Zong Baihua (1897 ——1986 65438+February 20th), whose real name is Mao, alias Baihua and Bohua, was born in Yushan Town, Changshu, Jiangsu. Born in Xiaonanmen, Anqing City, Anhui Province, 1897, graduated from Tongji University, 1986 died on February 20th. China philosopher, master of aesthetics, poet and representative of NTU philosophy department.
1949 to 1952, professor of Nanjing University, adjusted by 1952. The Department of Philosophy of Nanjing University was merged into Peking University, and then became a professor in the Department of Philosophy of Peking University, and then became a consultant of the All-China Aesthetic Society.
1965438+In August 2009, he was hired as the editor-in-chief and editor-in-chief of Deng Xue, a supplement of Shanghai News. Injected fresh blood into philosophy, aesthetics and new literature and art for Deng Xue, making it one of the four famous supplements in the May 4th Movement. At this time, he discovered and cultivated the poet Guo Moruo.
From 65438 to 0920, he went to Germany to study, and studied philosophy and aesthetics at Frankfurt University and Berlin University successively. 1923 Write Cloud Poetry.
After returning to China from 65438 to 0925, he taught in Nanjing University and Peking University successively. He used to be a consultant of China Aesthetics Society and a director of China Philosophy Society. Zong Baihua is the forerunner and pioneer of modern aesthetics in China, and he is known as "a generation of aesthetic masters who integrate Chinese and Western art theories".
There are the Complete Works of Zong Baihua and collections of aesthetic essays such as Aesthetic Walking and Artistic Conception.
In Walking in Aesthetics, Mr. Zong Baihua pointed out that the subjective artistic conception of life and the objective natural scenery blend and penetrate each other, and the spiritual realm of achievement is to make art an artistic "artistic conception". He called artistic conception the "center of artistic creation" of China ancient painters and poets.
1986 12 died in Beijing at the age of 90.
As Liu Xiaofeng summed up: "As an aesthete, Zong Baihua's basic position is to explore the creation of making life a work of art ... In Zong Baihua's view, art is first of all a life problem, art is a outlook on life, and' artistic life' is a valuable and meaningful life." The words that appear most frequently in Zong Baihua's Aesthetic Walk are: universe, life, art, beauty, soul, rhythm, melody, dance, musicalization and experience. These words not only illustrate the artistic perfection of China, but also reveal the life perfection of the enlightener. Wittgenstein said: To imagine a language is to imagine a life form. Similarly, imagining an art (not to mention "recognizing" this art, and art is also a "language form") means choosing a way of life.
Therefore, Zong Baihua chose a kind of "pure" China art, and also shaped an indifferent and enlightened lifestyle. Perhaps only by Zong Baihua's choice can we appreciate the pleasure of China's artistic perfection. However, the art in the world is rich and colorful, so life should also be diversified. Besides, there are other kinds of perfection in life. China's ancient aesthetics was lucky to meet Zong Baihua, because he learned Chinese and Western well, jumped out and plunged into it, and this macho man was deeply rooted. It is also in Zong Baihua's articles that all aspects of China's aesthetics have been refined and promoted to the extreme. It may have been discovered before him, but it is impossible to penetrate an extremely profound and sincere life consciousness like him, which may be due to his in-depth study of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche's philosophy of life.
China's philosophy, the spatial consciousness in China's poems and paintings, and the typical spirit in China's art are integrated into a trinity problem by Zong Baihua: the way of speaking "Yin and Yang" tends to the music field and permeates the dance of time rhythm calligraphy; In fact, they all embody a spirit: human consciousness, harmony between Tao and life, and harmony between individual life and infinite universe.
It can be said that Zong Baihua pushed China's experience aesthetics to the extreme, and it is difficult for later generations to be second to none. As an aesthetic enlightenment, he became a symbol of the beauty of Tao. But we should also use the light of the traveler to enter the vast world and continue to look for it.
Zong Baihua spoke highly of the artistic value and historical position of China's calligraphy from the aesthetic point of view. Personally, it is due to his artistic and aesthetic cultivation. When he was young, he studied calligraphy with Liu Yizhi and later with the great calligrapher Li Ruiqing. From 65438 to 0920, I went to Germany to study abroad, and I had a deep study of western philosophy and aesthetics, so I grasped calligraphy deeply and accurately. As far as the factors of the times are concerned, the influence of the May Fourth Movement has brought new methods and new atmosphere to calligraphy research. [1] Chen Yulong, a professor at Peking University, commented: Professor Peking University is either good at calligraphy or book theory, and there are many people holding hands with Huai Jin. Ma Xulun, Wei, Xiang Da, Feng Youlan, Zhu Guangqian, Zong Baihua, Wang Li, Huang Ziqing, Yang,,, Li Zhimin,. They regard document knowledge as the first priority, and take character and learning (academic taste) as the leading discourse. Their works are not calligraphers, but better than calligraphers. Their bookish spirit with verve is quite different from the common "artisan spirit".
Aesthetic Walking is the first collection and publication of Zong Baihua's aesthetic papers. The articles in this collection were written in 1920 at the earliest and 1979 at the latest. It is really a more detailed collection of works about art in Zong Baihua's life. He didn't build any aesthetic system, but taught us how to appreciate works of art and how to establish an aesthetic attitude until he formed an artistic personality, which is the spirit of China's artistic beauty.
Anyone who loves beauty in China, and anyone who loves China's art, should read this book-Aesthetic Walking. This book is the masterpiece of Zong Baihua, a late generation of aesthetic master, and the only aesthetic work before his death. Almost brought together the most essential aesthetic chapters in his life. Its words and expressions are elegant and poetic, and it is China's aesthetic classic and must-read book. Reading this book is an artistic enjoyment in itself. With his lyrical brushwork and love for beauty, the author leads readers to appreciate the hearts of great Chinese and western artists and those romantic people. When we come back from a walk, we will find that our hearts have been sublimated and purified.
Mr. Zong Baihua feels everything in the world as an artist and shapes it with flowing words. The book written in this way is not only an artistic theory, but also a way of life. Such a master who is born in traditional culture, full of artistic spirituality and poetry, and has won the essence of China's aesthetics, may never be able to reappear in the roar of the increasingly powerful modern machine when he walks. However, in the increasingly tense alienated world, how to maintain poetry and yearning for life is not a worldwide problem that modern people should pay attention to? And "Aesthetic Walking" can just give us inspiration in this respect.
Zong Baihua once sat in silence for an hour in front of the original Mona Lisa. He often visits various art exhibitions in China with great interest, and even though he is old, he still takes pains. The articles collected by this connoisseur have accurately grasped the essence of art, especially the characteristics of China's art. The author uses his consistent viewpoint to guide us to appreciate China's poems, paintings and music, especially China's calligraphy. China people's feelings of sadness and joy can be expressed by calligraphy, just like poetry and music, which is not achieved by other ethnic groups.
In the author's opinion, the compilation of the history of western art should be based on the changes of architectural styles in the western era, while the architectural styles of China have not changed much, so it is impossible to distinguish the changes of painting and sculpture styles in different eras. However, since Yin Dynasty, the style of calligraphy has changed significantly, which can replace the position of architecture in the history of western art and spy out the characteristics of art in different times. On the construction of China's national aesthetic system, Mr. Zong Baihua is the most pioneering, and we can get an interpretation from the application of a large number of concepts and discourses. For this reason, Feng Youlan once pointed out that Zong Baihua was the first person to establish China's aesthetic system.
Zou Qichang: The Light of the Walker
"The first time I met Mr. Zong Baihua was in the month when I first entered the university. At that time, I bought an Introduction to Contemporary China Aesthetics by Zhao Shilin, from which I learned that Zong Baihua was one of China's' five great aestheticians', along with Zhu Guangqian, Li Zehou, Cai Yi and Gao Ertai, and I learned Zong Baihua's academic characteristics: not building a system, paying attention to the direct perception of art, full of aura and wisdom. Later, I learned a little more and admired Zong Baihua's knowledge and character. But with the "westward shift" of learning interest, curiosity has also weakened a lot. It was not until three years ago that I read the figure of the lakeside rambler in Liu Xiaofeng's "Fear and Love of this Generation" that this figure became kind again. "
The article about beauty in Aesthetic Walking vividly highlights a spirit of roaming in art and a gesture of pursuing artistic life. The articles are not arranged according to the time of writing and publication, but according to several major themes: self-reported ways of doing research, China's aesthetics, the characteristics of China's art and several monographs of western aesthetics. It may not be easy to grasp the changing track of Zong Baihua's aesthetic thought, but the aspects he focused on in academic research and his methods to deal with these academic problems can still be fully understood. However, there is still a mystery in my heart: Why did Zong Baihua, who was deeply influenced by German philosophy of life in his early years, devote himself to studying the ancient aesthetic spirit of China after returning from Europe? What is the turning point of this change? How did it happen? Perhaps only teachers can appreciate the urgency and pressure of the choice behind the change.
Compared with the aesthetics of ancient western Europe, China's ancient aesthetics is fragmented, not systematic enough and not philosophical enough. However, this does not mean that China's aesthetics does not have its own characteristics, but it means that it can be excavated without scratching its boots with the intervention of a special way. This special way is actually a call: the light of life. Zong Baihua's "aesthetic walk" may be precisely this kind of "life's induction to academics". There are two levels of scholarship. One is "knowledge", that is, it can be widely involved in many aspects and is rich. This level can also become everyone, but it will eventually appear thin; The second level is "belief", that is, to promote learning to a belief that can lead practice. At this time, learning is no longer learning, but life, which will be very heavy. Everyone in this kind of learning is already an artist, such as Nietzsche.
Mr. Zhu Guangqian thinks that beauty is idealism, and Mr. Zong Baihua thinks that beauty is objective and unified, which coincides with Hegel's thought. Personally, I prefer Mr. Zong Baihua's point of view. (Maybe it's because Mr Zong is more Marx. After all, Mr. Zong is a philosophy major. However, people who have not read enough classics for aesthetic walks will feel tired. Relatively speaking, Mr. Zhu Guangqian's Talking about Beauty is more friendly to beginners.