research methods of senior scholars such as Yang Yinliu, Miao Tianrui, and Huang Xiangpeng. In terms of fundamental understanding and methodology in tuning studies, these前辈 (distinguished predecessors) have consistently...

履薄者，如履薄冰也。对笔者来说，做研究工作真有如履薄冰之感。本集子中有的文章已发表，有的文章没发表。原因是要么是怕材料不全，要么是怕对材料理解有误，要么是怕结论不可靠，要么是怕文字没写好。反正不是怕这，就是怕那。现在把这些文字拿出来结集出版，可以接受读者的批评，应是好的结果。

人过花甲之后，多少明白了一点道理：任何研究，目的在求真；任何成果，都是阶段性成果。任何研究都是在求真的过程中需要再求知，在求知的结果中再求真，这是一个不断往复的过程。求真在永远没有终点的过程中，成果也在没有完结的结论中。因为在新材料、新思考或新认识中，原来的成果可能被超出，原来的结论也可能被推翻。否则，认识就不会再进步，研究工作也不会有新意了。从这个意义上说，本文集所包含的文字，就是笔者过去在求知和求真过程中所做工作的记录。成与否，对与错，都由读者去评判了。

本集中所收文章，大致分为乐律学、非物质文化遗产保护、音乐评论和古琴艺术等几个方面，也是笔者工作与研究曾经涉及的几项内容。

《中国艺术研究院学术文库：履薄集》一文，是在拙文《律制的结构本质与文化属性》的基础上，对律学问题的进一步思考，是对律学理论的进一步认识。这些认识，是在不断学习杨荫浏、缪天瑞、黄翔鹏先生等前辈的学术理念与研究方法的过程中逐步形成的。几位前辈在律学研究的