The position of landscape aesthetics in aesthetics

The purpose of discussing the position of landscape aesthetics is to gain a place in the field of aesthetics, so we need to know something about aesthetics. So here is a passage about the history of western aesthetics in Zhang Fa's Introduction to Aesthetics: "Looking back now, the history of western aesthetics is like a history in which all parts of aesthetics are striving for independence and freedom. In ancient aesthetics, the essence of beauty is the core, and the essence of beauty dominates everything. In modern times, aesthetic psychology and artistic philosophy have achieved relative independence ... In modern times, the essence of beauty has been denied, and aesthetic psychology and artistic philosophy have gained the greatest freedom. In addition to these two kinds of aesthetics, other aesthetics have also emerged, such as technical aesthetics, which has been gaining great momentum since the 1920s ... In postmodernism, the integrity of aesthetic psychology and artistic philosophy itself has also been deconstructed ... On the one hand, it can be said that the research scope of aesthetics is getting smaller and smaller, and aestheticians do not need to study all the objects of the huge aesthetic empire before; On the other hand, it can be said that the research scope of aesthetics is getting wider and wider. Any specific object is not only studied from an aesthetic perspective, but also from an interdisciplinary perspective ... Western aesthetics was born because of the essence of beauty ... and it was deconstructed and turned because it lost the essence of beauty. " In post-modern thinking, aesthetics is presented as fragments of East and West that cannot be reduced to a whole, or as diverse fragments that cannot be controlled by a whole logic. Landscape aesthetics was conceived and born in this situation.

Traditional aesthetics holds that social objects and natural objects are not aesthetic objects, that is, they do not exist for aesthetic purposes, and they are accidental as aesthetic objects. In fact, this statement is not comprehensive, beauty is everywhere. As long as anything reaches the level of beauty and has beautiful functions, people can enjoy beauty from it and naturally become an aesthetic object. Items with use value are always in contact with people, and their beauty is far more than that of specialized beauty products in time, quantity and scale. Because people spend most of their time at work or doing housework, it is impossible to watch plays and movies all day. In fact, no matter what production industry, in order to improve the competitiveness of their products, they will work hard on the aesthetics and artistry of their products. It is for this reason that technical aesthetics can develop rapidly. In this respect, China culture was practiced in ancient times. For example, Zhang Heng's armillary sphere and seismograph are exquisite works of art, and Jia Yi's On Qin is magnificent, powerful and catchy to read. Zhuge Liang's "A Teacher's Example" is sincere and makes people cry. Su Dongpo's Shi Zhongshan Collection vividly depicts this scene. None of these objects exist as aesthetic objects, but they are all examples of beauty. With the improvement of human living standards, another specialized beauty product, tourism, has sprung up rapidly, and people regard scenic spots as places to obtain beauty. As an aesthetic object, scenic spots naturally enter the aesthetic field. Therefore, expanding the scope of aesthetics will unify the utility, cognition, usability and aesthetics of many things. Looking back on the whole western aesthetics from the realistic needs, it can be roughly divided into three categories: ① from the essence of beauty to all the beautiful phenomena of nature, society, art, science and system, that is, aesthetics with the basic structure of phenomenon-essence; ② From the essence of beauty to the essence of aesthetic feeling, that is, aesthetics with subjective and objective as its basic structure; ③ Aesthetics with beauty-art as its basic structure. We believe that a complete aesthetics should focus on ① and ②, that is, it summarizes the beauty of all things within the scope, ③ is regarded as a part of this complete aesthetics; However, in the relationship between subjective and objective, it is believed that the beauty of things exists independently of subjective aesthetic feeling, and aesthetic feeling is only the reflection of objective beauty on people's subjective feelings, which is in line with the fact that beauty is everywhere. We haven't found a definition or essence of beauty that can sum up everything and span all fields before, and a few aestheticians are trying to limit aesthetics to such a small scope as art. However, things always develop according to their own laws, and the ubiquitous beauty makes all kinds of aesthetics rise in succession and develop in their own direction. In this way, aesthetics can be divided into two parts: philosophy of beauty and aesthetic psychology belong to the general theory of aesthetics; The study of beauty in different fields is the theory of aesthetics. So the question of aesthetics is, what is the basis for unifying aesthetics by organizing these contents in order to form a complete system? That is, how can we restore today's fragmented fragments into a whole aesthetic? The way is to go back to the starting point and unify this divided situation with the essence and definition of beauty. The understanding of the law of development is originally from special to general, and then from general to special to further deepen. When all kinds of aesthetics are developed, richer, deeper and more unified aesthetic definitions will be born.

Beauty is not an entity, but an abstract concept and a function of some things. Therefore, aesthetic theory must take this entity as the carrier, so "theory" can be divided according to the nature of the carrier. First of all, it is divided into "material" and "immaterial". "Things" are subdivided into: natural things that have not been artificially processed are called natural aesthetics, and those that have not changed their basic nature and position (such as grotto art, temples, pavilions, plank roads, etc.) are also natural aesthetics; Making valuable articles, instruments, equipment and other objects can be called technical aesthetics; Crafts, ornaments and toys that have no practical use value and are fully appreciated can be called craft aesthetics. Literature, poetry, drama, music, painting, acrobatics and other "intangible" can be called artistic aesthetics. In the past, western aesthetic research mainly focused on the non-material field. Natural aesthetics can be subdivided into: the beauty of mountains and rivers can be called landscape aesthetics, and the beauty of human body can be called human body aesthetics.

There are two points to note here:

1) sculpture, calligraphy, painting, etc. If you create on a natural mountain, you can't be divorced from the local and nature, such as murals and statues in Dunhuang, Buddha statues carved on Longmen, Yungang, Dazu Grottoes or rock walls, calligraphy on the rock walls of Jiao Shan, Zhenjiang (especially "Yi He Ming" is valued by scholars), and primitive people on the rock walls of Yinshan Mountain. Although some statues can be dismantled, they have already been integrated into the landscape and become an important part of the scenic spot. For example, the mermaid carved on the Danish lake in Andersen's fairy tales is regarded as the processing of natural scenery and the deepening and improvement of natural beauty, so it is placed in the landscape. Of course, this will not affect people's research and appreciation of the beauty of sculpture.

2) Architecture has always been classified as art, but from the point of use value, it should belong to the category of technical aesthetics, including urban and rural houses, offices, business activities, cultural activities and other places, but temples, pavilions and other buildings in scenic spots belong to the category of scenery. See table 2- 1 for the position of landscape aesthetics in the whole aesthetics.

Table 2- 1 The Position of Landscape Aesthetics in Aesthetics

Among the five aesthetic research objects shown in Table 2- 1, technical aesthetics studies the beauty of valuable objects, and the main purpose of producing them is to meet the needs of human survival and life. The beauty they bring to mankind is only a by-product, which makes people feel more happy and enjoy the beauty when using them. Landscape aesthetics, craft aesthetics, art aesthetics and human aesthetics have no practical objects. The study of these four aesthetics is purely for the sake of beauty, which is the product of pure beauty. The nature of landscape aesthetics and artistic aesthetics is closer.

Landscape aesthetics is not only the closest to art aesthetics in essence, but also an important source of art. A considerable part of painting and photography are directly studied on scenery, so painting is the natural result of learning from others. Even a high-level painter must have a deep understanding of nature in order to be inspired and draw good works. Therefore, Zheng Banqiao said: "Most good painters in ancient times took nature as their teacher, and heaven was born to paint for me"; He also said: "the river in autumn is clear, and the bamboo in the morning is seen." Smoke, sun shadows and dew are all floating between sparse branches and dense leaves. I am full of enthusiasm and have a picture. " Even if people or events are the center of painting and photography, scenery should be used as the background to play the role of contrast and rendering, so as to enhance the required atmosphere.

Literary works can't be separated from scenery, not to mention those articles devoted to scenery, such as Wang Wei's The Book of Mountains and Pei Xiucai, Ouyang Xiu's Zuiweng Pavilion, Su Dongpo's Thousand Cliff Poems and After Cliff Poems, and Yao Nai's Climbing Mount Tai. Even if you have some feelings or wishes, you should express them through the description of the scenery. For example, in Tao Yuanming's Peach Blossom Garden, the author yearns for a fair and harmonious ideal society, but it is expressed through the description of the scenery. Fan Zhongyan's "Yueyang Tower", in order to express the ambition of "worrying about the world first, and enjoying the world later", almost describes the scenery, and finally writes these two sentences to make the finishing point. Many scientific and technological articles have also become examples of landscape writing. For example, Li Daoyuan's Notes on Water Classics, although a geographical work, is a gorgeous landscape writing. The "Three Gorges" section is a household name and can be called the peak of landscape writing.

Dong Qichang said, "Poetry is about mountains and rivers". Although poetry aims to convey and express some feelings or will, it is almost entirely a description of the scenery, which contains feelings, will and philosophy. Without a deep understanding of the scenery, you can never write a good poem. Because only the scenery that everyone is familiar with can arouse the voices of most people and arouse the feelings buried in readers' hearts. "A lonely sail crosses the sky blue, only the Yangtze River flows in the sky", "Leaves fall like waterfalls, but I think the long river always rolls", "How much sorrow can you have, just like a river flowing" ... Which of those well-known famous sentences doesn't express your feelings through the description of the scenery? Li Bai's Shu Dao Nan should be the representative work of his romanticism reaching its peak. Difficult Road in Shu is a true description of the dangers and obstacles in Qinba area. Without a deep understanding and observation of this area, Li Bai could not have written this immortal work. Not only the ancients, but also modern people are no exception. If you want to be a writer, painter and photographer ... it's hard to reach a higher level without learning from nature and getting inspiration. Therefore, Su Zhe said: "Tai Shigong traveled all over the world, traveled all over the world, and made friends with Yan and Zhao, so his writing was sparse and quite strange."

Dong Qichang also said: "With the wonder of Tao, painting is not as good as landscape; With the exquisiteness of pen and ink, the landscape will never be picturesque. " The meaning of the previous sentence is that a certain landscape has become the source of art because people can get insights from it, and photography, painting, poetry and articles, no matter how refined and superb, can achieve "beyond the charm" in any case, grasp the "power of style" and "expressive force" in any case, and grasp the "spirit of flesh and blood" in any case. Su Dongpo wrote about the West Lake: "The water is bright and sunny, and the mountains are empty and rainy." If you want to compare the West Lake with the West Lake, heavy makeup and light makeup are always appropriate. "It can be said that the West Lake has been written off; Yang Wanli wrote about the West Lake: "The lotus leaves in the sky are infinitely colorful, and the lotus flowers in the sun have different colors" is another kind of interest. With Lushan Mountain, Li Bai's "Sunshine incense burner gives birth to purple smoke" is a wonderful picture, "I climbed to the top of the mountain. I look at the world, and the great river will never return "is a magnificent momentum;" Su Dongpo's "Looking at the mountain side is the peak" contains profound philosophy. Nature is a huge treasure house, which contains endless landscape art. As long as you are good at observing and at your fingertips, it is a masterpiece. The last sentence means that the beauty of artistic works derived from nature can be higher than that of nature, because the author integrates the beauty of nature, his own experience and his own inspiration into his works, which can stimulate readers' potential aesthetic induction. There are only a few strokes of bamboo in Zheng Banqiao's works, but they can arouse people's infinite reverie and make people fondle it. The scenery of nature is limited by the specific landform and space, and it is sometimes difficult for different beautiful scenery to gather in one place. However, the Map of the Yangtze River can show the majestic, steep and beautiful mountains and the gentle and beautiful scenery of the Jiangnan Plain in the same picture. The elegance of peony, the elegance of chrysanthemum, the luxury of peach and apricot and the nobility of plum blossom all have their own times, but colorful spring scenery can be combined with colorful flowers. Gardens and bonsai are a form of learning from nature. A stone and a small tree can show the charm of hills and valleys. In Suzhou Canglang Pavilion, the water outside the wall is open, bright and clean, but the inside of the wall is quiet and deep, and the halls and corridors not far away are elegant home furnishings. Artists can break through the obstacles of natural conditions, combine the beauty that is difficult or impossible to be born in nature according to people's subjective wishes, and show a wonderful thought that is higher than nature. This thought comes from natural scenery but transcends nature.

Both landscape and art give people a sense of beauty. If art is a work of art created by human beings, then landscape is a work of art created by nature, simple, primitive and grand. Because of painting, photography, literature, poetry, gardens, bonsai and so on. They are all imitations and copies of the scenery, and they are all secondary art derived from the scenery. Therefore, landscape is primitive art, the source of art and the source of beauty.

Scenery can also purify people's minds. For example, there is a scenic spot on Qingcheng Mountain near the top of the mountain, called the Heart Washing Pool. What is "heart washing"? It is to wash away people's desire for possession of everything, wash away the ugly side of the soul and become more kind and pure. Chang Jian's poem says: "Here birds are alive and mountains are bright, and people's hearts touch the pool." Here "emptiness" is a verb, indicating that the ugly mind has been washed away. Therefore, both Buddhism and Taoism in China advocate practicing in beautiful scenery, which further enhances and deepens the beauty of scenic spots.