Past, Is Past

Aesthetic movement sprung up in England and France in the late 19th century. Aesthetic artists held in esteem the literary creative principle "Art for art' s sake" . The artistic trend of thoughts based on Kant' s aesthetic viewpoints: "disinterested aesthetic judgement" and "No purpose is the purpose" . Coleridge and Keats were the aesthetic pioneers whom they acknowleged generally. Wilde was the leader of the aesthetic movement. His aesthetic theory was systematic and special. He put forward some literary opinions; "Art is supreme" and "Nothing but beauty has eternal value" . His novel, fairy tales and drama embodied his aesthetic thoughts to the full.Inheriting from aestheticism risen in England and France, Japanese aestheticism, with its own characteristics, was a combination of exosticsm.Kawabata Yasunari was the great famous novelist in Japan after the World war II.He was the identity of aesthetics and modernity. He created unique aesthetic style: beauty of lonlyness, beauty of grief and melancholy, beauty of death.There was not aestheticism in China to be more specific because of Chinese particular national conditions. But as a trend of thoughts, it was partly hidden and partly visible in the works of the Creation Society and the Crescent poetic School.Feng yuan jun, Su xue lin, Lu yin and Shi ping mei all studied in Beijing Senior Normal University for girls. They were not typical aesthetic writer, but their works all reflected an aesthetic tendency. Because of their diverse characters, experiences, pursuits, artistic accomplishments, their writing style were different from each other.Feng yuan jun' s works embodied an aesthetic emotional appeal implied the emanucipation of her individual, yet, Su xue lin' s works expressed an aesthetic tendency in the course of returning to tradition. Lu yin shew an aesthetic emotional appeal in grief and was sorrowful in tone. Shi ping mei' s works had an aesthetic mood guided by memory.Chinese aestheticism was different from English, Franc and Japaneseaestheticism.It was an aestheticism with spirit as its center. The beauty of spirit outweighed the sensual description . Feng yuan jun, Su xue lin, Lu yin and Shi ping mei were influenced by the thoughts. They all expressed a tendency with spirit as the center in their love and marriage opinions. They seek platonic Love. At the same time, they found their spiritual sustenance in motherly love. Besides, Feng yuan jun' s and Su xue lin' s works both manifestated a picturesque beauty. Lu yin and Shi ping mei were similar in character and disposition. They created a gloomy prospect in their works on purpose. Su xue lin and Lu yin both created their ideal love and marriage in fairy tales.This thesis hope can help open a new horrion for modern Chinese literature research in a way.Wangying (Chinese Modern Literature) Directed by Professor Ren guangtian...