On Yexie's Aesthetics Ideas In The Original Of Poetry

Yexie, an aesthetist of the Qing Dynasty, wrote the Book Original of Poetry, in which he tried to construct a theory system of poetry. Some present scholars spoke highly of him, but others thought the book was more a composite of the positive result than an original idea. In my point of view, if we estimate it with modern aesthetic insight of subject to object, we will find a new look of this work. This thesis consisted of five parts:The first part was about the aesthetic object Yexie explained the object world with the categories "principle", "matter" and "form". It was the basis and logic starting point of his aesthetics. He emphasized "principle" in the three ones, discussed its contact with "Tao" and "Qi". On the one hand, "principle" meant law of the nature, on the other hand, it implied the Confucian moral principles. It embodied in all things in the cosmos with the help of "Qi". So that Yexie's cosmic view was "heaven and man as a whole". But when got into the aesthetics field, he divided the world into two: the nature and the man. Further, he stipulated the specific property of aesthetic object and subject. Concerned to the object, the "principle" was "cannot speak", the "matter" was "cannot see", and the "form" was "cannot manifest".The second part was on the esthetic subject With regard to the subject, Yexie's essential requirement was "sense", including aesthetic cognition and expression, aesthetic perception, imagination, and feelings. He divided it into "talent", "courage", "knowledge", and "character". His analysis of the four essential factors and their correlations showed that he attached importance to the reason and cognition ability of the aesthetic subject as well as the intuition and imagination.The third part discussed the correlation between aesthetic subject and object Corresponding, understanding, experiencing, and creating, the explanation of the correlations between aesthetic subject and object was an important section of Yexie's aesthetics. "Contrasting the three of the world with the four of the man" was the view of corresponding, the word "contrasting" suggested the interaction of the two sides: theywere standard of each other. "Implying the principle" was his conception of the aesthetic comprehension, which was different from scientific cognition. "Obscuring the form" meant the feeling should be restricted to moral principles, moreover, mixed with aesthetic imagination, that was the opinion of his aesthetic experience. "Imagining out the matter" was the explanation of his aesthetic creation, which was a mixture of aesthetic comprehension, feeling and imagination.The fourth part concerning the aesthetic idea of art The aesthetic idea of art was the practice of the fore three parts, including the opinion of the essence, creation, appreciation, and development of the art. Yexie considered that the essence of art was the interaction of "Qi" from aesthetic subject to object. There was not a "rule" in art creation except his aesthetic subject to object theory. The standard of art appreciation was dual according to the double "principle". "Change" was the trend of the development of art. also it depended on the innovations of aesthetic subject.The last part touched upon Yexie's status in the aesthetic history Yexie's theory of aesthetic subject to object surpassed his period and was still worth studying today by praising highly both the aesthetic subject and reason. Besides, his way of thinking combined synthesis and analysis, his system in neat formation, his form of telling contained state, discuss, and comment, were similar to the west scholars in some aspect, but distinct from them in the other. Probably that is why they can "converse".