Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 6, 2021

 

Early China’s Creation of the View of Space and Its Significance for Formal Beauty

(Abstract)

 

Zhan Donghua

 

In early China, in addition to the philosophical speculative view of space initiated by Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu and other pre-Qin philosophers, there was a practical view of space that was applied in the fields of astronomy, geography, ritual, etc. With cosmic consciousness as the source and the relationship between Heaven and man as the center, this view of space constituted a symbolic system of a “small universe” through such humanistic symbols as tombs, architecture, utensils, paintings and literature. This system is a key to the collective spiritual will and national culture of early China. This view of space not only played a decisive role in the coherence of the art forms of the time, but also left a clear formal conceptual impression on later generations of art and assumed a pioneering role in formal Chinese aesthetics. Due to the significance of the relationship between Heaven and man in traditional culture, the rules of artistic form which embodied the early view of space foreshadowed the aesthetic practice and theoretical advancement of art in later times, becoming an important factor in the character of Chinese art forms.