The composition of Confucian aesthetic thought

Restricted by the ultimate goal of restoring Zhou rites, Confucius' aesthetic thought is obviously conservative, emphasizing the social function of art and the unity of beauty and goodness. However, Confucius' exposition on the basic artistic principles of the unity of beauty and goodness and his series of aesthetic propositions have constructed a basic theoretical framework for Confucian aesthetics and fundamentally stipulated the formation of the basic characteristics of Confucian aesthetics.

First of all, Confucian aesthetics most typically inherits the ancient tradition of rites and music of the Chinese nation.

Transform and sublate ancient witchcraft etiquette, so that "poetry", "music" and various arts become part of the "benevolence" system. The tradition of ancient rites and music is based on the clan blood tradition. After China entered the slave society, the legacy of the primitive clan society has not been eliminated, but has been preserved for a long time, and the clan blood clan system is closely related to the rule. The long-term preservation of consanguinity makes the ethical relationship between people play an extremely important role, and the tradition of rites and music is infused with a strong ethical color. It is not difficult to see that since Confucius, the aesthetic theory of Confucianism has always been closely linked with etiquette and ethics, and Confucian aesthetics has been unified with ethics because of blood relationship. Secondly, Confucian aesthetics attaches great importance to the harmony and unity between individuals and society. On the one hand, since the pre-Qin period, most Confucian representatives have not denied the value of individual existence, but affirmed that individuals have unique feelings, personality and intellectual strength. On the other hand, Confucianism regards the harmonious relationship between people as more important than the display of individual personality. Social harmony, benevolence and righteousness go hand in hand, this is the first Personal development is meaningful only if it is affirmed by society. The full development of individual personality has always been regarded as the unity with social development to have real value. According to Confucianism, art (poetry, music, etc. ), as a part of "benevolence", its real significance lies in guiding and cultivating the healthy development of individuals and making the development of individuality develop in a direction conducive to group harmony. Confucius emphasized that "it is based on poetry, ceremony and music", and the music notes emphasized that "music is the rule of mind", all of which focused on the significance of art to the unity and harmony between individuals and society. Thirdly, Confucian aesthetics regards the unity of beauty and goodness as the highest realm of life and advocates the high unity of art and ethics. A series of propositions of Confucian aesthetics, such as Confucius' theory of "gentle country", Mencius' theory of "noble spirit", Yue Ji's theory of "governing the mind with music" and Xu's theory of "unity of will and emotion", all combine art (poetry and music) with ethics (benevolence and righteousness). The representative figures of Confucian aesthetics believe that all beauty should embody "benevolence" and conform to "courtesy", and only goodness can be beautiful; Beauty takes goodness as its content and purpose, and goodness takes beauty as its ideal or moderate state of expression. Confucian aesthetics not only regards the unity of beauty and goodness as a theoretical pursuit, but also as a high-level life purpose. In addition, Confucian aesthetics also has a remarkable feature, that is, it pays attention to the unity of heaven and man and seeks the essence of beauty in the unity of heaven (nature and its laws) and man (man's will and emotion). Confucian aesthetics regards nature as the embodiment of human emotion and moral ideal, and there is a "moral comparison" relationship between aesthetic object and aesthetic subject, in which man and nature are integrated, and "those who know enjoy water and those who are benevolent enjoy Leshan" (Confucius language). Meanwhile. It also regards emotional expression as natural, standardized and moderate, "being happy but not lascivious, being sad but not hurting" (in the words of Confucius), and people conform to heaven and are integrated with nature. Because in Confucianism's view, only the unity of heaven and man can achieve the state of "neutralization", make the emotional world harmonious, make people's hearts conform to norms, and make behaviors conform to etiquette. For example, Dong Zhongshu said that man and nature are one, and man is born from heaven. The beauty of heaven lies in harmony and benevolence, and the beauty of benevolence lies in heaven. Of course, the purpose of his theory of "harmony between man and nature" is to implement heaven and benevolence in the world and achieve political harmony.