Art And Responsibility

Xu Xiake is something of a "familiar stranger" in Chinese literary history.Conventional understanding of this literary figure is based on the all-too-familiar praise attributed to him,but the ubiquity of such praise veils the truth behind Xu Xiake.With this veil in place,our understanding of Xu Xiake sinks into superficiality,and his true essence eludes us.This thesis,by focusing on the subject of behavior,will start off from the relationship between art and life,especially as it relates to responsibility,and will offer a look at the intimate connection between life,aesthetics and morality found in Xu Xiake’s Travel Diaries,with the hopes of uncovering both the hidden meaning and the poetic value of Xu Xiake’s life of adventure.The first section borrows from the literary theoretic concepts of fiction and language as a discourse into the literary quality of Xu Xiake’s Travel Diaries.Xu Xiake’s Travel Diaries is composed of diary entries,topological records and travel notes,three characteristic writing styles whose common feature is nonfictional realism.After discovering that fiction really isn’t the core feature of literature,we can begin to look with renewed insight upon the diary entry as a style of composition.Xu Xiake’s Travel Diaries has always been well known for its scientific treatment of geography,and yet its pages are brimming with the emotional voice of literary language.A common misconception about Xu Xiake is his descriptions of daily life are overly practical,if not to say dry and even boring.However,among the detailed descriptions of his journeys,one can discover that Xu Xiake ’s portrayals of his personal experiences are vivid and even artistic.While a typical account of everyday life uses rigid and inflexible language,the narrative in Xu Xiake’s Travel Diaries is the incarnation of a truly aesthetic experience,proving that ordinary need not be synonymous with tedious.In section two,the role which art plays in everyday life is used as a starting point for diving into Xu Xiake’s world of aestheticism.The aesthetic experience of the behavior subject cannot be viewed as simply a temporary stirring of emotions or a moment of clarity.Rather,the self should be thought of as a foundation upon which we can appreciate the aesthetic world.Only when aesthetic experience is defined in terms of self-awareness can the subject of aestheticism fully exhibit that unique part of itself which belongs to the self.Xu Xiake braved dangerous ridges and deserted ranges,remote caverns and deep caves,all the while tempting fate in his pursuit of the sort of"exotic" scenery which would allow his "spirit to take flight".This far surpasses the type of scenic tour with which the elegant literati of the time would have contented themselves.Here,"exotic" refers to the extrinsic ethos which Xu Xiake attributed to nature,as well as to the intrinsic quality of his own self;the self through which he derived his sense of accomplishment.The sublime aesthetic experience of Xu Xiake permeates the everyday accounts of his daily life,seeming to lend comprehension to an infinite breadth of mind;suggesting that calm observations and quiet reveries bring about true feeling,reflecting the continuity between everyday life and aesthetics.The third section explores that which life lends to art.The unity of personality is a part of,and is built for,everyday life.Aesthetic experience is the behavior subject’s repeated spiritual transcendence,but it is exactly because of this that only in everyday life can the aesthetic subject become the object of scrutiny.In Xu Xiake’s Travel Diaries,we can see the tension between the aesthetic and the worldy.In the secular world there exists the need to break away from the sordid,as well as the tenderness of human feeling.Xu Xiake put the full force of his will into every decision he made,persistent in his pursuit of the most dangerous path.He was neither lured in by the temptation of comfort,nor was he caught up in disingenuous human relationships.More than that,he was unyielding in the face of death.The hardships he encountered during his travels were both the inevitable outcome of his aestheticism,as well as the necessary results of his spiritual experience.The source of his aesthetic experience was action,not imagination.Section four expounds on the moral philosophy behind Xu Xiake ’s appreciation of aesthetics.The meaning of life cannot be derived entirely from the aesthetics;we must therefore draw from the study of ethics to fill in the missing pieces.Personal ethics and point of view are bound together,only when a philosophy of aesthetics is rooted in morality and conduct can it be substantiated.Without a sense of what sort of behavior is "proper",our experience of that which is "beautiful" loses its value.Literature is the study of people,and people are subjects with moral responsibility.With the help of Kant’s theory of the "sublime",we can see clearly Xu Xiake’s true inner qualities.His ability to overcome his fear of death,his escape from the vulgarity of social relations,and his detachment from the comforts and pleasures of life are all clear examples of his indelible will.The closing comments serve as a discourse for the modern significance of Xu Xiake’s writings.Xu Xiake genuinely identified the meaning of life,and in his own life,poetry played a very real and vivid role.More than a personal reflection of one’s ardent love for nature,Xu Xiake’s Travel Diaries is a pursuit of one’s own self.