In this philosophical paper, I propose a theory of music education inspired by ancient Chinese philosophy. In particular, I draw on five classical Chinese philosophical texts: the Analects (lunyu [Chinese characters omitted]), the Mencius (Mengzi [Chinese characters omitted]), the Zhuangzi ([Chinese characters omitted]), the Xunzi ([Chinese characters omitted]) and the Yue Ji ([Chinese characters omitted]). Given that music education was an integral part of the social fabric in ancient China, it is potentially illuminating to uncover the theoretical underpinning of this enterprise, and to examine the implications of such a theory for contemporary music education. Based on the texts, I posit an ancient Chinese-inspired theory of music education that comprises four facets: society, teacher-model, effortful training and effortless action. I conclude this paper with implications for contemporary music education.