Art Research (Types and Paradigms)

Author: Editorial Department of the Series "L Art Studies"
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-05-01
Features: First, the traditional Chinese discourse system emphasizes the inner "experience" and "taste" (as described by Mencius as "extending one's heart fully"), rather than focusing on or even avoiding expression. Originally, humans created "language" to express thoughts and emotions among themselves; however, in traditional Chinese culture, the academic style of "speaking without writing" (as noted by Confucius), the literary style of pursuing "meaning beyond words," and the inclination to seek understanding in the "subtle and ethereal" have long dominated. This can be seen or proven in the schools that represent traditional Chinese culture, such as Confucianism, Taoism, Chan Buddhism, and their canonical works. For example, the so-called "Sixteen-character Heart Transmission" in Confucianism was highly regarded by Song and Ming Dynasty Confucian scholars as the principles of governing the state and personal cultivation passed down from Yao, Shun, and Yu. Due to the vagueness of this proposition, its precise interpretation remains an unresolved historical mystery. The Book of Changes is also considered a divine text, and the reason lies in its brevity. The Tao Te Ching is called "Five Thousand Exquisite Verses," and even more so, Chan Buddhism loudly advocates "not relying on words" and emphasizes "subtle enlightenment." Precisely because of this, it is difficult to find works in traditional Chinese classics that are "comprehensive in scope, thorough in deliberation, and detailed in explanation." This is also an important manifestation of the differences between Eastern and Western cultures, as well as a concrete embodiment of the concept of "unity between heaven and humanity." Second, even in the traditional Chinese discourse system, when it comes to expression, schools and sects do not pay much attention to the public of concepts and propositions. This point is consistent with the traditional Chinese category system. For instance, the concept or category of "the Way" (Dao), though central to traditional Chinese culture, has different connotations in schools such as Confucianism, Taoism, Chan Buddhism, and the School of War. For example, to convey the realm of "unity between heaven and humanity," Confucianism expresses it as "harmony," Taoism as "wandering," and Chan Buddhism as "subtlety." Therefore, the individuality and non-uniformity of concepts and categories have brought great difficulties to discourse communication, especially creating a situation where later researchers interpret texts as "the benevolent see benevolence, the wise see wisdom." Finally, due to the above characteristics, traditional Chinese discourse reflects the features of the survival methods of traditional Chinese people: this is that the Chinese people have long been in an agrarian-based natural economy and a feudal era, where only the thunder of heaven and the edicts or decrees of the emperor—such as hegemonic discourse—existed, with no possibility of equal dialogue with heaven or the emperor, or of freely expressing individual survival needs. Whether in Chinese philosophy or Chinese art studies, the individual and the person are considered meaningful only when they are integrated into the collective human race and the rational society. The emphasis on social morality in Confucian culture and the idea of "using literature to carry the Way" has always been dominant, while cultural trends that promote individual emotional and personality expression and self-expressionist literature have become targets of criticism. Ji Kang and Li Zhi can be seen as victims of this discourse context. From this, we can see that traditional Chinese discourse excessively emphasizes "intuitive understanding" while neglecting "verbal transmission," thereby greatly weakening its inherent functions of dialogue and expression. In this discourse, there is only the whole and no individual, and at the same time, there is a tendency for humans and language to diverge. Moreover, this discourse system is not very suitable for the freedom, equality, and openness of "expression."