Decadence And Modernity, Of Modern Origin (1573-1644)

This paper, taking the word "decadence"as the discourse,discusses systematically the decadent aesthetic style represented in the scholars and literature in late Ming Dynasty. Decadence here is an aesthetic spirit of "demoralization", manifests mainly as a social and literary aesthetic style. The scholars in late Ming Dynasty elude the discipline of the noble Confucian spirit through such social aesthetic style and show this grotesque style by living a self-exiled and distorted life; with the scholars eluding into the artful social life, this style also shows a refined aesthetic feature. Decadent social aesthetic style is the origin of decadent literary aesthetic style and in turn, the latter is a projection of the former. As the reflection of the scholar's life, the literature in late Ming also has the decadent aesthetic features of integration, grotesque, sophistication. The decadent aesthetic style of the scholars in late Ming is a negative way to remove the possibility of social repression, a pursuit of individual freedom.As to the self-exiled life of the scholars in late Ming, whether it is the aesthetic feature of a wild life which considers "wildness" and "strangeness" as beauty, or the aesthetic inclination of an extravagant life which takes "gorgeousness "and "oddness" for beauty, or the aesthetic interest of an indulge life which looks" infatuation" and "vulgarness"as beauty, they are the representations of the decadent aesthetic style of the scholars in late Ming. As to the artful life of the scholars in late Ming, whether it is the aesthetic interest of the diet with "taste" and "savour" as beauty, or the aesthetic pursuit of the clothing with "colorfulness" and "newness" as beauty, or the aesthetic purport of home life with "simpleness" and "interest" as beauty, they are all the concrete expressions of the repressed taste, vision and other sensatory desire of the scholars in late Ming. As the representation of the decadent social aesthetic style of the scholars in late Ming, the decadent aesthetic style in literature with the characteristics of integration, ugliness and sophistication also signs the liberation of the personality in late Ming. Compared with romanticism, individual liberation Wei and Jin, Western individualism, the decadent aesthetic style in late Ming reveals the significance of modernity of personal liberation. This decadent aesthetic style implanted with the spirit of individual liberation spreads continuously, and deeply roots in the "Dream of Red Mansions", the literature in late Qing and even into Chinese literature in twentieth century. The study of decadence in late Ming not only constructs a new vision of the modernity research in late Ming, and marks the origin of Chinese modernity, but also legitimizes "decadency" and seeks China's own modernity in the diverse meaning of modernity. This paper first interprets and reflects the domain of modernity, explains the powerfulness and problematic of this domain and the causes why it has become a key word in Chinese academia, then clarifies the connotation of modernity from time in the sense of the origin, mobility in the sense of nature and paradox in the sense of motivation. And in the debate of "Chinese" and "modernity", proposes to seek China's own modernity on the base of multiple modernities. And then clarifies the time of Chinese modernity. Reflects the historical impact, the content and the modern significance of the theory that Chinese modernity begins in Song Dynasty, points out that because of the predicaments of this theory, it is reasonable to take late Ming as the logical starting point of Chinese modernity and surveys the late Ming modernity from the aspects of economy, ideology, and so on. The multi-cultural landscape of the late Ming promotes multi-dimensional interpretations, and the practice of emphasizing the modernity in late Ming from the aspect of decadence, of revealing decadence as a "demoral"aesthetic style has denoted individualism.Then discusses systematically the decadent aesthetic style represented by the scholars and literature in late Ming. The interpretations of "Style is the man" in western theory and "Writing mirrors the writer "in Chinese tradition exist in the aesthetic field of literature, but as the representation of literature and even the aesthetic style of the individuality, the equivalence between style and personality means that style has crossed the literary aesthetic boundary and refers to the social domain, that is, personality is the style. Therefore, the decadent social aesthetic style of the scholars in late Ming determines the decadent style of literature. No matter the grotesque decadent social aesthetic style or the refined decadent aesthetic style of the scholars in late Ming or the decadent aesthetic style of integration, grotesque, sophistication in literature, they are all against the Confucian aesthetic style, that is, being "gentle" and "honest", showing the symptoms of personal liberation in modern sense. And in the comparison with the concepts of romanticism, individualism and so on, clarifies the connotation of the modernity of the decadent aesthetic style in late Ming, therefore, in the aspect of the decadent theory, excavates its reasonable value and corrects the vile reputation of "immorality "imposed on decadency. Then sorts out the spread of decadent aesthetic style in late Ming. The decadent aesthetic style represented in "Dream of Red Mansions" of representation, the appearance of the ugly and grotesque decadent aesthetic style in late Qing literature, or the rethinking of the decadent aesthetic style in Chinese literature in twentieth century are all the continuity and variant of the decadent aesthetic style in late Ming, which prove once more the great historical influence this style.Finally, by researching historically the western concepts of decadence, clarifies the process in which the meaning of the western decadence shifts from classical ontology to the modern aesthetic modernity. The dependence of the decadent aesthetic style in late Ming on the economic, political and other factors already shows the signs of modernity, which is earlier than the modern concept of the Western decadence. Although the differences between culture and economy in Chinese and Western countries determine the spread of the concept of decadency, the modern meaning of decadency in modern Chinese and western countries are communis. On this basis, seeks and deepens the significance of decadent aesthetic style in late Ming.In short, takes the literature with the decadent aesthetic style in late Ming as an original source which leads Chinese literature to modern time, seeks China's own modernity in the diverse modernities, which is different from the theories of "end of history" and "cultural confliction", and this expresses the harmonious vision of the communication and understanding among human cultures.