Research On The Category Of "Wei" In Chinese Classical Aesthetics

“Wei” is an important category in Chinese classical aesthetics,which first appeared as the description of the characteristics of food by human sense organs,basically means “taste” in English.The generalization of its meaning ran through the development of Chinese classical aesthetic thought,and finally became an aesthetic category with general significance,which was praised by scholars of all dynasties.It accords with the cultural tradition of “Tao” in Chinese aesthetic thought and has unique aesthetic value.It has been widely involved in artistic creation and aesthetic appreciation.It is consistent with the tendency of Chinese classical aesthetics to emphasize intuition and lyricism,and to give consideration to both subject experience and object expression,which makes it not only the standard of aesthetic appreciation,but also the practice of artistic creation,with a strong life-force signature.As a part of daily diet activities,“Wei” has a rich cognitive basis,which was widely used as a metaphor in the early turn to explain the laws of heaven and earth and the philosophy of governance.Because of the commonness of taste sensation and aesthetic experience,this metaphor finally extends into the field of aesthetic.“Wei” has also been endowed with its own aesthetic significance.Understanding and expounding this unique category is of great significance to the artistic practice of the creators,the aesthetic activities of the appreciators and even the awakening of the national aesthetic interest.With the clue of the development of “Wei”,this paper first sorts out the origin of“Wei” and its process of entering into the field of political philosophy,and probes into its transformation from sense language to aesthetic field,through the understanding of the process of “Wei” of the internal development and external objective reality of the soil to intuitive feel “Wei” and “Beauty” have a connection.Secondly,through the process of echo and fusion of “Wei” and “Meaning” and “Image” as the basic category in Chinese classical aesthetics,“Xiang” is defined as the object of “Wei”,and “Meaning” is regarded as the ultimate goal of taste,in order to analyze its position and importance in the Chinese aesthetic system,we establish its horizontal relation with other aesthetic categories and put “Wei” in the framework of the whole Chinese classical aesthetic category system.Thirdly,from the aesthetic ideal of “Wei” and its aesthetic characteristics,the connotation and characteristics of “Wei” as an aesthetic category are explained.This paper attempts to explore the characteristics of the whole category of “Wei” from a single proposition.Its aesthetic ideal is cut in with “Wei”,“Taste beyond taste” and “ultra-taste”,and the process of its development and expansion of meaning is discussed through the progressive relationship among them,while the typical features are summarized as intuition,polysemy and transcendence,through the analysis of the typical characteristics of the category of “Wei”,the author tries to grasp the characteristics of the category of Chinese classical aesthetics.Finally,the paper discusses the influence of the connotation of “Wei”on the aesthetic evaluation and its value to the modern aesthetic consciousness.