Traditional Chinese Aesthetics Research Articles

Reflection of Aesthetic Concepts of Russian Realism in Chinese Visual Art

This paper examines the impact of Russian realism on Chinese visual art, focusing on how Chinese artists have adapted and reinterpreted Russian aesthetic concepts. The study highlights the role of cross-cultural exchanges in enriching both traditional Chinese art and the broader understanding of realism. Through a detailed analysis, the author explores the reflection of Russian realism's social criticism and humanistic ideals in Chinese artistic practices, and how these influences have fostered new artistic forms and themes within China.The research employs comparative analysis of artworks and artistic traditions alongside historical and cultural contexts of both Russia and China. This approach underscores the importance of international artistic exchanges in creating a more diverse and multicultural art world. The study's novelty lies in uncovering the mechanisms of cultural integration and innovation through artistic exchanges between the two countries, detailing how Russian realism has not only shaped Chinese art but also spurred the creation of unique forms that reflect contemporary societal and cultural demands.Significantly, the fusion of Russian realism and traditional Chinese aesthetics has led to a new artistic direction in China that melds global artistic trends with local cultural values. This synthesis has facilitated deeper cultural dialogues and mutual understanding, enriching the artistic traditions of both Russia and China. Artists have been provided with new opportunities to explore innovative ideas and forms, thus strengthening cross-cultural ties and expanding the boundaries of artistic interaction. The paper emphasizes the transformative power of this artistic merger in enriching the global art space and fostering a more inclusive and varied artistic milieu.

Process orientalizacii gorodskoj skul'ptury v Kitae s serediny XIX v.

The development of contemporary urban sculpture in China starkly illustrates the myriad contradictions and trials inherent in the process of modernization within Chinese society. From the middle of the 19th century Chinese urban sculpture faces a dilemma: the global assimilation and the following traditional Chinese aesthetics. The solution to this problem was achieved through the combined efforts of generations of Chinese sculptors.

Aesthetic analysis of the pattern of West queen mothers in the Shandong region during the Han dynasty

The West Queen Mother, as a comprehensive cultural phenomenon, has long been the subject of scholarly attention. In recent years, particularly with the rise of traditional Chinese culture, the cultural significance of the West Queen Mother has gained considerable popularity. In the realms of cultural creativity, animation, and gaming, the portrayal of the West Queen Mother has undergone further evolution and innovation, resulting in corresponding shifts in aesthetics. This research investigates the content classification and features of the West Queen Mother's pattern in the Shandong region during the Han Dynasty. By employing a combined approach of pattern analysis and Chinese aesthetics, the aim is to gain a deeper and multifaceted understanding of the culture surrounding the West Queen Mother. This study interprets the aesthetic style and factors associated with the Queen Mother from the perspective of traditional Chinese aesthetics. The conclusion drawn is that the pattern of the West Queen Mother in the Shandong region during the Han Dynasty exhibits aesthetic characteristics ranging from a flat abstraction with simplicity and naturalness to order, normativity, and symbolic representation of divinity. These characteristics demonstrate the richness of Han culture and reflect the Confucian aesthetic concept of the harmony between heaven and humanity, encompassing auspiciousness, loyalty, and filial piety as the highest moral standards, thereby aligning with the prevailing spirit and sociocultural context of the time.

A Brief Discussion on the Aesthetic Connotation of Eastern Cinema

Looking back at the century-long development of Chinese cinema, the deep-rooted influence of traditional Chinese aesthetics has played a crucial role in promoting the sinicization and nationalization of films. The isomorphic relationship between universal film aesthetics and traditional Chinese aesthetics allows Chinese cinema to extract humanistic values, broaden aesthetic categories, and increasingly present the vibrant characteristics of "Eastern cinema." This paper aims to analyze the aesthetic changes during the development of Chinese cinema, explore the aesthetic implications of Eastern cinema, and reflect on the new formats of Eastern cinema in the context of the contemporary era.

Catégories de la peinture chinoise et motifs dans la poésie de François Cheng

Abstract François Cheng’s poetry is steeped in traditional Chinese aesthetics, which is inseparable from the cosmology that gives it meaning. This article investigates the genesis of Chinese pictorial art in Cheng’s poetry by focusing on three sets of recurring motifs, linked to the major themes of nature and landscape in Chinese painting: trees and rocks; flowers and birds; mountains and water. Trees and rocks portray the outer form of nature and the inner impulses of the poet, and embody the dichotomy between heaven and earth. The symbolism of flowers gives praise to femininity and to yin, while birdsong evokes the eternal echoes that set nature in vibration. Mountains and water, with the clouds as an intermediary void, add contrast, rhythm, and musicality to the landscape and embody a universe in the making. In this way, the themes and motifs reflect the aesthetic beliefs of the poet-artist, who draws inspiration from Taoism and classical Chinese painting while embracing modernism. Cheng’s poetic art thus becomes ‘un art de vie, un art de vivre’.

Teatr tańca Brama Chmur w poszukiwaniu chińskiej i tajwańskiej tożsamości kulturowej

CLOUD GATE DANCE THEATRE IN SEARCH OF CHINESE AND TAIWANESE CULTURAL IDENTITYThis paper shows the dynamics of topical, aesthetical and political changes in the world-known contemporary dance group – Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan (Yunmen Wuji), created by Lin Hwai-min in 1973. Those metamorphoses are observed in a broad socio political and cultural context, in the rapidly changing reality of Taiwan, Mainland China and the whole world at the turn of the 20th and 21st century. Short analyses of the most iconic dance compositions by Lin Hwai-min make it possible to trace the direction of the changes, starting from search for Chinese cultural identity, through the quest for definition of Taiwanese cultural and national identity, gaining the feeling of being rooted in traditional Chinese aesthetics and finally confirming the importance of local Taiwanese tradition as an equally meaningful source of creative inspiration.

Research on the Symbolic Expression of Film Visual Art Directed by Chinese Director Zhang Yimou

As the leader of the fifth generation of directors in China, Zhang Yimou leads Chinese films to the world in the new era. He is an outstanding representative of Asian films and a world-renowned film master. This paper takes visual art as the tool and mainly studies the symbolic expression of Zhang Yimous film. The research allow readers to access the Chinese classic film symbol and Zhang Yimous personal characteristic film symbol by analogy Zhangs several films. Through the online research on Douban and Zhihu, the author made a brief appreciation of the visual language features of Zhang Yimous two films To Live and Red Sorghum with the highest score and voice.The author makes some discussions on the composition characteristics, techniques and creation style of Zhang Yimou's films. On the one hand, the author believes that Zhang Yimou and his films are deeply influenced by the structure of traditional Chinese aesthetics. Zhangs film not only display grand Chinese aesthetics in the structure of the picture, but also intersperse many unique Chinese meanings in the film. From the creative technique, Zhang is good at using scenes to foil atmosphere and allude to the characters fate. On the other hand, Zhang Yimous typical male chauvinist creation style is reflected in many aspects of his film, such as female stereotypes, improper male gaze.

O prikladnoj cennosti tradicionnoj kitajskoj estetiki v sovremennom dizajne illyustracij

The purpose of this article is to study the applied value of traditional Chinese aesthetics in modern illustration design, as well as to identify the features of combining traditional and modern aesthetic principles in creating illustrations.

Chinese Aesthetic Features of Traditional Costumes in Gan Opera

As one of the traditional local operas in China, Gan opera has a unique cultural connotation and aesthetic style, and its costumes are even more distinctive. The costumes of Gan opera are beautifully styled and colourful, reflecting the traditional aesthetics of ancient China. In the costumes, attention is paid to the expression of different characters' identities and personalities, for example, the costumes of characters such as emperors, officials and people are all different. At the same time, Gan opera costumes also pay attention to colour matching, focusing on shades and clearness, and emphasising the use of colour to express the characteristics and characters of different characters. The ornamentation of Gan opera costumes is also very rich, often embellished with patterns of flowers and birds, dragons and phoenixes, and clouds, which are deeply symbolic and meaningful. Gan opera costumes are also very elaborate in terms of detailing, such as embroidery, trimming and cutting, all of which have unique techniques and characteristics. In short, Gan opera costumes are an important part of traditional Chinese culture, embodying the essence of traditional Chinese aesthetics and having high artistic value and cultural significance. The aim of this article is to explore the Chinese aesthetic characteristics of traditional costumes of Gan opera, with a view to providing reference value for relevant researchers.

Theory of the Filmic: Classical Interpretation of Chinese Film Aesthetics

Abstract When linking Chinese film theory with traditional Chinese aesthetics, it is worth considering that the core categories of ancient Chinese aesthetics ought to be incorporated into a film paradigm that includes the meaning of film itself and it should not just be the way of transplanting the concepts of ancient Chinese literature directly into the system of film theory, for example, introducing the concepts of poetry, painting and opera directly into the evaluation system of films. For this reason, the author expects to establish a core concept in Chinese film aesthetics as an aesthetic category that may be considered to be parallel to the poetic, the pictorial and the calligraphic: this concept is named ‘the Filmic’.

‘Betweenness’ and ‘twofoldness’: A cross-cultural interpretation of the aesthetic appreciation of paintings

ABSTRACT In appreciating paintings, what we experience is either a result of their medium or object, regardless of whether the object is an actual thing, a fictional thing, an internal emotion, an abstract idea, or something else. However, the conceptions of ‘betweenness’ in traditional Chinese aesthetics and ‘twofoldness’ in contemporary Western aesthetics tell us that our experience of paintings might not be simply from the object or the medium itself but rather from a relation between the two. This study considers the intercultural value of the above concepts while examining how our aesthetic pleasure might derive from awareness of the object, the medium, and the play of our mind and body.

A Brief Analysis on the Different Manifestations of Traditional Chinese Aesthetics in Eastern and Western Culture—Take Mulan as an Example

A Brief Analysis on the Different Manifestations of Traditional Chinese Aesthetics in Eastern and Western Culture—Take Mulan as an Example

Issledovanie mezhkul'turnoj kommunikacii tradicionnoj kitajskoj estetiki s istoricheskoj tochki zreniya

Being a part of Chinese culture, aesthetics plays an important role in cultural exchange and mutual learning of civilization. However, due to the emphasis on official communication by the government, the lack of support for non-governmental communication, cultural platform and product innovation, and the single type of cultural projects, the external dissemination of traditional Chinese aesthetics is insufficient. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the level of cultural exchange, to explore the commonalities of Chinese and foreign aesthetics, to enrich the communication channels between China and foreign countries, to improve the intercultural communication channels of traditional Chinese aesthetics, to promote the introduction of traditional Chinese culture to the world, and to enhance the international discourse power and influence.

Not Just Slash: Transformation of Aesthetic Relations and Feminist Utopian Narratives in Chinese Gender-Switching Videos

In 2020, Yiwen Wang published an article about gender-switching videos, a Chinese gender subculture in the digital media environment. Different from Wang, who identified gender-switching videos as an example of the slash (especially boys’ love) subgenre, through a more comprehensive investigation of this subgenre this study found that gender-switching videos—which can be divided into two categories of complete and selective—involve homoerotic (including both boys’ love and girls’ love), heteroerotic and queer narratives. This article starts by demonstrating the multi-gender/sexual orientation narrative in gender-switching videos, and further analyses their social and cultural functions as a gender subculture in reconstructing gendered relationships in traditional Chinese aesthetics and narratives. The theory of feminist utopian narratives is further introduced to better understand how Chinese women intervene in the grand historical narrative as an important force to influence the development of history and story plots via fiction content creation in the digital media environment.

Aesthetic Culture of China in the Period of the Republic of China and Its Influence on the Development of Painting

The article is devoted to the problem of the development of Chinese painting in the conditions of social and cultural transformations of the period of the Republic of China, reveals the internal prerequisites and the influence of contacts with Western culture on the emergence of new aesthetic concepts and painting techniques. The assimilation of Western aesthetic concepts was complicated by the fact that Western and traditional Chinese aesthetics are based on different views on harmony, which also became the object of study in this article. Acquaintance with Western concepts caused the emergence and then gradual convergence of cultural oppositions: tradition and modernity, local and foreign. Based on the analysis of reformist artists Li Tifu, Guan Liang, Xu Beihong and others, it is shown how the system of art education, painting techniques and perception of painting have changed. It is concluded that the painting of the Republic of China showed not only a change in visual means, but, more importantly, a change in the very perception of visual images in painting.

Traditional Chinese Aesthetic Approach to Arts

Traditional Chinese aesthetics concerning all arts primarily comes from philosophical ideas. This paper investigates aesthetic approaches and values related to Chinese arts in general and Kunju in particular. The dynamic process is examined from the perspectives of aesthetic cognition, sense of beauty, and qiyun and yijing. Chinese aesthetic approach to arts features a holistic syncretic process, highlighting joy, harmony, and dynamic interactions. This approach employs a synthesis of idea, including form and expression, emotion and symbolism. Arts are expressed symbolically and metaphorically by artists. These symbolic representations solicit aesthetic responses from viewers who experience a holistic dynamic process. The syncretic process is a key aesthetic approach to all Chinese arts.

Explore into the Infinite Wonder in Time and Space--On the Pursuit of the Time-Space on an Idea-Sketching Stage in Chinese Opera

Chinese opera is a highly comprehensive opera that attaches paramount importance to imagery. The qualities of simulative performance, including its orientation, immediacy and flowability, constitutes the transcendent and free time-space of the art of Chinese opera. Considering the profound impact that the spirit of idea-sketching (Xieyi in Chinese, which is an aesthetic conception in China that emphasizes on capturing the spiritual essence rather than the superficial appearance) in Chinese traditional culture has on opera creation, an exploration into the impressionist views in Chinese traditional culture will be necessary to understand the beauty of idea-sketching Chinese opera. The creation of opera directors should be based on the traditional Chinese aesthetics centering on spirit conveying and essence capturing. Opera directors need to explore how the idea-sketching spirit contained in Chinese traditional culture can be applied and extended on the opera stage.

Philosophical-aesthetic reflection in China in the century: Wang Guowei and Zong Baihua

  This article is dedicated to examination of the philosophical-aesthetic reflection in China in the XX century, and the impact of European aesthetics upon the development and transformation of the traditional Chinese aesthetics. The article employs the method of historical and cultural with elements of structural analysis of aesthetic text of the modern Chinese philosophers. In the XX century, a number of Chinese thinkers made attempts of reforming the traditional Chinese aesthetics, complementing it with the viewpoint of European philosophy. The article examines the paramount aesthetic thoughts of the modern Chinese philosophers Wang Guowei and Zong Baihua, and determines the impact of European philosophy upon them. The scientific novelty of this study lies in assessing the impact of the concepts of European aesthetics upon self-reflection and development of Chinese aesthetics in the context of cross-cultural problematic. It is demonstrated that Chinese modern aesthetics in many ways retains its connection with the tradition, which determines its specificity and imparts peculiar semantic symbolism. The conclusion is made that in the XX century, Chinese philosophers sought to complement the existing traditional Chinese reflection on art, which is based mostly on the ideas of Taoism and Buddhism, with what can be referred to as the Western viewpoint, associated with a scientific approach and scientific interpretation. Another vector in the area of humanistic understanding of the phenomenon of art was related to the attempts of interpretation of the European aesthetic thought from through the prism of Chinese traditional philosophy. The philosopher Wang Guowei tried to incorporate the European aesthetics into the scientific problematic of China. The philosopher Zong Baihua wanted to synthesize the Chinese and European aesthetic theories, and create what he believed is the modern Chinese aesthetics.  

Beauty (Mei, 美) in theZhuangziand Contemporary Theories of Beauty

AbstractIn this article, I outline a reading of Mei in the Zhuangzi, taken to mean “beauty” or “the beautiful.” There is a possible anachronism involved in such an approach because mei is not central to Zhuangzi’s thinking. Nonetheless, I will argue that interesting points of relevance between Zhuangzi’s comments on mei and contemporary theories of beauty can be found and that an intercultural interpretation of mei and the beautiful can shed light on aspects of both traditional Chinese aesthetics and contemporary Western aesthetics by placing the two in conversation with one another. Zhuangzi seems to support neither relativism nor universalism in his understanding of beauty, though he touches on both relativist and universalist ideas. I argue there are certain superficial similarities between Zhuangzi’s aesthetics and positive aesthetics. But, on a deeper level, Zhuangzi advocates a form of negative aesthetics that is not dissimilar from those already prominent in contemporary Continental aesthetics, such as Christoph Menke, Gernot Böhme, and François Jullien. In this way, I highlight points for dialogue between Zhuangzi’s theory of beauty and contemporary discourse, as well as the ramifications of these ideas for thinking about the future of aesthetic education.

Aesthetics of Ivan Bunin in the Context of Chinese Literary Theory

It is generally known that China and Russia had very close literary relationship in the last century. But this literary phenomenon is not just a historical accident caused by politics. China’s acceptance of Russian literature may also be derived from literary. Ivan Bunin had his loyal readers in China no matter whether in the special era of literature serving politics or in the era of people's ideological emancipation at the end of the last century. Bunin’s acceptance in China shows the diversity of Russian literature and its tremendous vitality in China, which has important research value. This paper explores the reasons why Bunin is popular in China from the perspective of traditional Chinese aesthetics. It is hoped that it will be of reference value to the study of the reception of Russian literature in China.