What is the essence of art?

The essence of art is two points, one is based on creation, and the other is affecting emotion.

The so-called art is a part of human culture; It is a branch of creative thinking that affects human life, and it is the basic symbol that distinguishes human beings from general animal communities. Cultural things are related to human creative thinking and practice, which can be understood from the following four aspects:

One is the effectiveness of behavior, which can be realized through our behavior practice. These include scientific and technological innovation and institutional innovation. For example, Luban invented the saw, Watt invented the steam engine and modern enterprise management mode.

The second is the effectiveness of ideas, that is, people's lifestyle can be influenced by changing ideas. These include philosophy, theoretical science, aesthetics and so on. Such as the Book of Changes of our ancestors, Darwin's theory of biological evolution, Lessing's aesthetic work laocoon and so on.

The third is the effectiveness of likes and dislikes, that is, people's behavior can be influenced by changing "likes and dislikes". Including religion, ethics and so on.

Fourth, emotional utility, that is, it can affect people's emotional changes in some form. In other words, although our ideas may be whimsical, as long as they can affect our emotions through some expression, they can be classified as art. Such as the myth of the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon, the depiction of Mona Lisa, the expression of the blue Danube, the expression of desire and so on.