Study Of Wu Guanzhong’s Formal Aesthetic Theory

The concept of form has been widely studied since ancient Greece in the West.It can be roughly divided into form as appearance,form as structure and form as ontology.Although there is no concept of “xingshi” in Chinese traditional aesthetics,there is a similar concept named “xiang”.As a way to access the noumenon “Tao”,“xiang” is a part of Chinese traditional life philosophy.Wu Guanzhong’s definition of form reflects the characteristics of the connotation of the concept of form in Chinese and Western aesthetics.On the one hand,Wu Guanzhong agrees with Bell that artistic form is a kind of “significant form”,and it possesses independency.On the other hand,he emphasizes that artistic forms have to express emotions and the creation of forms must be based on feelings.Further more,the “significance” in his theory is actually relevant to the emotional expression that is emphasizes by the Chinese traditional aesthetics.In other words,this concept in his theory is rooted in the Chinese traditional aesthetics which is characterized by emotional expression.Wu Guanzhong’s theory of formal aesthetic is a continuation of the attempt which tried to combine the theory between China and the West since the 19 th century.It mainly involves two aspects.For one thing,it discusses the relationship between form and content.And for another thing,it talks over how form creates beauty.As for the former,Wu Guanzhong distinguishes between artistic content and non-artistic content.He points out that the form is independent of non-artistic content such as political concept,and is actually integrated with artistic content such as emotion and life.As for the latter,Wu Guanzhong endorses the perception of western modern art on the law of artistic form,which believes that artistic form can be analyzed like science.On the other hand,Wu Guanzhong claims that the artistic form should accord with the Chinese traditional aesthetic principle of “Vivid Charm”.Generally speaking,Wu Guanzhong’s theory of formal aesthetic is a rebellion against the theory of art tools.But to a certain extent,it is still a limited exploration of form,mainly taking form as a tool and a carrier that aim to express feelings.On the other hand,this intentional reservation shows Wu Guanzhong’s clear reader consciousness,which may inspire the current art theory writing and art creation.