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Aesthetic conceptions and cultural symbols in traditional Chinese painting
2024
The aesthetic conception in traditional Chinese painting is an essential concept in ancient Chinese aesthetic thought and serves as the supreme aesthetic criterion pursued in classic painting creation. Artists use unique works to showcase the aesthetic conception in traditional Chinese painting, thereby highlighting the distinctive features of Chinese painting. This article conducts a genealogical analysis of artistic conception in traditional Chinese painting. It combines it with specific cultural symbols for interpretation to unveil the philosophical ideas and cultural concepts concentrated in traditional Chinese painting.
Introduction: Chinese Aesthetics in the Contemporary World
Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 2020
Looking back at the reason why Western scholars in modern times demanded the birth of philosophical aesthetics, we can assess what role "Chinese aesthetics" should play in today's academic environment. As well known, by the time Alexander Baumgarten (1714-1762) coined the new term "aesthetics" in his master's thesis (1735), the field of aesthetics, which had not been given a name yet, was already flourishing in European academia and life. 1 Reflecting the growing interest in artistic experience and sense perception of people at that time, Baumgarten endorsed human experience as an important source of knowledge. Ironically, however, he put this field in a secondary position by defining it as "the logic of the inferior faculty of cognition" and "the art of the analogue of reason." 2 Aesthetics arrived much later in China as part of the modern educational curriculum, but soon received an enthusiastic welcome. Contrary to the European intellectuals, who were reluctant to regard aesthetics as an essential discipline, Chinese intellectuals assumed aesthetics as a core academic framework for explaining Chinese intellectual history. Therefore, the so-called "culture fever (wenhua re 文化熱)" of the late 1980s China, which was a large-scale debate about the criticism and succession of Chinese tradition, can also be referred to "aesthetics fever (meixue re 美學熱)" by nature. On the one hand, this fever was auspicious in that the Chinese have noticed a modern discipline that takes emotion and experience seriously. On the other hand, the huge writings resulting from the fever were mainly consumed in China and hardly caused any chemistry with Western aesthetics. Three decades later, I believe that we are now able to soberly reevaluate the topics that have been discussed in the field of Chinese aesthetics thus far. The holistic nature of Chinese aesthetics, which
Chinese Aesthetics in the Contemporary World
Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 2020
Looking back at the reason why Western scholars in modern times demanded the birth of philosophical aesthetics, we can assess what role "Chinese aesthetics" should play in today's academic environment. As well known, by the time Alexander Baumgarten (1714-1762) coined the new term "aesthetics" in his master's thesis (1735), the field of aesthetics, which had not been given a name yet, was already flourishing in European academia and life. 1 Reflecting the growing interest in artistic experience and sense perception of people at that time, Baumgarten endorsed human experience as an important source of knowledge. Ironically, however, he put this field in a secondary position by defining it as "the logic of the inferior faculty of cognition" and "the art of the analogue of reason." 2 Aesthetics arrived much later in China as part of the modern educational curriculum, but soon received an enthusiastic welcome. Contrary to the European intellectuals, who were reluctant to regard aesthetics as an essential discipline, Chinese intellectuals assumed aesthetics as a core academic framework for explaining Chinese intellectual history. Therefore, the so-called "culture fever (wenhua re 文化熱)" of the late 1980s China, which was a large-scale debate about the criticism and succession of Chinese tradition, can also be referred to "aesthetics fever (meixue re 美學熱)" by nature. On the one hand, this fever was auspicious in that the Chinese have noticed a modern discipline that takes emotion and experience seriously. On the other hand, the huge writings resulting from the fever were mainly consumed in China and hardly caused any chemistry with Western aesthetics. Three decades later, I believe that we are now able to soberly reevaluate the topics that have been discussed in the field of Chinese aesthetics thus far. The holistic nature of Chinese aesthetics, which
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HERITAGE, ART AND MULTIMEDIA (IJHAM), 2022
Along with its multiple levels of importance, characterising a Chinese traditional painting in terms of its aesthetic arrangement-composition and visual meaning may be a challenging undertaking; yet, it also presents evolving features and constantly expanded connotations. A 'landscape painting' is cultural (cultivated) rather than natural (innate); it is a cultural interpretation that renews the physical environmental reality. In the visual arts, 'landscape' representation has acted as an emblem, playing a key role in the construction of China's and Europe's identities. Landscape ink-painting on Chinese paper or silk has a long history in China, stretching back over a thousand years, in contrast to Europe, where it evolved and developed considerably later. What is vital in this study is to determine how Chinese ink-painting has remained traditional in comparison to the evolution of western arts. Every civilization has its own aesthetic limits and standards for evaluating the manifestation of beauty through its arts, which impact its pursuit and creation. Chinese philosophers have a fundamentally conceptual understanding of nature that supports their belief in the cosmos' order and harmony. Shānshuǐ-huà (山水画 ), akin to knowledge of the Western 'landscape,' has been a continuous practise and vital feature of Chinese culture since the Song dynasty (960AD-1290AD), one of China's finest creative epochs. This ink-painting tradition is linked to calligraphy methods known as painted poetry. As a result, in Chinese traditional painting, empty space is balanced against the painted area, the artwork keeps the beauty and balance the results; in Western art, figure-ground plays a visual equilibrium. This study analyses fundamental visual knowledge that embraces holistic aesthetic judgement for none-Chinese audiences; the concerns covered provide a flexible way for leading audiences in evaluating many aspects of Chinese ink-painting using their own understanding and imagination.
Different Approaches to Chinese Aesthetics
Asian Studies, 2020
The article introduces Fang Dongmei’s and Xu Fuguan’s ideas about aesthetics and examines their different methodological approaches. Fang Dongmei and Xu Fuguan are both representatives of the second generation of Modern Taiwanese Confucianism. The fundamental goal of this significant movement is to re-evaluate and re-examine the profound contents of Chinese thought in contemporary socio-political conditions through a dialogue with Western philosophy. The representatives of Modern Confucianism of the 20th century hoped that the encounter with the Western intellectual tradition would serve as a platform for modernization of Chinese culture on the one hand, and as a way to achieve the recognition of the West for the profound value of the Chinese intellectual tradition on the other. Fang Dongmei was one of the first representatives of this movement who was trained in Western and Chinese philosophy, and hence built his own philosophical theory on the encounter of both, while Xu Fuguan wa...
Asiatische Studien - Études Asiatiques, 2020
This essay examines a number of statements on painting and visual perception by Chinese literati artists of the late Mingearly Qing periods. It argues that the approaches to pictorial representation and creativity entailed in these statements reveal a considerable impact of Buddhist theories of consciousness. In the theories analyzed, pictorial representation is discussed in terms of ways and modes of how the mind relates to the world. As will be demonstrated, the function of expressing cognitive organization in representation is given more prominence than the function of rendering an external reality. The view of pictorial representation as being essentially what the mind produces in its relation to the world provides a basis for the assumption of a fundamental affinity between the creation of an image and the process how phenomenal reality unfolds by virtue of cognitive operations. This assumption seems to broadly underpin the painting theories discussed. And it is this assumption that provides a clue how and why the literati artists adopt Buddhist theories of cognition to the understanding of art. In the last section of the essay, we turn to the sources which cast still another perspective on artistic practice, namely a practice which captures a single moment of pure direct perception.
The development of the aesthetic spirit connotation of modern Chinese art
2024
This study analyzed the historical background of Chinese art thought in the early 20th century, the idea of "integration of China and the West", and the painters and their works that have had a significant impact on it. By studying the trend of Chinese art popularization and its impact on student education in art schools, it revealed the impact of the changes in Chinese art thought in the early 20th century on modern art thought. At the beginning of the 20th century, the evolution of Chinese art thought underwent a reform of art thought. It has influenced many painters' creative spirit and techniques , and has influenced the development of modern Chinese art thought. The research into the early 20th-century evolution of Chinese art thought reveals a pivotal era of diversification in aesthetic values and ideas among various artists, propelling Chinese art into a vibrant period of flourishing styles and philosophies.
Some Remarks on Chinese Painting and Its Influence on the West
Fidelio, 1997
In the thousand years from A.D. 700 to 1700, and in particular during the Chinese Renaissance under the Sung Dynasty (960-1279), the greatest contribution of China to universal culture in the domain of painting was the invention of several different types of non-linear perspective, such as one can admire as far back as the Eighth century A.D.