The aesthetic value of literati art

In 2018, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed in his reply letter to the old professor of the Central Academy of Fine Arts that "to do a good job in aesthetic education, we must adhere to the virtue of cultivating people, take root in the life of the times, follow the characteristics of aesthetic education, carry forward the spirit of Chinese aesthetic education, and let the young generation of the motherland grow up healthily physically and mentally." Among them, "carrying forward the spirit of Chinese aesthetic education" is the focus, and "following the characteristics of aesthetic education" is the basic idea and way. In the treasure house of Chinese art, literati art is an art form that has a very "aesthetic education spirit" and at the same time can greatly embody the "characteristics of aesthetic education".

Here, we try to use the concept of "literati art" in an independent, holistic sense. In fact, in the study of art and aesthetics, "literati art" is a category that is often mentioned but often ignored, because it is rarely used in a strict sense. That is to say, commentators often focus on studying not the independent form of "literati art", but the "literati nature" of a certain art, and the use of "literati art" is only used to refer to a cultural and aesthetic attribute of a certain art discipline. Therefore, we often see the saying that "a certain form of expression of a certain art is literati art", rather than "what kind of art form is literati art". If we take the Chinese aesthetic education spirit as the perspective, we can properly observe the overall form of literati art. This is because aesthetic education attaches importance to experiential and spiritual qualities, which can not only be in line with the characteristics of literati art that emphasizes spiritual connotation, but also cross the barriers between media and techniques between different art disciplines, so as to make a holistic interpretation and induction of literati art.

In line with the spirit of aesthetic education

In the article "Three Meanings of Aesthetic Education", Du Wei takes the contemporary aesthetic education needs as the starting point and expounds the three main meanings of aesthetic education on the basis of in-depth study of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign aesthetic education theories. He believes that, first of all, the most basic meaning of aesthetic education is perceptual education, that is, to protect and enhance the rich sensibility that is in harmony with reason, and to promote the all-round development of people, which is not only the original intention of Schiller when he first created the "aesthetic education", but also reflects the modernity of the concept of aesthetic education. Secondly, aesthetic education is also an education to cultivate the overall personality, and the perceptual development is conducive to the healthy growth of the overall personality. Confucianism also advocates cultivating personality through deep experience and internalizing virtue, thus forming a long and rich tradition of Chinese aesthetic education thought. Finally, aesthetic education is also a creative education that stimulates the vitality of life and cultivates human originality and creative intuition. These three meanings of aesthetic education are both focused and intertwined to form an organic system. If we examine the Chinese literati art tradition with such a system of aesthetic education, we will find that the two are similar and have mutual origins.

First of all, the admiration of literati art for artistic subjects is intrinsically consistent with the emphasis on personality education in aesthetic education. China has always emphasized the important role of human spiritual character in art. Compared with other art forms, literati art pays more attention to the identity, character, and personality of the author. With the development of history, the term "literati" gradually diluted the actual social class and became a symbol of personality and spirit. Unlike the requirements for character in the category of morality and ethics, literati art emphasizes an independent and conscious subjective personality. This personality is not only "good", but also "true" and "beautiful". Emphasizing the nobility of character, the truth of temperament, and the perfection of personality is consistent with the purpose of personality education in aesthetic education.

Secondly, the emphasis on in-depth experience in literati art is in line with the emphasis on perceptual education in aesthetic education. Compared with the palatial court art and the art of craftsmanship, literati art attaches more importance to the expression and expression of personal feelings, and also requires the appreciator to play and observe with physical and mental commitment. Literati art often contains deep feelings and even profound philosophical thinking, the details see the spirit, and the appreciator must mobilize the most acute sensory functions to have a heart. Therefore, literati art can bring the viewer a delicate and subtle aesthetic experience. The harmony of body and mind and the blending of reason are in line with the importance attached by aesthetic education to perceptual education.

Finally, the innovation of literati art in artistic language is in common with aesthetic education's emphasis on creative education. Literati art originated from the casual creation of literati doctors in their leisure time, and authenticity, nature and arbitrariness are the basic states of literati artistic creation. In this state, the artist's creativity can be fully expressed, and it also helps to produce a lyrical and eclectic language expression. This form of artistic language is one of the characteristics of literati art. Because literati art is not more directed at the outside world, but to the self-life itself, it can not be framed by the other, and present the natural essence of freedom, freedom and self-sufficiency. The linguistic expression of literati art is extremely creative, which can stimulate and cultivate the creative potential of artists and appreciators, which is in line with the emphasis of aesthetic education on creative education.

Pay attention to personality cultivation

Literati art originated in the pre-Qin period. The examination of the historical context of literati art can be carried out at least from the perspective of intellectual history and art history. In terms of the traceability of the history of ideas, we should mainly pay attention to the influence of Confucianism, Taoism and later Buddhism on the artistic thought of the literati, focusing on the relationship between the Confucian ideal of the gentleman, the Taoist idea of natural inaction, the Buddhist Zen thought and the interest of literati art. In terms of the traceability of art history, we should mainly examine the influence of Wei and Jinshi art on the artistic creation methods, art forms and creative motifs of the literati, especially the close relationship between the evolution and development of calligraphy art in this period and the maturity of literati art.

The Song dynasty to the Ming and Qing dynasties was a period of formation, maturity and prosperity of literati art. During the Song and Ming dynasties, "literati art" as a unique art form officially appeared and continued to develop. This is not only because paintings, calligraphy, gardens and other works of art, which were later called literati art, emerged in large numbers during this period, but also because the literati as a class of literati achieved a unique position in society with an image with a specific connotation, wisdom and personality. As a result, the corresponding "literati art" truly formed a unique, formed, and stable social circle, cultural form, and spiritual character. Literati art has an independent cultural character, which comes from both the ancient Taoist system and the emerging Song Ming Theory of Thought at that time.

As a new advance in Confucianism, Song Ming Theory is an inherent transcendence and breakthrough in traditional Confucianism. Song Mingli's speculation on ontology and work is extremely profound, and with meticulous rational thinking and rich perceptual understanding, he connects and integrates the nature of heaven and earth and the daily life of humanity, and attaches great importance to personal work cultivation and physical and mental cultivation. This has a profound impact on the spiritual character and aesthetic implications of literati art, and also constitutes the theoretical backbone of the Chinese theory of aesthetic education of personality.

The core of this theory of personality aesthetic education is the ideological paradigm of "ontology-work-realm". Pan Liyong proposed in the article "Song Ming Lixue's Thought on Personality Aesthetic Education and Its Modern Significance" that Song Ming's personality aesthetic education thought inherits the "benevolent" core of traditional Confucian personality aesthetic education thought, and also absorbs the ontological thinking of The Buddha and Tao theories, thus transcending the "Renxue" horizon of pre-Qin Confucianism in the theory of personality aesthetic education, finding an ontological basis for personality aesthetic education theory, rising to the ontological realm, and combining the ontological realm with the internal work of chemical education, making this personality aesthetic education idea more intrinsic and systematic. At that time, the literati art not only used the "ontology-kungfu-realm" paradigm as an ideological support, but also the vivid presentation of the paradigm at the artistic and aesthetic levels. In the mature literati art, there is not only a deep understanding of the ontology of life and the ontology of the Tao, but also a true expression of artistic techniques and cultivation skills, and an aesthetic display of the realm of life. As an important way for literati to cultivate their self-cultivation, it has made important contributions to the enrichment and development of Chinese personality aesthetic education ideas.

Undertake a social mission

In the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, with the changes of the times and the influx of Western culture, Chinese scholars began to consciously construct local academic discourse. "Literati art", especially "literati painting", was used as an academic concept, reflecting the social responsibility of scholars to carry out art education and aesthetic education at that time. At the same time, the artists at that time also consciously used the literati artistic language to create, and made artistic and aesthetic responses to the social situation at that time.

As a modern academic concept, "literati painting" is closely related to aesthetics and aesthetic education at the source of its concept. In 1921, Chen Shi proposed the concept of "literati painting". From this point on, "literati painting" truly became a theoretical concept in the Chinese context. Chen Shi once proposed that "character, learning, talent, and thought" are the four elements of "literati painting", emphasizing its social mission of "cultivating the world" and the function of "emotional transfer" advocated by "modern aestheticians". These views are extremely closely related to aesthetic education. Li Zhaoxue believes that Chen Shizeng's "literati painting" proposition has a common social background with Cai Yuanpei's theory of "replacing religion with aesthetic education", which can be regarded as a continuation of Cai's idea of aesthetic education.

In addition, at that time, many artists who created with the spirit and artistic language of traditional literati emerged, such as Huang Binhong, Xu Beihong, Pan Tianshou and other painters, and literati artists of other categories represented by Lang Jingshan and Fei Mu. As Lu Mingjun said, their common feature is that they all have a literati artistic personality that "appeals to the traditional literati interest and the identity of the scholars". This reflects a profound sense of homeland identity and historical responsibility, and has played a role in serving the country and carrying out social aesthetic education in a specific period.

Now, we should think about the contemporary continuation of literati art and its aesthetic mission. Since modern times, with the disappearance of the traditional Chinese literati class, the foundation of the existence of literati art has been somewhat blurred. However, the aesthetic spirit of literati art still has a strong corrective and corrective effect on some shortcomings in contemporary art culture. How to continue the fine tradition of literati art and make it assume a new mission of aesthetic education is a topic worth pondering. We have two proposals for that.

In terms of theoretical thinking, literati art should be reinterpreted. As a mature concept of art and aesthetics, "literati art" has independent aesthetic connotation, stylistic characteristics and self-discipline, so it can and should be separated from the historical and social soil that produced it, and truly enter the practice of contemporary art, art theory and art criticism, so as to glow with new artistic colors, theoretical life and aesthetic education values.

In terms of artistic practice, attention should be paid to the new expression of literati art. As far as the traditional category is concerned, literati art mainly refers to qinqi painting and calligraphy, but in contemporary times, we can also regard new media art with the aesthetic characteristics of literati art as contemporary "literati art". The "new medium" here is mainly relative to the medium of traditional literati art. Therefore, the new literati art is not only for the media such as photography, film, and television, but also for newer media forms such as AI, VR, AR, and MR. This aesthetic perspective and research idea is conducive to combining the traditional aesthetic spirit with the practice of contemporary art, and at the same time can provide new enlightenment on how to use traditional aesthetic ideas to reflect on mass culture in commercial society, reflecting the contemporary value of literati art.

(Author Affilications:Hangzhou Normal University Hongyi Master Feng Zikai Research Center)

Editor: Liu Yan