Ten Propositions of Contemporary Chinese Aesthetics

ZANIELLO 145 THOMAS A. ZANIELLO TEN PROPOSITIONS OF CONTEMPORARY CHINESE AESTHETICS Introduction The primary assumption at the basis of the foUowing propositions concerning aesthetics in the People's Republic of China is that all creative work has mainly a political aspect. Mao Tse-tung's Talks at the Yenan Forum on Art and Literature (1942) states this aspect succinctly: "In the world today aU culture, all literature and art belong to definite classes and are geared to definite political lines. There is in fact no such thing as art for art's sake, art that stands above classes or art that is detached from or independent of politics." The Ten Propositions which foUow represent an outline and bibliographical guide for the study of contemporary Chinese aesthetics. The term "aesthetics " is almost a misnomer, however: "aesthetics," in the sense of a study of "beauty" or "form" in artistic work, does not flourish in China. The emphasis in almost every work of criticism is primarUy on the social content of the work and secondarUy on the relationship of the formal devices to that content. Perhaps surprisingly, then, we note that Mao in Yenan in 1942 suggested two criteria for literary and art criticism-the "political and the artistic"and said that it was "necessary to subject" works of art "to correct criticism, so that the art of a lower level can be gradually raised to a higher and art which does not meet the demands of the struggles of the broad masses can be transformed into art that does." Thus there can exist an "artistic quality" independent of a "political quality," but the matter is of grave concern, as Mao pointed out: "Some works which politicaUy are downright reactionary may have a certain artistic quality. The more reactionary their content and the higher their artistic quality, the more poisonous they are to the people, and the more necessary it is to reject them. . . . Works of art which lack artistic quality have no force, however progressive they are politically." Although in contemporary China there is occasional discussion of "poor" or bad works of art, it is the "political quality" that is the focus, not the "artistic quality." (See, for example, the condemnation of the 1960s opera in Chu Lan, "Comments on the Shansi Opera Going Up to Peach Peak Three Times," Peking Review No. 1 1 , March 15, 1974, pp. 8-9, 23.) FoUowing each Proposition, I have listed key works, often with quotations 146 MINNESOTA REVIEW to indicate the nature of the source. I have organized the bibliographical references for each Proposition in this manner: A.Examples from Chinese art and literature; B.Statements from Chinese critical works; C.Background references from non-Chinese sources. AU bibliographical references are in English and are highly selective (although they are intended to be representative). I have included quite a few entries which appeared too late (after mid-1967) for the standard bibliography , Lee BaxandaU, ed. Marxism and Aesthetics (New York: Humanities Press, 1968). (This exceUent work needs updating.) The essential text for background in all major literary and artistic issues in contemporary China is D.W. Fokkema, Literary Doctrine in China and Soviet Influence, 1956-1960 (The Hague: Mouton and Co., 1965). A helpful addition to Fokkema's study, and perhaps a more readable guide, is Merle Goldman , Literary Dissent in Communist China (1967; New York: Atheneum, 197 1). Both books represent a fairly negative view of Chinese society, but the major issues are, at least, set out in detaU. For a general collection of documents and articles on aesthetics and culture, especiaUy helpful for the 1950s, see Ralph C. Crozier, China's Cultural Legacy and Communism (New York: Praeger, 1970). For the general political background of the important period of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Joan Robinson, The Cultural Revolution in China (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1 969) remains, for me, the best introduction to a controversial period. Somewhat more specialized, but very impressive, is Stuart Schram's long essay, "The Cultural Revolution in Historical Perspective ," in Stuart Schräm, ed., Authority, Participation, and Cultural Change in China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973), pp. 1-108. For background reading in the major aesthetic issues in...