Rhythmic Vitality: Traditional Aesthetics and the Theoretical Vision of Contemporary Chinese Film Aesthetics

Abstract

Abstract For Chinese films, the ideal of “rhythmic vitality” (气韵生动, Qiyun Shengdong) pursued by traditional aesthetics is of great significance. Traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy stress the pace of flowing (“similar sounds integrate”) and the rhythm of harmony (“different sounds correspond to each other”). Correspondingly, the aesthetic ideal of rhythmic vitality refers to the awareness of life produced by the cinematic medium during its evolution. However, compared with the aesthetic developments that characterize western cinema, Chinese films should not be content with its current approach, which largely disregards this particular aesthetic ideal. Rhythmic vitality originates from a unique national cosmology and methodology, beginning with the resemblances between appearances and spirit and resulting with the “primordial qi” (元气, Yuanqi) that constitutes all living creatures. It signifies the special aesthetic connection between humans and nature, whereby each are subjects of one another and in complete harmony. Arguably, this aesthetic ideal avoids the subject–object dichotomy of western thought that has prevailed since modern times. Additionally, the unique quality of cinema’s rhythmic vitality involves the use of special footage. Practically, through the use of large (small humans in wider landscape), full (the scene), far (the distance), and long-lens cameras for scenarios depicting intense emotion or conflict, cinema may render the holistic ideal of rhythmic vitality.