Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 4, 2021

 

System Construction in Ancient Chinese Art

(Abstract)

 

Zhang Fa

 

The rich system underlying the emergence, evolution and deployment of ancient Chinese art can be presented on the basis of ancient Chinese culture and from the perspective of classical Chinese. Using general trends in the development of classical culture and the vocabulary changes and semantic transformations of the language associated with it, we demonstrate the full face of “art” as it expanded broadly through ancient China; that is, we take the origin of li-wen-yi (ritual—beauty/appearance—technique) as a whole. The art of ritual emphasizes the ritual techniques of the pre-Qin period; the art of literature emphasizes the high status of the written language in the Han dynasty; the arts of necromancy, astrology, medicine, etc. deal with the structure of the cosmic void and actuality following the Wei and Jin dynasties; the art of leisure stems from the aesthetic consciousness of literati gardens from the mid-Tang and Song dynasties; with the Song capitals also being distinguished for the art of performance found in their entertainment venues; and the art of craftsmanship founded on The Book of Diverse Crafts (kaogong ji) and well developed in the Song dynasty. These six types of art not only represent the main trend of the times in the development of classical art, but also became components of an art system that developed unceasingly in ancient China.