The Generation Of A Classical Aesthetic Category

As one of the most important aesthetic categories in ancient China,"Qi" and its derived sub-concepts have occupied a very important position in art criticism from ancient times to the present.Zhuangzi’s "Listen with Qi",Cao Pi’s "Arts are based on Qi",Xie He’s "Vitality of Qi’s Rhyme" and Su Shi’s " Complete and Full Shen Qi with lingering charm" respectively had profound influence on ancient Chinese music theory,literary theory,painting theory and calligraphy theory,and even inspired the development of different art categories.Concepts such as "Qi Shi","Qi’s Rhyme" and "Qi Xiang" are still common expressions when people criticize literary arts today.From this perspective,the whole set of critical discourse developed by "Qi" has to a large extent shaped the unique character of Chinese aesthetics.According to the method of Begriffsgeschichte,to study such an ancient aesthetic category,we need to make sure that it is examined in the context of history;to understand the development and evolution of such a concept with rich connotation,it is also necessary to start from the source of its language.The literature shows that as early as the Chunqiu Period,"Qi" was endowed with rich connotations by the Chinese ancestors already,and it was inextricably linked with natural phenomena such as "wind" and "cloud".But the literature also reveals a puzzling fact: in the unearthed documents such as Oracle and Bronze inscriptions,"Qi" has never been used as a noun;while in the early handed down documents such as the Chronicle of Zuo,the discourse on "Qi" is often comprehensive and magnificent.This contradiction makes the original meaning of "Qi" more confusing,which makes people long for the reason.With this question,this article has carried out a detailed review of the literature related to "Qi" in the pre-Qin era.With the help of philology and archaeology,the thesis gives a rough description of the process of the formation and evolution of the concept of "Qi" in the pre-Qin period.It also describes the process of its discussion extending from nature to human affairs and then further into the aesthetic field.Inspired by the research results of related scholars,this thesis puts forward a relatively new point of view: the emergence of the concept of "Qi" and the evolution of its connotation have been directly influenced by the music practice and thoughts of the pre-Qin period to a large extent.It is precisely because of the constant participation in the various musical activities of the pre-Qin era that the concept of "Qi" has gained richer connotation and greater potential for interpretation,and has gradually developed into an important category of philosophy and literary criticism in ancient China.