The strong practicality of Zen philosophy leads to its negative attitude towards language. It advocates "no writing" and "the first meaning is unspeakable". The same is true of Zen to music. The thoughts and feelings expressed by music are often beyond the reach of language. Although sometimes language can also play a role of inspiration and guidance, but they should be immediately replace with one’s own experience. This kind of experience belongs to the function of "heart", and its peak state is "understanding". "Understanding" is essentially the self-manifestation of the original heart, but often needs the help of a mentor or a classic to connect with the heart and, through "heart to heart", to achieve the self "renewal". According to Zen, all kinds of activities of music, whether creation, appreciation or inheritance, can be truly successful only on the basis of "understanding". One of the outstanding features of "understanding" is that it is always accompanied by perceptual experience
