On The "Qi" Aesthetic Category’s Generalization And Maturity In The Wei, Jin, Southern And Northern Dynasties

“Qi” is one of the most fundamental and important categories in the theory ofChinese traditional philosophy, which is not only involved in the nature and world,society and life, but also related to the life spirit of the subject. From the pre-Qin daysto the Two Hans (the Western and Eastern Han Dynasties), the category of Qi is eitherthe source material of the universe, as well as the origin of the nature, the life andspirit of Man; or becomes the “noble Qi” after penetrating into the field of the morals.However, it is in the Wei Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties when “Qi” belongs inthe field of aesthetics in actuality.This article makes investigations into the main factors influencing the category ofQi during this period, reveals the process while Qi’s extension into the varioustheories of the arts such as literature, painting or drawing, calligraphy, music, thenanalyses the category group of Qi including “the Qi of the will”,“the Qi of the spirit”,“the Qi of the diction”,“the vigorous Qi”,“the harmonious Qi”,“spirit-resonance”,“Qi and power”, and their aesthetic characters, eventually confirms the Qi’s transitionfrom the philosophical category to the aesthetic one and it’s maturity. The articlesummarized three theory cores: First, Qi is the yuan areas, life spirit is the aestheticaspects of the core group; Second, Qi esthetic category group is formed by aSerializing characteristic of category group; Third, Qi aesthetic category started inCao Pi’s Wen Qi, and the maturity period of the Wei, Jin and Southern and NorthernDynasties generalization phase.The final chapter of The article Summaries the Qi esthetic category group’sesthetics characteristic, and confirmed the tremendous significance of the maturebecause of the Qi aesthetic category’s generalization. Even to say, it is the category ofQi bound-breaking between the theories of the arts and the enriching and lifting of itsaesthetic meanings which put the aesthetic category of Qi forward into maturity.