Core Concepts of Traditional Chinese Aesthetics

The core concept of traditional Chinese aesthetics is image.

The essence of traditional Chinese aesthetics lies in the artistic conception experience of beauty.

Traditional Chinese aesthetics believes that aesthetic activities are to construct an image world outside the physical world, that is, "the so-called constructing a spiritual world outside of heaven and earth." This image world is the aesthetic object, which is what we usually call

"Beauty" in a broad sense.

Beauty lies in imagery, and aesthetic activities are to build an image world outside the physical world; the image world illuminates the real world, and this real world is what Chinese aesthetics calls "nature". It is not logical "truth" but

The "truth" of existence is an interesting world full of life.

Extended information: Notes: The world of imagery is not the physical world.

The image of a plum blossom tree is not the physical reality of the plum blossoms, and the image of a distant mountain is not the physical reality of the distant mountain.

The world of imagery is human creation.

Wang Guowei said that if there were no poets in the world, there would be no such realm.

Tao Qian's chrysanthemums are Tao Qian's world, and Lin Bu's plum blossoms are Lin Bu's world.

This is just like the water lilies painted by Monet are Monet's world, and the sunflowers painted by Van Gogh are Van Gogh's world.

Without Tao Qian, Lin Bu, Monet, and Van Gogh, of course there would be no world of these images.

Precisely because they are not real objects, but non-real worlds of images, Wang Guowei said, "Those realms that are born in my heart and are seen as external objects are all things that last for a moment."

The world of imagery can only exist in aesthetic activities.