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A Study On Lin Yutang's Idea About Performing Live Aesthetics

Posted on:2012-02-04Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:K C CongFull Text:PDF
GTID:1115330335985133Subject:Aesthetic culture of learning
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For the past few years, studying on the cultural concept of humourist Lin Yutang has become a hot spot. However, considering the present situations, it seems that very few of those studies can be able to sailing into the realm of aesthetics or philosophy. Taking a wide view of all the works of Lin Yutang, it can be found that life is the focus and standing point towards Lin's performing live aesthetics. Basically speaking, "the importance of living" that Lin holds is aimed at enabling people's lives much more comfortable and poetic. For people's life of modern transformation, Mr. Lin always takes it on the spotlight. It can be said that the core of Lin's cultural concepts and the philosophy of life that Lin holds are a kind of performing live aesthetics. The thesis, mainly based on academic view of performing live aesthetics, unscrambles the connotation, characteristics and causes of Lin Yutang's idea about the aesthetic culture and makes relevant evaluation. We hope that we can promote Lin Yutang's study by this and provide beneficial help for present construction of socialist culture.This paper defines performing live aesthetics. We think that performing live aesthetics takes human "being" as motive power, resource and content, and thoroughly implements ultimate care mission, is part of the true anthropological aesthetics. The main difference between performing live aesthetics and traditional theory aesthetics is that the former turns the research core of philosophical aesthetics from the study of origin of essence of beauty to the study of aesthetic culture which is a kind of life existence way. That is, performing live aesthetics does not take appreciation of the beauty as a way of knowing and reflecting the reality from the angle of epistemology but view appreciation of the beauty as the most basic way of life from the height of existentialism. After making sure the connotation of performing live aesthetics, we will fatherly discuss Lin Yutang's idea about life in four chapters.The first chapter discusses the concrete connotation of LinYutang's performing live aesthetics from the level of view of nature, world and life. Lin thinks that human should be in harmony with nature and takes realizing leisurely and comfortable life as its ultimate aim. He promotes "bucolic city" life which is a view of nature combining machinery and beauty together. Lin thinks that human should keep free contact with others and society, human not only undertakes the social responsibility of dealing with others to a fraternity of heart, but also should keep the individual personality of independence. He attempts to balance the relationship between mortal and immortal. Active participation in revolutions and defending individual freedom constitute the two elements of his worldview. For his worldview, Lin thinks that life has tragic inside information and human should keep humourous and philosophical feeling and smiling at the vicissitude of life changes. His life view can be said to be a hymn of tragic life. In conclusion, Lin Yutang's performing live aesthetics can be said to be a variation of aesthetics life and aestheticization. So far as he was concerned, beauty and life are shadow accompanying and consequential. Beauty not only dose not highly rank above but also dose not hide behind human life. It melts into human life which is perceptual, concrete and full of fresh vitality.The second chapter mainly discusses the properties and characteristics of Lin's performing live aesthetics. His performing live aesthetics firstly takes "nearly humanity and express humanity" as the main characteristics. Secondly, it is not logical reasoning but visual comprehension. It dose not consist of close logical system but is only a cluster of fragment feeling. We can say that, clear "nearly humanity" spirit is throughout Lin's performing live aesthetics. Thirdly, Lin's performing live aesthetics features diversification and pluralism. Going through the ancient and modern, and combining the oriental and occidental ideas, his thoughts, temperament and character as well as interest take on a multiple, complex and contradictable feature, being a integrity combined by multicultural factors, called "Half-half" Philosophy.As for the third chapter, it discusses the cause of formation of Lin's performing live aesthetics in the levels of theory and reality. Firstly, it discusses its historical causes. At the beginning of 20 century, China social comprehensive changes provided era causes for Lin's performing live aesthetics while Lin's special life and educational backgrounds provide the area environment for the formation of Lin's performing live aesthetics, in which we mainly discuss the regional culture's effect of southern Fujian, Beijing and Shanghai on Lin. Secondly, it discusses the origin of thoughts, involving western and central China. Christian faith laid a cornerstone for his concepts and modern western aesthetics and philosophy has provided a significant theoretical support for the concepts (Babbitt's new humanism and Croce's expressionism as a representative). At the same time, a profound moral virtue of classic Chinese philosophy as well as aesthetics, the views that active mortal, moral not far away from human beings, the doctrine of golden mean and harmony of Confucianism philosophy and the views that the emphasis on law and innocence, the state of being free and unfettered etc. of Taoism philosophy are all the theoretical sources of Lin Yutang performing live aesthetics.The fourth chapter conducts an evaluation on Lin Yutang performing live aesthetics. Lin Yutang's performing live aesthetics, on one hand is modern renaissance of Chinese traditional scholars'life dream of advocating poetic survival and on the other hand is a kind of thinking and selection of age and national survival state during the first half of 20th century. His aesthetics not only inherit and promote the traditional culture but learn from the western culture and practice. He can be said to be a pure and pute "modern personage". Moreover, Lin's performing live aesthetics, with distinct personality color differs from other scholars' "Life artistry" opinion in the times of 30-40, and is similar to and different from present aestheticization of daily life. Of course, what's undeniable is that some limitation and disadvantage exist in Lin Yutang's aesthetics, such as the diaphragm of age and society, insufficiency of necessary system construction and so on. In any case, Lin Yutang should be said to be a special "This One" appearing in the special historical context. It is the specialty that makes him possess of important value and significance in Chinese modern aesthetics field.
Keywords/Search Tags:Lin Yutang, Performing live aesthetics, Life artistry
PDF Full Text Request
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