Zen And Taoist Religious Aesthetics Comparative Study

This thesis is a cross-subject research on religion and aesthetics, and is a comparison research on the aesthetic ideologies of Zen Buddhism and Quanzhen Taoism, which are the representatives of Chinese religious sects. The purpose of this thesis is, through the comparison of Zen Buddhism and Quanzhen Taoism, to represent the characteristics of the aesthetical-ism of Chinese religious life, and thus to represent the intrinsic relationship between religion and aesthetic judgment.It is of great historic cultural value and realistic importance to research the aesthetic ideologies of Zen Buddhism and Quanzhen Taoism. To the historic cultural value, Zen and Quanzhen are two representative schools of Chinese culture of Buddhism and Taoism, and are important components of Chinese culture. They, to a large extent, represent the characteristics of Chinese religions. And the research on the aesthetic ideologies of the two schools represents the characteristics of the aesthetical-ism of Chinese religious life and the intrinsic relationship between Chinese religions and the Chinese manners of life, thought, and aesthetics. This is of great importance to the research on Chinese religions and to the research on Chinese traditional aesthetics. On one hand, to the value of research on Chinese aesthetics, this study can enrich the content of Chinese traditional aesthetic ideology, and deepen the cognition that Chinese traditional aesthetics is life aesthetics. In the mean time, this study can represent the religious ideology of Chinese theory about writing, poem, painting and music, and can represent the effect of religious theory and value judgment of Buddhism and Taoism to Chinese art and literature. On the other hand, to the importance of research on Chinese religions, religion and aesthetics are inseparable; even we can say that aesthetics is an important component of religion, especially of Chinese religions. To study religion on the aspect of aesthetics not only enrich the content of research on Chinese religions, but also provides a new insight into the research on Chinese religions. As to the research area of this thesis, PanXianyi and Pi Chaogang, etc. already had done a lot of researches. Based upon these studies, this thesis researches the specific religious schools, and emphasizes upon the comparison research on the religious aesthetics of Buddhism and Taoism. It can deepen the recognition of the common features of Chinese religions and different characteristics of Chinese Buddhism and Taoism. To the realistic importance, research on the aesthetic ideologies of Zen and Quanzhen Tao provides references to the contemporary aesthetic ideology and practices of aesthetic education. These two religious aesthetic ideologies represents the intrinsic relationship between religion and aesthetics, which provides a realistic way for the modern people to believe religion because of aesthetic judgment, and to seek upgrade of their lives. Modern society over-advocates science and technology, which provide not only rich material, but also expansion of people's desire. Modern people mainly regard practicality as their main judgment of life value, and use the economic standard to weigh everything. Thus it causes the division of people's self personality, and the deterioration of the relationship between people and nature. Religious aesthetic ideologies, especially those of Chinese Buddhism and Taoism, advocate the harmony of mankind and nature, treasure the affection to others and everything on earth, emphasize man's self improvement, stress confidence and independence of human, claim that placid mind is the most important Tao. They not only insist that religious cultivation is just about the daily life (walk, sit, reside, sleep, etc.), but also advocate not to addict oneself to the daily affairs and the life-form of human beings, but to stress man's life recognizant consciousness, and so on. All these can correct, to some extent, the erroneous tendency of practical and material value judgment of the modern people. They also improve, to some extent, the harmony of modern people's egos and minds, and the harmony among man, society and nature.The central idea of this thesis is that the process of religious cultivation of Zen Buddhism and Quanzhen Taoism, in fact, is the process of creating aesthetic life. Around this idea, the thesis discusses in the following five aspects: analyses of aesthetic noumenon, aesthetic cultivation, aesthetic compass, aesthetic representation, and aesthetic personality. The thesis tries hard to do a complete and systematic comparison research on religious aesthetic ideologies of Zen andQuanzhen, and to represent the characteristics of Chinese religious aesthetic ideology through the common aesthetic characteristics of the two schools. In the meantime, this thesis represents the unique aesthetic culture traits of the Buddhism and Taoism through the study of the differences between Zen and Quanzhen.The introduction briefly introduces the objects, characters, purposes, present researches, emphases and difficulties. It especially elaborates the main idea, viewpoint, and reason of the thesis, and emphatically analyzes the status of Zen Buddhism and Quanzhen Taoism in Chinese culture and Chinese religions, the common points of the ideologies of Zen and Quanzhen, and the aesthetic features in the ideologies of Zen and Quanzhen. The main idea of the introduction can be concluded into two points: (1). The religious ideology of Zen and Quanzhen, which are the representative schools of Chinese religions, have great similarities from the beginning to the goal. (2). The religious ideologies of Zen and Quanzhen have an obvious character of life aesthetical-ism—the process of religious cultivation represents a process of creating aesthetic life, and a process of building aesthetic personality.Chapter one: Analyses of Aesthetic Noumenon In this chapter, "Zen" and "Tao", which are always taken as religious noumenon of Zen school and Quanzhen Tao as well as the aesthetic noumenon, are discussed. And for a convenient discussion, this chapter is organized into two sections. In the first section the history of the merge of "Zen" and "Tao" is combed. As is argued, Tao is imbedded in Zen, and vice versa. Hence two main contents are explored. The first one focuses on the aspect of Tao in Zen. It elucidates that Zen of Buddhism had absorbed the ideas of Taoist school and Taoism during its ferment in China and how did the Indian Zen turn into Chinese Zen. The second one focuses on "Zen in Tao". It states how did Chinese Taoism absorb Zen into itself under the conflict and collision with foreign Zen school and promote the development and ripeness of itself. Although this section breaks through the ranges of Zen and Quanzhen Tao, the historical exploration can help us get a deeper understanding of the nature and feats of "Zen" and "Tao". In the second section, on the basis of the historical study made in the former section, the shared nature of Zen and Quanzhen, that is, the chastened mindis then inferred and its source is also revealed. It holds that the essence of beauty hides in life, and the chastened mind is the origin of life and beauty. Therefore, "The beauty of mind" refracts a surmount over the finity and depravity, and the pursuit of a freed and bohemian life orientation. It also functions in the refraction of an exploration of the infinity of life potentiality. So, it can be inferred that the beauty of mind implies the beauty of life.Chapter two: Analyses of Aesthetic Cultivation. Religious cultivation includes two parts: "temper one's mind within oneself, and "temper others outside oneself. This chapter emphasizes on representing the aesthetic meaning of the cultivated ideology "temper one's mind within oneself of Zen and Quanzhen. The content of this chapter is based on "grasp the truth" and "self-cultivation". In the comparison between "grasp the truth suddenly and become Buddha" in Zen and "self-cultivation of both mind and body" in Quanzhen, the thesis analyses the religious cultivation differences between Zen and Quanzhen, and represents that the process of religious cultivation is the process of experiencing life and surpassing it, and also the process of creating aesthetic life.Chapter tree: Analyses of Aesthetic Compass. The respective aesthetic traits and their similarities of "the compass of comprehension the Buddhist truth", and "the compass of celestial doctrine" are mainly elucidated in this chapter. It represents that the compass of Buddhist and Taoism are the true life compass of "syncretism with Tao", as well as the compass of eternal life transcendency, and the compass of perfect aesthetic life.Chapter four: Analyses of Aesthetic Representation. This chapter emphatically elucidates the aesthetic traits of the manners of "temper others outside oneself in Zen and Quanzhen, especially the aesthetic traits of poem, which are the main way to temper others. It represents the aesthetic trait that the two religious schools both have a "beauty without a word". Secondly, a large number of Zen poems and Quanzhen poems are collected in this chapter, whose aesthetic traits are thoroughly analyzed. The analyses of Zen poems are around the topic of "return home", whose aesthetic traits are analyzed, thus the central idea of "clear up the mind and return to the nature of one's own" is represented. Thereout the thesis represents the aestheticideology that Zen poems summon to return to the origin of life, and the true life. The analyses of Tao poems are mainly about the central idea of "comprehending Tao and become celestial being", and are explored in poems with different themes, e.g. cultivation, description of something or scene, leisureliness, etc., which tries to explore roundly the aesthetic meaning of Quanzhen poems. At last, through all-round comparison of Buddhist poems and Taoist poems, particular and common aesthetic features of Zen poem and Taoist poem are explored.Chapter five: Analyses of Aesthetic Personality. The process of religious cultivation of Zen and Quanzhen is the process of creating aesthetic personality. With the comparison of "consciousness personality" of Zen and "celestial personality" of Quanzhen, this chapter focuses on the common features of these two personalities—"fanaticism" and "reclusion". They are the basis for further comparison research on aesthetic personality of Zen and Quanzhen, and for the later discussion on the differences exist in the common personification. At the same time, this chapter provides analyses and explanation of aesthetic personality of Quanzhen, and uses typical "fanaticism", "salvation", and "reclusion" to elucidate from many sides the aesthetic meaning of Quanzhen personality and its change.