Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 9, 2023

Qingle: A Marker of Aesthetic Pleasure in Ancient China

(Abstract)

Liu Xuguang

In the Northern Song, a group of literati and officials produced the affirmation, praise and cultivation of a refined pleasure which was termed qingle. This was a kind of non-utilitarian spiritual pleasure, a free emotion when the mind was not burdened by materialistic desires; it was an ancient Chinese term for beauty or aesthetic pleasure.  The main way to obtain qingle is to free oneself from daily life and enter into nature, nourishing one’s heart with woods and springs and one’s qi (spirit) with mist and rosy clouds. It can also be obtained through playing around with and appreciating art and cultural products, and may also come from the free sublimation of the mind, producing a kind of “pure pleasure.” Qingle is a symbol of aesthetic pleasure in ancient Chinese aesthetics, as well as a symbol of the aesthetic self-awareness and self-discipline of the ancient Chinese literati and official class.