On The Thought Of Zhuangzi And The Self-consciousness Of Literature And Art In Wei-Jin Period

Zhuangzi was a great thinker and main founder of Taoism school. His ideology made a significant and far-reaching impact on the development of Chinese thoughts and culture, set the tone for the Chinese classical artistic spirit and aesthetic character, and promoted the development of Chinese literature and art by its unique ideological purport, humane care, aesthetic tendency and text mode. Selecting the special historical period of Wei-Jin as an entry point, which brought the bloom of Zhuang School and the self-consciousness of Chinese classical literature and art, this dissertation aims to combine the study on the circulation and development of Zhuang school in Wei-Jin period with the analysis of the social life, culture, ideology, literacy, artistic creation and aesthetic art theory of that time. This dissertation further reveals the ideological and cultural mechanisms, and the internal conversion links by which Zhuangzi's theory produced its first effects in the construction of Chinese classical art and aesthetic system and drew the first stage ideological pedigree for the "gene" of Zhuangzi in the "Spirit of Chinese Art"; also focuses on the process of the self-conciousness of Chinese classical literature and art in Wei-Jin period, and its interaction with the circulation and development of Zhuangzi's theory in the period.This dissertation proposes that Zhuangzi's ideology is essentially a philosophy of life which pursues the spiritual freedom, personal liberation and value of life, and stresses the harmony of human, nature and society. Zhuangzi respected the life realm of "Xiaoyao"(free and unfettered), the ideal personality of Zhi, Zhen, Shen, Sheng" (the greatest, truest, sacred and wisest sages), the spirit cultivation way of "Xujing" (emptiness and stillness) and the life attitude of "You" (retired but not isolated from the rest of the world).All these aspects are highly consistent with and closely related to the law of aesthetic activity and the spirit of artistic creativity, which is purposeless, non-interest and non-utilitarianism. However, the aesthetic significance and artistic value of Zhuangzi's ideology were historically generated during the process of its spreading and developing. The specific political environment, economic structure, and the social culture and spiritual atmosphere of Wei-Jin period not only provided the suitable soil for the wide spread and evolution of Zhuangzi's theory, but also carried forward its intrinsic aesthetic and artistic content, and made it an important ideological catalyst for the "self-consciousness of Chinese classical literature and art" in Wei-Jin period.This dissertation points out that Zhuangzi's ideology promoted the self-consciousness of Chinese classical literature and art of Wei-Jin period in four areas:Firstly, the Metaphysics in Wei-Jin period inherited and developed the theory of Zhuangzi by probing into the main topics such as "Music without Emotion" " Argument between Word and Meaning ", " Saint Affectionate or Ruthless ", etc. It also highlighted the latent artistic quality and aesthetic tendency of Zhuangzi's ideology, revealed the unique nature of arts and the special laws of aesthetic from several aspects (like thinking in images, language form, emotion and so on), broke the shackles of Confucian utilitarian concept of literature and art, and stimulated the independence of art noumenon ideologically and theoretically.Secondly, under the ideological influence of Zhuangzi, the scholar groups of Wei and Jin dynasties formed the "Wei-Jin Demeanor", which not only reflected the scholars class'subjective spiritual self-consciousness, personality liberation and moral independence, but also made them transcend the Confucian ethical code in ideology, being independent and free; in behavior act at will and conform to naturalism; in life withdraw from society and live in nature, addicted to drugs and alcohol; and on interests find spiritual sustenance in literature and art, being elegant and graceful. They gradually deepened their understanding of the laws of artistic creation and aesthetic and began to pursue a new meaning of life ideals and values brought by the literature and art. Taking artistic creation as an effective way to realize life value and to show the ultimate concern for life, they conscientiously engaged in artistic and aesthetic creation, and contributed greatly to the awakening of art subject.Thirdly, along with the independence of art noumenon and the awakening of art subject, people in Wei-Jin period continuously deepened understanding of the unique laws of aesthetic and artistic creation, especially under the ideological influence of Zhuangzi, they generated the art and aesthetic theories, such as the creation of the methodology of "Zhongshen Qingxing" (attention to the spirit and contempt for the form), the aesthetic theory of "Xujing" (emptiness and stillness), the art imagination theory of " Shensi" (spiritual thought or meditation), and the aesthetic principles of advocating the "natural", etc. All these set the tone for the Chinese classical art and aesthetic system.Fourthly, because the scholar group began to consciously engage in the art creation, appreciation, and commentation, the themes and genres of literary and artistic creation were greatly expanded, and a large number of works with profound historical impact on Chinese literature and art were produced. Especially in areas of the literature, painting, calligraphy, music, and other fields, the aesthetic creation of the Wei-Jin scholar people played a pioneering role by opening up the later development path and providing good examples for these main categories of Chinese classical literature and art.