▲Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics (Visual China)
The Beijing Winter Olympics came to an end, and the opening ceremony that surprised the world is still vividly remembered. Outsiders watch the hilarity, and it is not difficult for the Chinese people themselves to go out: whether it is the eight Tang poems that quote the scene in the opening countdown to the festival propaganda film, or the Olympic five rings presentation link borrows the meaning and momentum of "the water of the Yellow River from heaven", all of which are soaked with the light and romance from the aesthetics of the Tang Dynasty.
Although it is thousands of years apart, it is clearly close at hand, the creators speak clearly, and the appreciators listen to tacit understanding, all of which are the embodiment of cultural consciousness. Standing on the peak of the Tang Dynasty, with this self-knowledge and introspection about where their own culture came from and where it went, we urgently asked: "How do the Tang people see themselves and others, native and foreign?" What kind of worldview and zeitgeist does a Tang dynasty person find himself in? What is the source of their open and inclusive mentality? (The Imagination of the Tang Dynasty: 7 Aspects of the Atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty, published by CITIC Publishing Group) "Why did the Tang Dynasty have such strong vitality? ("Tang: The Golden Age of Chinese History", published by Life, Reading, and Xinzhi Sanlian Bookstore) Only by studying and reorganizing the aesthetic genes it has accumulated can we reproduce "the beauty of Chinese history, the beauty of mountains and rivers, and the beauty of culture."
Huangguang Rushing Stream: The Aesthetic Essence of Datang Meteorology
Since the Baishi Daoist stated in the "Poetry Sayings" that "the weather wants to be thick", "meteorology" is in the high position in the category of classical Chinese aesthetics. Meteorology shows the life charm and style of the subject with the help of an image with certain aesthetic significance, which is an aesthetic category with a high degree of unity of content and form. Inspired by it, the Song Dynasty poet Yan Yu summarized the development and evolution of poetry and the style of creation in "Canglang Poetry", and derived the term "Sheng Tang Meteorology". "The poems of the Princes of the Tang Dynasty... It is both majestic and meteorologically majestic", only talking about the "thick" and "majestic" side, there is no mention of the fresh and beautiful wind of the pastoral school, and the sound of the chaotic world is excluded, so it is biased. Along Yan Yu's theory, later generations have many controversies over the theory of "Sheng Tang Meteorology", especially since the 1950s and the present, forming three stages.
In the first stage, in 1954, Shu Wu first proposed the term "Sheng Tang Meteorology". In that year, Lin Geng published the article "Poet Li Bai", and in 1958, he published "Sheng Tang Meteorology" to discuss it in a special chapter, pointing out that Sheng Tang meteorology is "a kind of era character formed by vigorous thoughts and feelings", and its essence is "vigorous vitality, the melody of youth", which was once highly endorsed by the academic community, and "Sheng Tang Meteorology" became one of the most important theoretical categories describing Tang Dynasty poetry.
In the second stage, in the 1980s, the broadening of academic horizons raised the academic understanding of "Sheng Tang Meteorology" to the level of artistic style and aesthetic style, and scholars regarded it as the common aesthetic style of various arts of Sheng Tang. Scholars such as Pei Fei questioned Lin Geng's point of view, arguing that the "Prosperous Tang" in literary history and the "Prosperous Era" in history cannot be compared, and there is no necessary connection between the two, and if Li Baizhi's poem "Sees the Great and Does Not See the Sorrow", it is a blinding eye. The "Sheng Tang Meteorology" has a richer and more complex connotation, of which "there are high-pitched, confident, majestic, ethereal, but also low, desolate, lonely and sad"
In the third stage, since the 1990s, scholars represented by Yuan Xingpei and Zhang Fuqing have further expanded the connotation and extension of "Sheng Tang Meteorology" and formed a composite concept - many styles are mixed with imagery, artistic conception and temperament, and the fragrance of the garden is concentrated and unified in the style of the times, and even manifested as keen insight and noble sense of social responsibility.
Inheriting the words of the predecessors, Chen Wangheng, Fan Minghua and other co-authored the book "Datang Meteorology: A Study of Aesthetic Consciousness in the Tang Dynasty" (published by Jiangsu People's Publishing House), which pushes the study of "Sheng Tang Meteorology" to a newer height and a larger space, starting from Tang poetry, but not poetry, but constructing an overall "landscape" of Datang culture that matches and adapts to all material and non-material foundations such as its dynastic system and social context. Therefore, the weather in the book is the overall aesthetic style of flesh and blood, rhyme, greece, decency, sentiment and artistic conception that are indiscriminately coveted in poetry and scattered in other fields, and it is also the overall spiritual outlook of an era, and the music, calligraphy, dance, costumes, etc. in the book reflect the magnificent and broad meaning and wind bone of the Tang Dynasty aesthetics.
It is not difficult to think that Professor Chen Wangheng and other ideas condensed in more than 700,000 words and more than 700 pages are imaginary: even the most splendid achievements of civilization are created by people. In addition to material civilization, the essence of Datang meteorology lies precisely in the immaterial spiritual outlook of that era, and in the understanding, pursuit and creation of beauty by people at that time. The Tang people paid attention to "turning to many teachers", not only had the courage to break the shackles of the beautiful literary style and aesthetic taste since the Six Dynasties, but also were good at humbly studying and absorbing the ideological nutrition in it, so that they could be free and active in thought and speak in a grand way; in the face of ugliness, they critique and resisted the torch, fought bravely, and threw care and affection at the weak and spoke on their behalf. Therefore, Datang Meteorology naturally has a Jiongjiong personality, the so-called "see deer when the forest is deep, see whales when the sea is blue", it is this abundant vitality that constitutes such an era of brilliant light.
▲The story of the movie "The Legend of the Demon Cat" takes place in Chang'an City during the Tang Dynasty (official stills)
To beautify people: it is necessary to sublimate the weather into style
In the process of the development of Chinese civilization for thousands of years, in a specific time period (such as a dynasty), political economy, social customs, popular aesthetics and other factors work together to form a dominant literary and artistic trend and aesthetic trend with certain commonalities. Datang Meteorology is a typical example of this.
Datang Meteorology is a complex and multi-dimensional, colorful and diverse complex. The Tang Dynasty showed us how to be "inclusive", showing the inclusive spirit of the sea. Chen Wangheng summarized this: the establishment of the aesthetic concept of datang is not only inheriting the Sui system, but also not conforming to the old ways. The openness and self-confidence and introspective spirit upheld by the Tang Dynasty brought about the great liberation of aesthetic concepts, the prosperity of literature and art, and the richness and variety of cultural life. Specifically, tang poems that educate and educate the United States have nurtured and cultivated the aesthetic spirit, concepts and tastes of the Chinese nation, and have concluded homophonic co-rhythms, remote correspondences and general associations with other disciplines such as painting and dance in the same period.
It is worth mentioning that the aesthetic ideal of "both reasonableness, mutual integration of force and rhyme, combination of rigidity and softness, and unity of image and meaning" formed by the aesthetic culture of the Chinese nation has taken the Tang Dynasty as a major turning point: First, the pluralistic integration and new creation of the Three Religions of Confucianism, Taoism, And Buddhism, han and foreign nationalities in this period enriched and developed the aesthetic consciousness of the Chinese nation. Second, the artistic, aesthetic and secularization of life has developed unprecedentedly, the "female inscription poems" and "wounded poems" have taken care of women and marginalized people, and the prominence and respect for "people" such as urban and architectural design reflect the tolerance and maturity of the entire Tang Dynasty culture and social psychology. Third, Datang's rich and enterprising spirit and great power style are fully reflected through the basic aesthetic character of Datang art's atmosphere, brilliance and agility.
With pearls and jade in the front, Datang aesthetic consciousness is the "source flow form" of contemporary Chinese literary and artistic undertakings, which provides a benchmark for the development of the latter. Broadly speaking, the golden age of great prosperity in the development of literature and art in which we are located is comparable in a broad sense with that of the flourishing Tang Dynasty, and we can learn useful enlightenment from it. From a new historical perspective, we must sublimate "meteorology" into "grandeur" and, more specifically, create an advanced culture with broad boldness, inclusiveness, and ahead of the times in the new era. Taking Tang as a mirror, Chinese style is a manifestation of profound traditional culture and Chinese people's independence, self-improvement, independent innovation, and is an all-inclusive, broad and profound publicity.
Beauty and Beauty: Chinese Aesthetics on a New Journey
Cultural self-awareness is only the beginning of cultural self-consciousness, and cultural introspection and cultural innovation on this basis are at a higher level. Although the Tang Dynasty created a highly developed human civilization, although it is worthy of everyone's expectation, we must learn from the spirit of the Tang Dynasty that is good at and willing to innovate, inherit it in combination with the current new conditions of the times, and rise to the level of Chinese aesthetic spirit to be expanded.
In my opinion, Chinese aesthetics is first and foremost "macro aesthetics". Whenever the culture of the Chinese nation reaches a major historical juncture, it can feel the changes in the fortunes of the country, the tide of the times, and the precursors of the times. Therefore, when reflecting on the historical experience of Chinese aesthetics represented by the aesthetics of the Tang Dynasty, it is very necessary to examine and judge it in the general context of world culture, in order to accurately find the positioning of Chinese civilization in the coordinates of globality and synchronicity. Secondly, Chinese aesthetics is "people's aesthetics" and "life aesthetics", paying attention to cultural people. We can resonate, empathize, and coexist with the Tang people, but the "beauty of the neon feather" ultimately covers life and people themselves, and pursues "beautiful living". If any civilization cannot be copied, passed on or promoted, it is just an old specimen that has lost its vitality in the history museum. Chang Hua, the author of "Going to the Tang Dynasty" (published by Guangxi Normal University Press), used the metaphor of "the stars are hanging down and the wilderness is wide, and the moon is gushing and the rivers are flowing", describing the Tang Dynasty meteorology as "always guiding people to the road of continuous exploration". Today's China is a modern country that advocates individuals to live more dignified, and Chinese aesthetics should present the ultimate projection and concern for life, life and people, not only pay attention to the aesthetic indoctrination function, but also strengthen the care and immersion of human nature, so as to solve contemporary problems such as the confrontation between people and society, the alienation between people, and the loss of people's self.
▲Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics (Xinhua News Agency)
Speaking of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the "snowflake" symbol that brings together the names of the participating countries and the two elements of The Chinese knot and the Greek olive leaf is brought together to perfectly interpret the aesthetics of the big country of "each with its own beauty, beauty and commonality". Looking at the opening ceremonies of the two Olympic Games in 2008 and 2022, it just covers the corresponding two sides of "high-mindedness" and "harmony" in Datang meteorology. The flow of 14 years is enough to witness the advancement of modern Chinese aesthetics and tastes - the pomp and torch are visible to the naked eye, but the pattern and style are much larger. As director Zhang Yimou said in an interview, the opening ceremony to create a focus on the "people's nature" of simple aesthetics is the innovation and sublimation of traditional aesthetics in the context of the new era.
In short, Datang meteorology is a general summary of the spiritual outlook of a specific era, but it also has the continuity of pulse transmission, so we cannot pursue the unique beauty of the Tang Dynasty's "lone peak protrusion", we must take advantage of the height of the mountain, forge thousands of meteorology, work hard, continue to be open and calm, and walk towards beauty on the new journey to form nourishment and care for all mankind, which is also a proposition worthy of Chen Wangheng and many scholars to strengthen the analysis of the future.
Author: Pan Fei
Edit: Jin Jiuchao
Editor-in-Charge: Zhu Zifen
*Wenhui exclusive manuscript, please indicate the source when reprinting.