Study On The Acceptance And Aesthetic Construction Of Go In Japan

Go originated in China and embodies profound Chinese culture and aesthetics.Later it was introduced into Japan.While absorbing the traditional Chinese go aesthetics,Japan added in its own culture and customs,leading to the creation of Japanese go aesthetics.With the development of Japanese literary and artistic aesthetics,go gradually assimilated into Japanese literary and artistic works,resulting in Japanese go aesthetics on the basis of traditional Japanese literary and artistic aesthetics.The interaction between Chinese and Japanese go aesthetics has benefited the culture in both countries.There are two theories as to how go found its way into Japan.One theory,which is supported by historical evidence,is that go spread to Japan via some Korean Japanese.Another theory,which is legendary in nature,is that go was introduced into Japan by Japanese diplomatic corps to Tang dynasty.Ever since the arrival of go,Japan began to adapt it to suit Japanese nationalism.Meantime to meet the need to know more about Chinese go and the related culture,Chinese go books and manuals were also brought to Japan.As a result,go terminology which reflected much of traditional Chinese culture and aesthetics also spread to Japan.Japan,as a member of the Sinosphere,absorbed Chinese literary and artistic aesthetics in the process of accepting Chinese go terminology.Japan,in incorporating Japanese culture and aesthetic needs into go,created new go terminology,which had a global impact.Japanese aristocracy accepted go and the Chinese aesthetics that went with it.In Japan,playing go was taken as a means to cultivate one’s moral character and mould one’s temperament.Moreover it became a recurring motif in literature and art.Japanese aristocracy continued to enjoy Chinese poetry with the aesthetic experience and sentiments they had inherited from literati and officialdom in feudal China.They also expressed in waka delicate emotions and mono no aware unique to the Japanese nation.Heian Period witnessed the popularity of go in upper class.Playing go,a common delight for the elite during their visits and banquets,began to be incorporated into many ritualistic celebrations.During the process of becoming part of rituals and customs go began to take more aspects of Japanese aesthetics and spiritual pursuit.During the Middle Ages Japan as a society heavily engaged in artistic advancement and cultural pursuits.Consequently Japanese go culture,which was the product of the converging influence of Zen culture,samurai spirit and scholars’ aesthetics,gradually emerged.In modern Japan,the emergence of rich urban life breathed new life to Japanese culture and led to the creation of unique literary and artistic forms,in which go played an important part.In its involvement in literature and arts,go began to assume multiple aesthetic characteristics.In contemporary Japan,go began a gradual transformation under the influence of competitive spirit from western sports.With the establishment of rules in Japanese go,Japanese go began to acquire its status as an art.Presented as both a competitive sport and a form of art in novels and animations,Japanese go reveals much about Japanese spiritual life and aesthetics.The Japanese aesthetics was born out of the aesthetic experiences spearheaded by aristocrats,samurais,monks and priests,and urban residents respectively.Under the influence of modern western aesthetics and Japanese awareness to theorize their culture,Japanese aesthetics received explication from various perspectives.Japanese aesthetes and philosophers crystallized classic Japanese aesthetics into four fundamental concepts,namely mono no aware,yuugen,Wabi-sabi and iki.These four classic aesthetic concepts,created in different times through the aesthetic experiences of different social classes,are involuted and interrelated.On one hand,since its introduction into Japan,go,as a form of art,permeated in Japanese aesthetics and was instrumental in the formulation of aesthetic thoughts and aesthetic consciousness in different periods of Japanese history.On the other hand,go,in its combination with Japanese literature,displays the charm of Japanese aesthetic thoughts,and has evolved to Japanese go aesthetics on the basis of concepts from Japanese literary aesthetics.Chinese go and Japanese go are intimately related.In ancient China,go was dismissed as an accessory,a trick and a craft.It remained a footnote to the explanation of Confucianism,Buddhism and Taoism,and was associated with tales about imaginary beings such as goblins and ghosts.All these also had a heavy influence on the Japanese as go spread across Japan.In modern Japan,however,Japanese go,under the dual influence of Chinese and western culture,began to transform.A complete set of rules governing go as a competitive sport gradually emerged.Japanese go acquired the status of being a form of art,developed into Japanese go culture with Japanese ethos,influenced Chinese go rules and culture,and shaped the development of Chinese go literature and aesthetics.The interaction between Chinese and Japanese go culture facilitates the development of culture in both countries.