Liu Xie’s proposition that “a bell weighing thirty thousand jin does not produce the jingling of fine sounds” has often been simplistically interpreted as meaning that large objects cannot produce small sounds. This interpretation, however, overlooks the ancient musicological context in which the proposition was formulated and is therefore inaccurate. Originally, the term “zhengzheng” (铮铮) could describe the sound of bells. However, after the decline of bell-and-chime music in the pre-Qin period and the significant renewal of musical instruments during the Qin and Han dynasties, its meaning shifted to denote the high-pitched sounds produced by string instruments. Thus, “fine sounds” (细响) refers not to sounds of low intensity but to high-pitched tones in terms of frequency. The musicological significance of this proposition is that idiophones like large bells are less capable of producing the high-pitched sounds characteristic of string instruments. Furthermore, as secular music in the post-Qin-Han era predominantly featured string instruments, “the jingling of fine sounds” became symbolic of secular music. Consequently, Liu Xie’s proposition reflects his musical philosophy of “elevating refined music while suppressing popular tunes,” serving as an analogy for the opposition between classical traditions and the undesirable literary trends of his time. Later critics, operating under different musical conceptions, did not strictly adhere to Liu Xie’s original intent. Nevertheless, they enriched and expanded the proposition’s connotations from various perspectives and levels, significantly broadening its poetic interpretative space.