近代琴樂受到西方音樂表現主義的影響，偏離了琴學的自性美學及其歷史意義之觀照。琴樂自性美學的存在，不在於「他娛」的表演意圖，而是以「自娛」養生之「修行」為主旨。 本文從西漢司馬遷〈樂書〉裡音樂與生理互動互感的關聯性談及東漢班固《白虎通》論「禁情」的心理學。再經魏晉嵇康之「導神養氣」的觀點，試論古琴節拍隨性之意識及指法聲韻之生理意識，到清代徐青山「二十四況」聲響意象之導心術，亦即：《白虎通》禁情之意象及莊子「耳聽、心聽、氣聽」等實際操縱之「體、用」意識。琴學之「心性」美學，從西漢之司馬遷到清代的徐青山，歷經約一千六百八十七年漫長的體驗過程，才完成此一「體、心、神」完整的綜合體系，臺稱世界器樂認知美學罕見的光輝與智慧。 本文再以大腦意識（神經心理學）與氣功養生術，論證撫琴不僅是表演藝術，它的目的更在於「養生」，亦即20世紀中街西方才開始注意到的「音樂生物學」（biological musicology）之探討。

　　　　　In modern studies on qin music, inquiry into the aesthetics of performance has been overly emphasized and the ancient tradition regarding the psychobiological implications of qin music has largely been ignored. The present paper explores the implications of the de-sensationalized or non-emotional state of mind, which was, according to Han qin scholars, essential for realizing the biological as well as psycho-acoustical aspects of qin practice. Historically, the central issue of qin performance has been primarily related to three functional hierarchies, namely: hearing (er-ting耳聽, listening with the ears), sensing (xin-ting心聽, listening with the heart/mind) and transforming (qi-ting氣聽, listening with qi). According to the philospher Zhuangzi, listening with qi is the highest form of musical practice. Essentially, it is the mystery of "listening with qi" that motivated me to launch a systematic inquiry into the relationship between qi in musical practice and its neuro-psychological as well as biological implications. It should be emphasized that the goal of qin practice, according to Xi Kang (223-263) in his Qin fu, is mainly the preservation of bodily wellbeing and enrichment of mental and spiritual soundness. Ultimately, the examination of psychobiological factors directed the inquiry to an investigation of the abstruse meanings of the 24 qin musical conditions (qin kuang琴況), which were originally expounded by the Qing dynasty scholar Xu Qingshan in his Xi shan qin kuang (1673). According to Xu, the qin kuang were divided into 24 types of what I would call sonic phenomenology. There are different opposing interpretations of the true meanings of the 24 qin kuang. But after many years of studying the esoteric meanings of the 24 qin kuang, it finally occurred to the that they are actually cognitive contextualizations of the three categories of hearing, sensing and transforming mentioned above. It is rather clear to me that the term qin kuang reaffirms the Taoist ideology of musical cognition. In essence, qin music is not only a performing art, but even more importantly a means fro preserving one's health. In other words, the psychobiological significance of qin practice is the very essence of the qin musical tradition.