Overview

For anyone working in aesthetics interested in understanding the richness of the Chinese aesthetic tradition this handbook is the place to start. Comprised of general introductory overviews, critical reflections and contextual analysis, it covers everything from the origins of aesthetics in China to the role of aesthetics in philosophy today. Beginning in early China (1st millennium BCE), it traces the Chinese aesthetic tradition, exploring the import of the term aesthetics into Chinese thought via Japan around the end of the 19th century. It looks back to early practices of art and craftsmanship, showing how the history of Chinese thought provides a multitude of artefacts and texts that give rise to a wide range of aesthetic creations and notions. Introducing various perspectives on traditional arts in China, including painting, ceramics, calligraphy, poetry, music and theatre, it explores those aesthetic traditions not included in “canonic” art forms, such as martial arts, rock gardening, and ritual performance. Written by Chinese, European, and American theoreticians and practitioners, this authoritative research resource enhances contemporary aesthetics by revealing the possibilities of a Chinese philosophy of art.

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9781350253834

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Reviews

This major contribution to the study of Chinese aesthetics and philosophy of art, with its in-depth and slidingly readable essays, successfully provide the interpretative context necessary to outline an exhaustive overview of aesthetic theories and concepts and their application to different artistic practices. It sets itself as an invaluable resource in a wide variety of different cultural contexts. * Maurizio Scarpari, retired Professor of Classical Chinese Language and Literature, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy * The globalization of arts and aesthetics is unstoppable. Western discourses on aesthetics can no longer be based on Western sources alone. Arts and aesthetics in China offer a great wealth that is still hardly known in the West. This book therefore opens up a necessary extension, which is of particular importance for the future development of arts and aesthetics. * Rolf Elberfeld, Professor of Philosophy, University of Hildesheim, Germany * An invaluable tool for anyone interested in classical and modern Chinese aesthetics. Ghilardi and Moeller present the work of multiple specialists in a manner accessible to students and scholars of all levels, allowing for ready access to the world of Chinese artistic theory informed by a rich intercultural perspective, and presenting Chinese aesthetics as an essential resource for philosophical thought in the years to come. * Enrico Fongaro, Associate Professor, Tohoku University, Japan *

This major contribution to the study of Chinese aesthetics and philosophy of art, with its in-depth and slidingly readable essays, successfully provide the interpretative context necessary to outline an exhaustive overview of aesthetic theories and concepts and their application to different artistic practices. It sets itself as an invaluable resource in a wide variety of different cultural contexts. --Maurizio Scarpari, retired Professor of Classical Chinese Language and Literature, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy The globalization of arts and aesthetics is unstoppable. Western discourses on aesthetics can no longer be based on Western sources alone. Arts and aesthetics in China offer a great wealth that is still hardly known in the West. This book therefore opens up a necessary extension, which is of particular importance for the future development of arts and aesthetics. --Rolf Elberfeld, Professor of Philosophy, University of Hildesheim, Germany An invaluable tool for anyone interested in classical and modern Chinese aesthetics. Ghilardi and Moeller present the work of multiple specialists in a manner accessible to students and scholars of all levels, allowing for ready access to the world of Chinese artistic theory informed by a rich intercultural perspective, and presenting Chinese aesthetics as an essential resource for philosophical thought in the years to come. --Enrico Fongaro, Associate Professor, Tohoku University, Japan

Author Information

Marcello Ghilardi is Associate Professor of Aesthetics in the Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology at the University of Padova, Italy. Hans-Georg Moeller is Professor of Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of Macau in Macau SAR, China.

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