Series of Books on Chinese Aesthetic Categories—Magnificent and Melancholy

Author: Cao Shunqing Wang Nan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-12-01
Features: "Grand" and "Melancholy" are two important categories in ancient Chinese art and literary theory. The first part of this book explains the category of "Grand," first discussing the historical process of how the concept of "greatness" from the pre-Qin period gradually evolved into the concepts of "mastery," "grandeur," and "yang." On this basis, it analyzes the cultural and aesthetic factors in related terms and their constitutive relationship with "grandeur," presenting a unified concept of "grandeur." Through comparative studies with the Western category of "sublime," it highlights the true connotations of this category in ancient Chinese aesthetics. The second part explains the category of "melancholy," first tracing its origins from semantic, philosophical concepts, and Confucian personality factors, and clarifying the literary theoretical lineage of such ideas to make the conceptual connotations of "melancholy" explicit. Through the study of exemplary texts such as Du Fu's poetry, "Baiyu Zhai Ci Hua," and "Zhaoming Zhan Yu," as well as the aesthetic combination of "melancholy" with "ebb and flow" and the comparison with related categories like "melancholy" and "elegant," the aesthetic significance and value of the "melancholy" category are presented as fully as possible.