Research on Liang Qichao's Aesthetic Thought

Author: Jin Ya
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-06-01
Features: Liang Qichao was a master of Chinese thought and culture during the transitional period from classical to modernity at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Liang Qichao's intellectual and cultural creation faced a series of major theoretical issues, such as East-West and ancient-modern dilemmas, as well as urgent real-world problems concerning the fate and character of the nation. He delivered a distinctive and accomplished answer to these challenges. Today, in the historical task of national academic and cultural creation in the new century, many outstanding achievements of Chinese culture, including Liang Qichao's aesthetic thought, urgently need to be organized, studied, and explored. From the late 1990s, when I taught elective courses on novel theory to undergraduate Chinese literature students and first encountered Liang Qichao's essays on fiction, to 2000 when I chose Liang Qichao's aesthetic thought as the topic for my doctoral dissertation, and then to the recent years when I applied for and completed a series of related research projects, Liang Qichao gradually entered my field of vision, and his aesthetic thought gradually became my primary research focus. Although there are many experts in China and abroad who study Liang Qichao's thought, few have systematically organized the materials and conducted comprehensive research from the perspective of aesthetic thought. The primary task I need to accomplish is to select the relevant chapters and statements from Liang Qichao's over ten million words of accessible literature that address issues of beauty. This task may seem simple, but it requires considerable effort. Liang Qichao's aesthetic thought is rarely expressed in a single essay or book; instead, it is scattered across various writings, speeches, letters, and other types of texts, and is often intertwined with philosophical, cultural, educational, life, and artistic issues. Therefore, this work of organizing materials requires not only time and patience but also careful consideration and reflection. For me personally, this is an intellectual journey that is both challenging and rewarding. Liang Qichao's writings are clear and have a clear problem orientation, but he does not focus on static theoretical construction or the systematicity and rigor of thought in individual essays. Liang Qichao has his own unique and incisive views on beauty, but his thought itself is full of contradictory and complex elements and undergoes a process of development and evolution. Therefore, to accurately grasp Liang Qichao's aesthetic thought, one must first interpret the underlying intrinsic characteristics and logical coherence of his verbose arguments. Regarding the internal logic and value orientation of Liang Qichao's aesthetic thought, past studies have been largely negative, with more criticism than praise. And the specific theoretical propositions and modern significance of Liang Qichao's aesthetic thought have been rarely explored. At the beginning of my research, I set myself three basic tasks: comprehensive material organization, more complete and scientific interpretation of the connotations and viewpoints, and rediscovering Liang Qichao. The process of research has been a comprehensive examination of my academic foundation, theoretical cultivation, thinking ability, expressive skills, and courage to speak. Due to my personal limitations, I can only compensate for my shortcomings by diligently seizing every moment to read, think, and write. In this process, I have not only questioned some of the existing research achievements in academia but have also repeatedly overturned some of my own previously held views. As Liang Qichao himself said, "It is difficult for me today to judge me of yesterday!" Looking back, this has also been an intellectual journey filled with joy. First, Liang Qichao is a thinker and speaker who can fully inspire intellectual shock and reading pleasure, and a life with boundless energy. Reading Liang Qichao, you may not necessarily agree with his views, but you cannot help but be infected by the vivid spiritual individuality that radiates from the text. His thoughts are passionate and unrestrained, his ideas are uniquely innovative, his language is boundless and free, and his life is rich and sincere, all of which outline a vivid image of an aesthetic life that practices aestheticism! The liveliness of the subject adds color to what would otherwise be a dull research. Of course, over five years of research—more accurately, a mix of sweetness, bitterness, and hardship—have been accompanied by monotony and confusion. But precisely in this process, the continuous pain and continuous insights, the process of self-negation like unraveling silk, have gradually led me to realize the charm of thinking. The joy of thinking lies in the process of thinking. This research journey will become an indelible part of my life! The book mainly consists of an introduction, main body, and appendices. It systematically and deeply explores Liang Qichao's aesthetic thought from four aspects: the logical context, main categories, important propositions, and value enlightenment. The book discusses issues such as the historical background, cultural origins, theoretical connotations, theoretical qualities, academic status in the history of aesthetics, and contemporary cultural value implications of Liang Qichao's aesthetic thought. This book is the final outcome of the National Social Science Fund Youth Project "A Study of Liang Qichao's Aesthetic Thought" that I undertook.