Introduction to Aesthetic Education: Revised Edition

Author: Jiang Binghai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-01-01
Features: Aesthetic education must achieve the goal of cultivating well-rounded individuals by helping people establish a correct aesthetic perspective. Only with a correct aesthetic perspective can a person better recognize and create beauty. So, how can one establish a correct aesthetic perspective? It requires seriously studying some aesthetic theories. Engels once said, "A nation must stand at the forefront of its era and cannot afford a moment without theoretical thinking." He also pointed out, "Regardless of how much one may despise theoretical thinking, without it, one cannot even connect two natural facts or understand the connection between them." Without scientific theoretical guidance, there would be no standards or direction, no ability to correctly reveal the intrinsic connections of things, and no rational judgment. Aesthetic activity is emotional, but emotions are not isolated or abstract; they are always influenced by certain rational thinking. The issue lies in what kind of theory influences them. Now, some people blindly admire foreign things, considering everything foreign as beautiful, which is due to their lack of guidance from correct aesthetic theories. We should diligently learn all advanced things from foreign countries but must always combine them with the actual conditions of our nation. Foreign fashionable things must be analyzed specifically. Some people have a curiosity about beauty, pursuing uniqueness to an extreme, taking what is deemed "strange" as beautiful, only to achieve the opposite effect and often cause many laughable situations. The importance of aesthetic theory lies in its ability to guide practical actions, providing rational standards and strength. Establishing a correct aesthetic perspective must also be combined with labor. Labor creates the world, and labor practice is the most basic social practice. Therefore, a person's attitude towards labor actually determines their aesthetic emotions. Many facts show that a person who shuns labor cannot have noble aesthetic tastes. Sukhomlinsky said, "A girl contemplating how to create beauty is far more beautiful and profound than a lazy girl. Idleness is the enemy of beauty. If you desire beauty—labor selflessly until you feel yourself becoming a creator, a master, the master of your ideal career; until your eyes, radiating passion from the greatest happiness of creation, shine with brilliance." Aesthetic education can only be effective when combined with labor, focusing on establishing a positive and healthy lifestyle, enabling people to recognize the value of life and the happiness of creation, and then it will have the correct direction and truly good results. Beauty and ugliness develop through struggle, so establishing a correct aesthetic perspective requires not only diligently learning all beautiful things but also, at the same time, eliminating and criticizing ugly things. This requires meticulous ideological enlightenment. Especially for the youth, it is essential to use the comparison between beauty and ugliness to give them a concrete and profound understanding. A middle school had a mischievous student draw an extremely ugly "Pigsy" on the white classroom walls on the first day of school. During class that day, although students discussed the matter, the teacher did not immediately criticize him. She understood that these were first-year students who still had a tendency to seek attention, which was not surprising. As the class was about to end, she told the students, "To welcome the new students, the entire school staff has been busy for several days, even repainting the walls. Look at how bright our classroom walls are! Unfortunately, this 'Pigsy' drawing is not in the right place. Why not draw it on the blackboard instead?" This kind of criticism not only educated the student who drew the picture but also inspired the entire class, making everyone realize that a beautiful environment requires everyone to create and cherish it together, and no one should act arbitrarily. Later, this class no longer had any incidents of graffiti on the walls. Aesthetic education should focus on improving people's aesthetic ideals. According to reports, in recent years, some young people, in their pursuit of a luxurious wedding scene despite their financial constraints, resorted to theft and were imprisoned on the eve of their wedding. This also involves an issue of aesthetic perspective. True love and happiness do not depend on material wealth but rather on the harmony of emotions and personalities. Chekhov said, "The meaning of love lies in helping each other grow while also growing oneself. Only those who become more thoughtful and skilled in their hands because of love are truly loving." Indeed, noble and pure love gives strength and wisdom. With shared ideals and deep affection, material hardship is often insignificant and can even motivate people to move forward. In life, one must also have a correct perspective on physical beauty. Because loving someone means uniting two lives and living together, it cannot be sustained solely by physical beauty; what matters most is shared aspirations and mutual understanding. Hegel said, "For love to reach its perfect state, it must be connected to the entirety of consciousness, to the nobility of all views and interests." Physical beauty is, after all, temporary. As the saying goes, "How long can a flower bloom?" Plato once said, "The base object is the vulgar lover mentioned earlier, who loves the body more than the soul. What he loves is not constant, so his love cannot be constant. Once the body's appearance fades, he abandons everything he once swore to. However, the lover who cherishes a beautiful soul is different; his love is constant because what he loves is also constant." A person with noble aesthetic sentiments understands self-love and respects others. Even if they are physically beautiful, they will never flaunt themselves. In matters of love, pursuing superficial things, being fickle, and seeking only personal gratification will ultimately lead to bitter consequences. Aesthetic education must closely connect with people's work, study, and daily lives, cultivating beautiful interests and helping them establish a correct aesthetic perspective. Japanese aesthetician Tomoyuki Ando said, "If a person achieves happiness, health, talent, wealth, joy, and power but abandons the pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty, they will degrade into animals. Only by skillfully shaping themselves can a person live a more meaningful life." From the perspective of the development of modern Chinese aesthetic education, Liang Qichao played an early role. Liang Qichao was a famous bourgeois reformist political activist in modern Chinese history. In the late Qing Dynasty, Liang Qichao, from the perspective of bourgeois reformism, enthusiastically studied and introduced Western aesthetics and art, writing many works. Although Liang Qichao did not explicitly propose the scientific concept of "aesthetic education," he placed great importance on the aesthetic education of art throughout his life, believing that emotions and interests are the driving forces of human activity. He said, "The most sacred thing in the world is emotion. To inspire people with emotion is like magnetism attracting iron—however much magnetic force there is, it will attract as much iron, leaving no room for evasion." The purpose of emotional education is to fully develop the good and beautiful aspects of emotions while gradually suppressing and eliminating the evil and ugly aspects. How can the educational role of emotions be better realized? Liang Qichao believed that "the greatest weapon for emotional education is art," especially novels. He said, "To reform the governance of the people, we must start with a revolution in the world of fiction; to renew the people, we must start with new novels." He believed that novels have "four powers" in influencing people's emotions: "influence," "immersion," "stimulation," and "elevation." That is, through the of novels, readers can "become one with it," achieving a sudden realization and thus becoming a force. Liang Qichao also believed that "beauty" is the most important element in human life. He said, "I firmly believe that 'beauty' is an element of human life, or perhaps the most important element. If the component of beauty is removed from the entire content of life, one may not live comfortably, or even be unable to live at all." This view is also very insightful. Liang Qichao's aesthetic education ideas had a certain influence in modern Chinese history, but he did not establish his own aesthetic education theory system. Moreover, because he started from reformism, he exaggerated the role of art to the point of being decisive, which was not realistic. Physical education plays a vital role in creating physical beauty, primarily by promoting health. A person must be healthy to be full of vitality and creativity, and only then can they inspire beauty in others. Chekhov said, "For a person, the most intimate and lovable thing is life and the life of people. Now, let us look at what is called 'beauty,' the 'beauty of a person's posture.' We will see that what we discover as beauty in people is everything that manifests a pleasant, rich, and abundant life." He also said, "Whatever we discover as having the meaning of life, especially what we see as having the phenomenon of life, always fills us with joy, guiding us to a state of joyful, selfless pleasure." The characteristics of social aesthetic education are determined by the characteristics of social life. , it faces all members of society. Family aesthetic education and school aesthetic education have their instructors and learners as only a part of society and are conducted within specific limits. Social aesthetic education is different; its educational are all members of society, with the entire society as the classroom, and it educates people through various social cultural facilities and social life. Moreover, there are no specialized instructors or learners here; in reality, every person with the ability to live is both an instructor and a learner. For example, when you wear beautiful clothes in public and carry yourself with elegance, not only do you feel refreshed, but you also bring beauty to others. This itself is also a form of aesthetic education. Conversely, if a person behaves frivolously and unattractively in social life, they can only give others a sense of ugliness. Therefore, social aesthetic education is not just the responsibility of the government and relevant education and cultural departments but also everyone's. Of course, the government and relevant departments must seriously fulfill their duties, using various channels to conduct aesthetic education among the masses and improve their spiritual quality; at the same time, every awakened member of society must consciously take on their responsibilities, using their beautiful behavior to uphold all the beautiful things in society. Only in such a society can aesthetic education have a broader space. Social aesthetic education must face all members of society, but in specific social cultural facilities and activities, it should also consider the different characteristics of different educational to achieve better results. This is because members of society differ in age, gender, and cultural level, and many facilities and activities will only be effective if they take into account the specific characteristics of the educational. For example, some cultural palaces have areas for general gatherings as well as youth activity rooms and elderly activity rooms, meeting the aesthetic needs of different age groups. Some films with specific content and plots may be suitable for adults but not for the youth, and their screenings should be clearly restricted, not just considering economic benefits, which is also a form of social responsibility. In summary, social aesthetic education must face all members of society, but in its implementation, it must also consider the different characteristics of members of society to make social aesthetic education diverse and better promote the advancement of social civilization.
The second characteristic is its extensive social life content. Social aesthetic education is not only extensive in its educational but also has great diversity in its content, forms, and methods. This is because social practice and life itself are rich and varied. Various social cultural facilities, such as cinemas, cultural palaces, and museums; various natural landscapes, such as parks, zoos, botanical gardens, and scenic areas; as well as various interactions between people in social life—all reflect human emotions and wisdom, and thus can provide aesthetic education. Therefore, social aesthetic education should not be seen as merely social art education, which is far from sufficient. Social art education is indeed important, but it is only a part of social aesthetic education, not the entirety. In fact, every aspect of social life has the function of aesthetic education; the issue lies in whether people can excavate and experience it from an aesthetic perspective. Life also requires a certain degree of detachment to appreciate more beauty. A small stream in the forest flows with a gentle murmur, many people pass by here, taking it in stride, but for Beethoven, it sparked inspiration, becoming the source of his musical compositions. There are many beautiful things in life, but merely looking with the eyes is not enough; the heart must also experience them to create a collision of beauty and radiate wonderful light. A story once circulated in Britain: One day, the famous Scottish poet Byron was walking along the banks of the Thames when he saw a rich man drowning and being rescued. A poor man risked his own life by jumping into the turbulent river to save him, but the miser only took out a small copper coin as a token of gratitude. Many passersby were furious at the rich man's ugly behavior and some even suggested throwing him back into the river to drown. However, Byron immediately stepped forward to stop them. "Please put this poor man down, because he knows his own worth very well," the poet said. Byron's words gave everyone a vivid lesson. The richer one is, the more miserly they become, determined by their ugly nature. But human virtue cannot be measured by money. Social aesthetic education is a unified whole. When educating people in aesthetics, it is essential to use both examples of beauty and typical examples of ugliness to help people understand both sides clearly and deeply. Therefore, when discussing aesthetic education, one cannot passively avoid ugliness but must skillfully use it to better reveal the essence of beauty.