A Study of “Sheng” and “Gu” in Aesthetic Criticism of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties

• Main Authors: WU CHING-I, 吳靜怡
• Other Authors: 呂光華
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/37169921094670314918

碩士 === 國立彰化師範大學 === 國文學系 === 97 === With a unique style in Chinese history, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties marks a marvelous milestone in Chinese aesthetics. The aesthetic developments in this era give a new coloring to painting, calligraphy, music and literature. The aesthetic terms developed in this era are often seen in the critical works of painting, calligraphy, music and literature. Take sheng (spirit) and gu (bone) for example. In the artistic critical works, these two terms are frequently used by the critics as critical terms in evaluating works and authors or as the terms of critical objects in discussing creations. How did this unique aesthetic thoughts of China form—transferring these words (sheng and gu) into aesthetic terms? With an attempt to come to a fuller realization of “sheng” and “gu,” this study aims to explore the thinking sources of these two terms and the process of the transferring development. In the aesthetic experiences, the abstract experiences of aesthetic perception, through descriptive and critical languages, are obtained from the descriptions of multiple aspects. Then, through numerous evaluations, the terms coming from these experiences are synthesized as the common images of aesthetic evaluation. This study names these terms with aesthetic senses as “aesthetic terms.” With the popular trend of character evaluation in Wei and Jin Dynasties, the terms of “sheng” and “gu,” in addition to be seen in character evaluation, also appear in the evaluation of artistic creation activities quite often. This study also attempts to discuss how the critics of that time apply “sheng” and “gu,” how these two terms are utilized from the evaluation of characters to the one of artistic and literary creation. This study contains an analysis of the conception of “sheng” and “gu” in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties as well as those in Confucian and Daoist creations of Chin and Han Dynasties; an exploration of “sheng” and “gu” in 〈A New Interpretation of Old Sayings〉; the conception of these two terms in painting theory, calligraphy theory, musical theories and literature theory; an understanding of the aesthetic in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties through the application of “sheng” and “gu;” a research on the aesthetic values of “sheng” and “gu.” At last, this study discusses the process of transferring the concepts of “sheng” and “gu” in daily use into artistic and literary aesthetic terms, the compatibility in different kinds of artistic and literary activities, the relations between the term of “sheng” and “gu,” and some issues of the development of musical theory in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.