"Letters on Beauty - High School Edition (Revised Version)"

Author: Zhu Guangqian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-02-01
Features: Zhu Guangqian (1897—1986) was a famous modern Chinese aesthetician and literary theorist from Tongcheng, Anhui. Throughout his life, Professor Zhu Guangqian authored and translated extensively. His major works include Psychology of Tragedy, Psychology of Literature, On Poetry, History of Western Aesthetics, and more. In addition, Professor Zhu translated many renowned Western aesthetic works, such as Symposium (Plato), Aesthetics (Hegel), Conversations with Goethe (Eckmann), and The New Science (Vico). Letters on Aesthetics was written by the author at the age of eighty-two, a work of "late-life dedication." It serves as both a review and compilation of his long-standing aesthetic career and thought, as well as a response to friends who had written to him but not yet received replies, especially young readers. The book consists of thirteen letters. In it, Professor Zhu Guangqian delves into in-depth discussions on aesthetic issues commonly cared about by young readers, such as beauty, aesthetic appreciation, the laws and categories of beauty, and more. He also provides detailed explanations on the aesthetic characteristics of literature, its creative principles, and features, both in terms of thought and methodology. It is an essential reference book for beginners in the study of aesthetics. Letters on Aesthetics is not a typical academic treatise; instead, it adopts the form of letters, presenting its content in a conversational and natural manner, making many profound aesthetic concepts accessible and easy to understand.