The Xunzi Aesthetic Ideology Research

The theory that "people should know well the distinction between the nature and man" was put forward by Hsun-Tzu to talk about the relationship of the nature and human. It recognized the laws of nature as well as pointed out the initiatives of man. Therefore, it provided possibility that man could participate in the nature's creation to embody his value. It also opened up the aesthetic road of human's self-realization.Having known deeply the relationship between the nature and man, Hsun-Tzu hoped people behave actively to fulfill their idealities by confirming their value. On the other hand, Hsun-Tzu thought that man was evil in nature. He realized the shortness of man's self-control as well as approved man's appetencies. Therefore, Hsun-Tzu always had a cool and cautious attitude on people's desires to appreciate beauty and artistic activities. He never forgot to notice the importance of reason's guidance. Hsun-Tzu thought that the reason dominated everything from the God's controlling servants, to the appetencies'satisfaction, temperance and advance by Li and Yue, and the relationship of content and forms.Hsun-Tzu has constantly pursued to fulfill his social ideality and political ambition enthusiastically. As a result, his aesthetics had an intensive utilitarian tendency. In the perspective of Hsun-Tzu, the function of beauty appreciation and arts can be concluded in one word that setting sound and music to make the world peaceful, which means they existed as the subsidiaries of politics and moral. Whatever arts do, expressing and entertaining people's emotions, or improving people's harmonious relationship, their ultimate value is embodied to strengthen the standards of politics and moral. With this principle, Hsun-Tzu analyzed the educational and propagating function of beauty appreciation and arts, magnifying arts' utilitarian value intentionally, paying insufficient attention to arts' transcendental property in spirit. Consequently, the aesthetics of Hsun-Tzu was colored with parochial utilitarianism, having profound and lasting influence in later times.The study on the aesthetics of Hsun-Tzu is not the negligible part of the Chinese aesthetic history, which is the necessary requirement to comprehend the process of the buildup and the evolvement of the entire ideology of Chinese aesthetics completely and accurately, and the key link of experiencing exactly the special cultural qualities of the Chinese aesthetics.