In this Book
- The Chinese Aesthetic Tradition
- Book
- 2010
- Published by: University of Hawai'i Press
The Chinese Aesthetic Tradition touches on all areas of artistic activity, including poetry, painting, calligraphy, architecture, and the "art of living." Right government, the ideal human being, and the path to spiritual transcendence all come under the provenance of aesthetic thought. According to Li this was the case from early Confucian explanations of poetry as that which gives expression to intent, through Zhuangzi’s artistic depictions of the ideal personality who discerns the natural way of things and lives according to it, to Chan Buddhist-inspired notions that nature and words can come together to yield insight and enlightenment. In this enduring and stimulating work, Li demonstrates conclusively the fundamental role of aesthetics in the development of the cultural and psychological structures in Chinese culture that define "humanity."
Table of Contents
- Front Cover
- pp. 1-5
- Preface to the First Edition
- pp. vii-viii
- Translator’s Introduction
- pp. ix-xix
- Chapter 2 Confucian Humanism
- pp. 39-75
- Chapter 3 The Daoist-Confucian Synthesis
- pp. 76-116
- Chapter 4 Beauty in Deep Emotion
- pp. 117-159
- Chapter 5 Metaphysical Pursuits
- pp. 160-193
- Chapter 6 Toward Modernity
- pp. 194-222