1952, department adjustment, Mr. Zong Baihua was transferred from Nanjing University to Peking University. In Southeast University, Central University and Nanjing University (the predecessor of Central University was Southeast University, which was divided into Nanjing University and Nanjing Institute of Technology after liberation, and Nanjing Institute of Technology has been renamed Southeast University), Mr. Zong has been teaching aesthetics and art, and has also served as the head of the Department of Philosophy.
There are two reasons why Mr. Zong has a soft spot for aesthetics and art: first, his personality; One is educational reasons.
According to Mr. Zong himself, he loved meditation and romance since he was a child, and he liked to linger on the white clouds in the sky. To put it bluntly, Mr. Zong has been a poet since he was a child. There are some natural opportunities here.
Mr. Zong has been educated in German schools since 17 years old. As we all know, there are both Goethe-style romantic feelings and Kant-style profound thinking in German, and it is these two aspects that firmly attract the young Zong Baihua. Undeniably, German education also played an important role in Mr. Zong's later aesthetic career.
Therefore, although the young Zong Baihua has not made a special study on aesthetics, he has superior aesthetic appreciation ability. It is not difficult to understand why Guo Yu, editor-in-chief of Shanghai News and editor-in-chief of Shanghai News Supplement, can still see Zong Baihua, who is only in his early twenties, and asked him to edit the supplement of Deng Xue. It is not difficult to understand that Guo Moruo's poems can still be appreciated by Zong Baihua after hitting a wall everywhere. Perhaps only poets can truly understand poets. It is not difficult to imagine how much understanding and courage it takes to publish Guo Moruo's poems in 19 19. It is also because of Zong Baihua's insight and the support of learning light that Guo Moruo was able to sing his "Tiangou and Phoenix" like a volcanic eruption.
Out of infinite yearning for philosophy and poetry, Mr. Zong went to Germany to study in May 1920, specializing in aesthetics. Perhaps only aesthetics can give consideration to Mr. Zong's equal love for philosophy and poetry, and only aesthetics can unify philosophy and poetry, two seemingly contradictory things, into one person. It is worth mentioning that aesthetics was first established in Germany. In the academic history of Germany, aesthetic research is very in-depth and has formed a consistent tradition. By the time Mr Zong arrived in Germany, aesthetic research had broken through the traditional speculative field and turned to psychological explanation of aesthetic experience. The popular aesthetic theory at that time was seldom the result of abstract philosophical speculation, but more the summary of realistic aesthetic experience. Without the in-depth study of aesthetics by German classical philosophy, this turn would not have much significance. It is German classical philosophy that has almost exhausted the height that aesthetic speculation can reach in the field of speculation, and the limitations of speculative aesthetics are fundamentally exposed. Speculative aesthetics fundamentally shows the contradiction between research methods and research objects, that is, aesthetics uses purely speculative methods, but the object of aesthetics is purely empirical aesthetic activities. Mr Zong's teacher in Berlin University is a famous aesthete Dessoir. Professor Desso is an aesthetician who emphasizes artistic appreciation. Under the influence of Desso, Mr. Zong attached great importance to the appreciation of art treasures preserved in major museums in Europe. It was precisely because aesthetics at that time emphasized artistic practice that Mr. Zong devoted his time and energy to poetry creation in addition to strict philosophical training. Most of the novels, poems and literary works in The Little Poem of the Cloud, which was popular in the 1920s and 1930s, were created by Mr. Zong while studying in Germany.
Because Mr. Zong never divorced himself from artistic practice for unrealistic speculation, what he wrote was particularly aesthetic. Papers written in 1930s and 1940s, such as "Space Consciousness in Chinese and Western Paintings" and "The Birth of China's Artistic Conception", show that Mr. Zong's understanding of aesthetics, especially China's classical aesthetics, has reached an unprecedented height.
1952, faculty adjustment, Mr. Zong came to Peking University from Nanjing. At that time, Peking University concentrated three masters in the field of Chinese aesthetics, namely Mr. Deng Yizhe, Mr. Zhu Guangqian and Mr. Zong Baihua. If Germany is the center of western aesthetics and represents the tradition of western aesthetic research, then Peking University is the center of China's aesthetics and forms the tradition of China's aesthetic research. This tradition can be traced back at least to Mr Cai Yuanpei, the respected president of Peking University. 19 17 When Mr. Cai became the president of Peking University, he delivered a speech on "Replacing Religion with Aesthetic Education". 192 1 Teacher Cai took the lead in setting up and teaching aesthetics courses in Peking University. Later, Mr. Zhu Guangqian gave lectures on "Literary Psychology" and "Poetics", which are both aesthetic courses. Therefore, after Mr. Zong came to Beijing, he could feel a strong aesthetic interest. In his letter 1959, Mr. Zong said: "Beijing has a strong interest in aesthetics. At present, the new construction invitation symposium can be published in the next issue. Marxism-Leninism College also plans to train aesthetic cadres in the second half of the year and invites us to assist. Teacher Zhu has joined the Aesthetics Group of the Department of Philosophy and has a bright future. My second walk, about music and architecture, is still in preparation. I don't know when to start writing, because Kant's aesthetics urgently needs translation. " (The Complete Works of Zong Baihua, Volume III, Anhui Education Press) The lively scene of aesthetics at that time can be seen from this.
Judging from the materials excavated in the Complete Works of Zong Baihua, Mr. Zong stepped up the systematic study of the history of western aesthetics after he came to Peking University. From the complete works, we can see the History of Aesthetics (Outline) written by Mr. Zong in the 1950s and 1960s and some special studies on the history of western aesthetics, such as the aesthetics of Renaissance, the aesthetics of German rationalism, the aesthetics of British empirical psychoanalysis, and the comments of Kant's aesthetics. Mr. Zong's translation of Kant's Critique of Judgment can be regarded as an important part of his plan to systematically study the history of western aesthetics.
In 1960s, Mr. Zong and Mr. Zhu had a division of labor, one was responsible for compiling the history of western aesthetics and the other was responsible for compiling the history of Chinese aesthetics. As the whole modern aesthetics in China is basically about western aesthetics, a group of scholars who returned from studying in the West spread western aesthetic thoughts there. Therefore, the research on the history of Chinese aesthetics at that time was almost blank. Under this academic background, it is almost impossible to write a mature history of Chinese aesthetics. Mr. Zong believes that the writing of Chinese aesthetic history needs to meet at least two conditions. Firstly, the data of Chinese aesthetic history are comprehensively excavated and sorted out. Secondly, various departments of China's aesthetics, such as painting aesthetics, calligraphy aesthetics, architectural aesthetics, craft aesthetics, music aesthetics and so on, have made in-depth research. At that time, neither of these conditions met the requirements. At that time, some comrades wanted to be eager for success, and suggested learning to write while sorting out the materials. Mr. Zong strongly opposed this opinion. He said, "Without rich information, how can we write history?" We must first obtain information, and we must obtain information for several years. "Mr. Zong not only said so, but also did so. He didn't rush to write the history of Chinese aesthetics, but instructed several teaching assistants around him. He spent nearly three years before and after, reading a lot of books in Peking University Library and compiling two Selected Works of Chinese Aesthetic History. While guiding the compilation of these two textbooks, Mr. Zong also compiled a lot of materials about painting aesthetics, calligraphy aesthetics, architectural aesthetics, craft aesthetics and music aesthetics. Unfortunately, these materials were not well preserved and lost during the Cultural Revolution.
After mastering a large amount of information, Mr. Zong began a special study of China's aesthetic thought, and gave a special lecture on "The History of Chinese Aesthetics" to senior students in the Department of Philosophy and the Department of Chinese Studies of Peking University in the early 1960s. In the lecture, Mr. Zong made a comprehensive and concentrated exposition on the characteristics and learning methods of Chinese aesthetic history, and published many profound and accurate opinions on the aesthetic thoughts expressed in pre-Qin arts and crafts and ancient philosophy and literature, China's ancient painting aesthetic thoughts, China's ancient music aesthetic thoughts and China's ancient garden architecture art, leaving a lot of research notes. In these notes, we can often see Mr. Zong's thoughts on China's aesthetics, which are of high academic value. It is gratifying that the academic circles have recently noticed the value of these notes and achieved some preliminary research results. We believe that through the excavation of academic circles, Mr. Zong's thoughts will show more and more charm.
Although Mr. Zong did not complete the compilation of History of Chinese Aesthetics, which left great regret to the contemporary academic circles in China, the rigorous and realistic style of study left by Mr. Zong is extremely valuable to the academic circles of Peking University and even China. With Mr. Zong's advocacy and his own efforts, the two requirements for Mr. Zong to compile aesthetic history are no longer blank. In fact, Mr. Zong's emphasis on doing obscure work such as data sorting and specific research, rather than rushing to occupy the hills and reap the fruits, has revealed an inherent personality charm. This personality charm is particularly dazzling after experiencing that ups and downs of history.
After coming to Peking University, Mr. Zong practiced the aesthetic research method he learned from Professor De Suo, that is, he emphasized that "aesthetic research cannot be separated from art, artistic creation and appreciation, and" seeing "and" listening ". There are various art exhibitions, large and small museums, colorful cultural performances and well-preserved classical buildings in Beijing, which provide very favorable conditions for Mr. Zong to "see" and "listen". Mr. Zong often uses crutches to squeeze buses into the city and visit exhibitions with great interest. Even in some classical garden buildings that are already very common in Beijing, Mr. Zong can often see new meanings from them, so that he can't leave, and his heart is full of infinite joy. After Mr. Zong's death, he left a lot of books to the philosophy department. Most of these books were bought on old newspapers in the city in the 1950s and 1960s, and some foreign languages are hard to see abroad now. In fact, Mr. Zong was not rich at that time, and patches were often seen on his clothes. But Mr. Zong is not so poor that he has to squeeze the bus when he goes to town at the age of 80. Mr. Zong will have to spend money on books, because he loves books and he knows how valuable those books are. Mr. Zong crowded the bus because he didn't want to shut himself out of social life. On the bus, he can hear all kinds of voices of social life, see all kinds of images of social life and experience all kinds of fun in life.
In the 1950s, Mr Zong wrote "Walking in Aesthetics". Mr. Zong said: "Walking is a free and unrestrained action. Its weakness is that there is no plan and no system. People who value the unity of logic will despise it and hate it, but the Aristotelian school, the master of western logic, is called the' walking school', which shows that walking and logic are not absolutely incompatible. Zhuangzi, an influential philosopher in ancient China, seems to be walking in Shan Ye all day ... "Walking" is the uniqueness of Mr. Zong's aesthetics. This feature is methodology on the one hand, and realm on the other. From a methodological point of view, Mr. Zong's aesthetic research is not limited to the abstract speculative field. Mr. Zong is not ignorant of the weakness of "walking" in the eyes of ordinary people, but if he stays in a free state, this weakness seems to be an advantage. More importantly, for aesthetics, Walking has certain methodological enlightenment. Perhaps Mr. Zong thoroughly understood the aesthetic object, rejected logical analysis and chose "going". In the field of aesthetics, only "walking" can approach mysterious objects. Mr. Zong's "behavior" has a wide range of fields, including places that are rare for ordinary people, places where people are busy, and places where ordinary people have to get caught up in it but don't know how to enjoy it. As far as reading is concerned, people all over the world like to dabble, especially in some little-known notes and miscellaneous notes, they often find something very interesting. As far as art appreciation is concerned, Mr. Zong also has a mind beyond ordinary people's imagination. He not only admires the simplicity and quietness in ancient Greek sculptures, but also fascinates the beating of soul and flesh in Rodin sculptures. Not only admire the exquisite skills of painting in the Renaissance, but also admire the symphony of light and shadow of impressionist masters; Respecting western art and cherishing China culture infinitely; On the one hand, he loves classical poetry, on the other hand, he is a famous vernacular poet; ..... Mr. Zong's pursuit and love for beauty and art has almost no boundaries between time and space. Mr. Zong's "walking" is not limited to the narrow study and art hall, but also can "walk" freely in very ordinary daily life. Mr. Zong never cares about fame and fortune, so nothing in life particularly bothers him. Even in those extraordinary days, Mr. Zong remained fearless and carefree. On the surface, Mr. Zong seems to be "integrated" with ordinary life; In fact, he never stopped thinking and never let the dust of life pollute his brilliant and noble heart. Not only in the personal spiritual world, but also in the material world where people live together, Mr. Zong can "walk" leisurely and happily, which is impossible for people without high consciousness. Only those who reach the realm of heaven and earth can "walk" so easily and happily. This statement is not very exaggerated. Mr. Zong, who is highly respected in the philosophy department, said to many birthday guests at Mr. Zong's 85th birthday party: "The realm of Mr. Zong's life is hard for ordinary people to reach, at least I didn't reach it. "
On the surface, Mr. Zong did not make an earth-shattering career in Peking University, but in fact, at least in the aesthetic tradition of Peking University, Mr. Zong occupied a very important part. Starting from the old headmaster, Mr. Cai Yuanpei, Peking University aesthetics emphasized aesthetic education and the combination of reading and being a man. According to Mr. Cai's conception, the purpose of aesthetics lies in "judging people's opinions regardless of interests" and "cultivating people's nature to make it longer and higher", that is, improving people's spiritual realm. Mr. Zong not only reached the peak of his time in knowledge, but also reached perfection in personality. It is undeniable that aesthetics and art have played a very important role in Mr. Zong's personality cultivation.
Mr. Zong's contribution to the aesthetic cause of Peking University is also manifested in the cultivation of successors. Although Mr. Cai strongly advocated and practiced aesthetic education, his "living legacy" for the cause of aesthetic education in Peking University was limited, that is to say, Mr. Cai did not train successors for the cause of aesthetic education in Peking University. Therefore, after Mr. Cai, the aesthetics of Peking University has been unsustainable. Of course, this is related to the limitations of Mr. Cai's time. At this point, Mr. Zong's contribution seems to be even greater. Mr. Zong pays special attention to the cultivation of young teachers and students. Several assistants who followed Mr. Zong in his early years were deeply influenced by him. For example, the Aesthetics of China's Novels and the Outline of the History of Chinese Aesthetics written by professors had a great influence on aesthetics in the 1980s, and the Modern Aesthetics System edited by the chief editor was one of Mr. Zong's assistants. From Professor Ye's grasp of China's aesthetic spirit and his thought of integrating Chinese and Western aesthetics, traditional aesthetics and contemporary aesthetics, we can see Mr. Zong's influence.
Professor Yu, another assistant of Mr Zong, believes that his research on aesthetic consciousness in the Spring and Autumn Period and his emphasis on experiencing the mystery of China's aesthetics in life are all inspired and guided by Mr Zong. Mr. Yang Xin, another professor in the Aesthetics Teaching and Research Section, is deeply valued by Mr. Zong for his artistic practice. Although these latecomers have different interests and research directions; But you can see Mr. Zong's "shadow" in them. Moreover, these latecomers left the "shadow" of Mr. Zong to the next generation of students intentionally or unintentionally in teaching.
If the efforts of Mr. Cai (,), Deng (), Zhu (,) and Zong () have laid a good foundation for the final formation of the aesthetic school in Peking University, then it is imperative to establish an aesthetic school in Peking University under the new historical conditions, which is about to enter the 2 1 century today. As Professor Ye Lang said: To establish the aesthetic school of Peking University, we should "continue" from Mr. Zhu Guangqian and Mr. Zong Baihua; The establishment of the school is not the establishment of sects, but the inevitable result of the standardization and deepening of academic research in China today; Today, with the collision, dialogue, exchange and integration of eastern and western cultures, China's academic research should have its own characteristics and schools, and China scholars should have their own foothold. The reason why Peking University aesthetics can be called a school is not only because it has a group of influential scholars and the same academic tradition, but more importantly, it has its own unique theoretical system and methods. Especially from the whole academic background of modern and contemporary China, its characteristics are more distinct. Contemporary China has a tendency to rigidly apply the western academic category system, which is full of idealistic materialism. The aesthetics of Peking University, especially the study of China's traditional aesthetics, is basically realistic and has not been impacted by any external things. In fact, Peking University aesthetics also emphasizes the reasonable absorption of western aesthetics, but this absorption has never been applied mechanically, especially in the case of Mr. Zong, the integration of Chinese and western aesthetics has completely disappeared. More specifically, Peking University Aesthetics emphasizes the comparison, dialogue, communication and integration between China and the West in methods and ideas, but its theoretical core is China's traditional aesthetics, especially China's theory of images and artistic conception. The aesthetics of Peking University basically originated and developed from this theoretical cornerstone. From Zhu Guangqian's On Poetry, Zong Baihua's The Birth of China's Artistic Conception to Ye Lang's modern aesthetic system, we can see that this image-centered aesthetic theory is constantly advancing, constantly enriching and perfecting. With the development of the construction of Aesthetics College of Peking University, Mr. Zong's role in it seems to be more and more obvious and important. This is not only manifested in his unique personality struggle and the cultivation of successors, but also in his construction of the theoretical core of this school.
In the throes of seeking theoretical development and breakthrough in contemporary China aesthetics, people will consciously or unconsciously return to Zong Baihua, to Mr. Zong's broad theoretical mind, to Mr. Zong's profound insight into China's aesthetics, and to Mr. Zong's perfect personality with artistic and aesthetic achievements.