The Study On Huai Nan Zi’s Literature Thought Based On The Theory Of Tao

Huai Nan Zi written in the earlier of Western Han Dynasty is the masterpiece ofmore than16million words. This comprehensive work, obsorbing the ideas of allacademic schools in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods(770-221B.C.),shows its unique academic proposition in metaphysics, worldly affairs and the art ofgoverning. This disssertation regards the theory of Tao as the basement of the ideaisticsystem, which is also the foundation of the study and reasoning. Huai Nan Zi organizes aset of interrelated ideas or principles including the arche theory about Tao giving thebirth to all things, the ontology about all things to whole, methodology ofspontaneousness and inaction, the theory of humanity on human nature and fatality, aswell as aesthetic representation of Tao’s emitting De. The doctorate gives a broadoverview of Huai Nan Zi’s system of aesthetic ideas by means of combining theory ofTao with worldly affairs and deeply reasoning. Acturally, aesthetic consciousness deeplyrooted in the notion of Tao penetrated nature, society, life, and art.The thesis takes Huainanzi literature thought based on the theory of Tao as researchproject, trying to grasp wholly aesthetic ideas by comprehensive reading and analyzingthe text of Huai Nan Zi. Huai Nan Zi holds that Tao is the “whole” which is both thebeginning of everything and entia of “being” and “nothingness”. Thereupon experiencingTao becomes the way of human spirit amalgamating with the “whole”, constructing itsdistinctive values which are basic prinples to explaining art phenomenon and the topicsof nature, society and humanity relating to the art phenomenon.The whole paper is composed of seven chapters.Chapter one is introduction which gives a view of the study achievements of HuaiNan Zi’s literature thought, discusses the relationship between Wenzi which is written onbamboo slips by being discovered in China since last century and Huai Nan Zi, andargues the cultural conditions of forming literature thought in Huai Nan Zi.Chapter two gives the viewpoints on the writer of Huai Nan Zi by using literaturetextual criticism. The author of this paper holds that Liu An is the only writer of HuaiNan Zi though discriminating three points on this problem. Meanwhile, the author puts forward a new view of the case of Liu An’s rebellion.Chapter three analyses the core conception of Tao itself, explaining the differentmeanings in the original languge, Confucianism, Taoists, Legalists, and Yijing, which isthe basement of interpretation of Tao emerging more than600times in Huai Nan Zi.Chapter four focuses on the genesis of aesthetic consciousness, considered with aview to its beauty and music. This chapter has three important points. The first one isexplaining the relationship between Tao’s producing everything and spontaneousness-inaction. The second one is discussing the origin of beauty and music. The third one isexamining the educational roles of art.Chapter five is related to the representation of aesthetic consciousness and itsconstruction. The author takes Tong, Bian, Xing, Ming, Shen, and Ming as itsrepresentations, focusing on the theory of Tongbian, idea of Xingming, and view ofShenming.Chapter six suggests the shaping of personality and self-cultivation of subject,incluting two aspects: the connection between uncaring the desire to secular world andshaping of personality; association of studying hard and self-cultivation of subject.Chapter seven takes theoretical research on the fields of Toa’s cultural and aestheticdimensions, discussiong the unity of aesthetic conceptions and its representions,argueing the dialectic relations between contents and forms.The part of conclusion makes a summary of philosophy methodology such ascombining Tao and Affair. Liu An tried to formulate his ideology by clear classconsciousness.