Affiliation:
1. Vilnius University . Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies , Vilnius , Lithuania
Abstract
Summary
The uniqueness of Chinese traditional art and aesthetics is often presented by the popular Chinese saying “art is manifestation of Dao”, which could mean manifestation of truth or authenticity, since Dao 道 in Classical Daoism was understood as authentic being and a source of authenticity. However, the meaning of authenticity/truth (zhen 真 ) in Chinese aesthetics and theories of art seems less discussed, and far more complicated, than the term Dao. This article argues that zhen is no less important for understanding the nature of artistic creativity and expression in Chinese arts and their theories in the historical perspective, and the issue of likeness in art in particular. It demonstrates how this term is related to the evaluation of the work of art, the artist’s expression and self-expression, and his/her relation to the “object” represented in art; in other words, with representation, imagination and morality, which is evident in such compounds as “drawing truthfulness” (xie zhen 写真), and “to create the truth” (chuang zhen 創真). The article deals with the conceptual and historical analysis of the term zhen, aiming to survey the differences and changes of its meaning in theories of painting, literature and “aesthetics of things” (antiquarianism), and to reveal the relations between its philosophical and aesthetic interpretations, especially evident in the Ming dynasty.
Subject
Museology,History,Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Reference48 articles.
1. Barnhart, Richard. “The ‘Wild and Heterodox School’ of Ming Painting.” In Theories of Arts in China, eds. Susan Bush, Christian Murck. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983.
2. Brubaker, David and Chunchen Wang. Jizi and his Art in Contemporary China. Heidelberg, Berlin: Springer, 2015.
3. Chaves, Jonathan. “The Expression of Self in the Kungan School: Non-Romantic Individualism.” In Expressions of Self in Chinese Literature, eds. Robert E. Hegel, Richard C.Hessney. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985.
4. Chaves, Jonathan. “The Panoply of images: A Reconsideration of the Literary Theory of the Kung-an School.” In Theories of Arts in China, eds. Susan Bush, Christian Murck. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983.
5. Chen, Ji.“Physiognomic consciousness as a collective consciousness in Chinese portraiture tradition.” In Consciousness, Theatre, Literature and Arts, 2011, ed. Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012.