A Study On Liuxizai’s Artistic Idea

Liu Xizai was a scholar in the field of literary and artistic thought in the late Qing dynasty in China,and he has written and expounded on important aspects of literature and classical literary theory.Since the beginning of the Republic of China,there have been special editions of newspapers and magazines on Liu Xizai’s literary works,and after the founding of the state,there have been numerous studies on Liu Xizai’s literary theory and thought from the perspectives of literary and aesthetic disciplines.By contrast,the development of Liu Xizai’s artistic thought and theory from an artistic perspective is still in its infancy.Liu Xizai is a leading exponent of classical art theory,and the two works ’Introduction to the Arts’ and ’Yuyi Yoyin’ are the essence of Liu Xizai’s literary and artistic thought,and his artistic thought is an important part of the traditional Chinese art theory system.As an important part of the traditional Chinese art theoretical system,Liu Xizai’s artistic thought should be considered not only in terms of his upbringing,touristic experiences and the context of his time,but also in terms of his ontological view of art,his understanding and values,as well as his significance and contribution to contemporary society.Liu xi-zai time of life is the history of the Chinese society from the ancient to modern alternating period,the formation of the artistic thought liu xi-zai nature cannot leave the interwoven influence of Chinese traditional Confucianism,Buddhism and Taoism,its absorption of Chinese traditional ideology on the one hand,from their own growth,communication of different cultures in contact with comprehension,on the other hand also is associated with the social environment in the late qing dynasty,Looking back to the ancient times under this great background,it has gradually become a fashion in the late Qing Dynasty.It is precisely on the basis of sorting out the previous generation and coming up with new ideas that Liu Xizai sets up his own characteristic artistic ideological system with the artistic techniques of summarizing this and that of summarizing more and less.First of all,the starting point of Liu Xizai’s artistic thought is "Tao",which is the origin and end-result of all art.Liu thinks that "Tao" is the origin of "yi",and "Yi" in any form is one of the manifestations and forms of "Tao".His discussion of "Yi" is also orderly developed under the scope of "Tao".Liu Xizai holds that "Tao" can be divided into "Tao of Heaven" and "humanity"."Tao of Heaven" is the rule of the objective world,and "humanity" is the emotion of the subject itself.Artistic creators generate "wen" through the perception of "Tao",and the original "wen" has "meaning" due to the emotion of creators.On the contrary,the audience feels and understands the "text" through the "meaning" in the works of art,and then makes clear the "tao" contained in it through the perception of the "text".As the origin of art,"Tao" integrates and derives from the dynamic interaction with "wen" and "yi",and further generates many artistic theories and forms.Furthermore,art’s specific presentation of ’taosim’ cannot be separated from the intervention of both the subject and the object.In his understanding of the subject and object of art,Liu Xizai mainly discusses the qi that the creator should embody,the correctness and truth of the presentation,and the chapter and style and variations that the artwork should follow.Besides,the reflection on ’art as the union of heaven and human’ is also an important aspect of his artistic thought.Liu Xizai’s idea of the ’harmony of heaven and man’ not only highlights the relationship between heaven and man in creation,but also emphasises the expression and release of the subject’s emotions,seeking to find a common ground between the two through the detailed portrayal of the artwork and the expression of the creator’s emotions.This is ultimately internalised in the reflection on ’art as the union of heaven and human’.Moreover,the outstanding feature of Liu Xizai’s artistic thought is his ability to refer to the general principles of art through the specificity of art categories,which is inseparable from his judgement of artistic values and the use of artistic dialectics.For instance,literary and artistic theories have always focused on the character of art and the quality of people.From the perspective of the dialectic of art and human qualities,Liu Xizai creatively put forward the thesis that "art is like a human being" after proposing in separate categories such as "poetry is born out of human qualities" and "books are like a human being".This is a general summary of the relevant issues in the past.Liu Xizai’s ideas on the interrelationship between inheritance and development,for example,suggest that art theory and creation should follow the development of the times and innovate and change in the process of development.Many of the concepts in Liu Xizai’s artistic thought are strongly dialectical,and this is an important part of his artistic thought system that cannot be ignored.Eventually,Liu Xizai’s system of artistic thought also provides inspiration for the construction and improvement of contemporary art research and theoretical systems.Liu Xizai not only composes and summarises the traditional Chinese art theory system,inspiring a comprehensive and integrated research perspective in modern art research,but also proposes on this basis the idea of building an art system that is clear and sensible,grasps the whole,and adapts to the times,emphasising the need to resonate with the times and create art theories and works that are in line with the spirit of the times,on the basis of continuing the art theories of his predecessors.Admittedly,Liu Xizai’s artistic thought was not flawless.For instance,his belief that art should serve ethical and moral values,and his ignorance of the contradictions of the times of change in which he lived,are unavoidable and understandable,not only for their own reasons,but also because of the social environment.However,on the whole,the study of Liu Xizai’s artistic thought can not only be used as a basis for looking back at his predecessors,but can also help to clarify the key points in the transformation of the classical art theory system into a modern art theory system,and can also provide useful reference for the current call for and construction of an artological system with national characteristics.