The Noble Simplicity --- Ancient and Modern Discourses on Art Aesthetics

Li Chaode

Former Dean of the School of Art， Soochow University， and Vice Dean of the Graduate School of Soochow University. He is currently a Level Two professor and doctoral supervisor at Soochow University， director of Soochow University Museum， leader of the first-level discipline of design doctoral program， and a famous teacher in Jiangsu Province. His major works include The Aesthetics of Design， Appraising Costumes， The Cultural Stance of Design， Summer in Maryland， and The Gains of Migrating the Mind.

This book is a collection of 16 lectures by the author， each of which can be regarded as a separate essay on art. Readers can appreciate the insights of masters such as Wang Guowei and Liang Qichao from a century ago and experience the strength of character， charisma， and style of scholars influenced by these masters. Insight may also be gained into the philosophical wisdom of Socrates， Plato， and Aristotle in ancient Greece and Rome， whose deep contemplation by the Aegean Sea laid the foundation for aesthetics， beliefs， and philosophies of the entire Western civilization.

The Noble Simplicity—Ancient and Modern Discourses on Art Aesthetics

Li Chaode

Jiangsu Phoenix Fine Arts Publishing House

April 2021

128.00 （CNY）

The origin of art is closely related to the source of humanity， and there would be no art without human beings. When I lectured on The Aesthetics of Design， I kept telling my students： “When the primitive man picked up one stone and smashed it against another， from there came design.”

The history of human art is really one facet of the history of human civilization. Both anthropological and art museums have collections and displays of ancient artifacts， such as stone tools fashioned by primitive men. For example， by polishing stones and fashioning them into tools， primitive men learned the power of volume and form. In this way， the origins of art and humanity are intricately linked， and art can be said to be a phenomenon unique to human society. Some people say that animals also have a sense of beauty and that CCTV’s Animal World is full of such anthropomorphic reports. This is misleading. In fact， in his book Aesthetics， published in 1984， Wang Chaowen refuted this point， arguing that what exists in animals is not beauty but a bestial sensuality based on sound， light， and color. I couldn’t help but smile when I read Wang Chaowen’s book. He wrote that a parakeet is prettier than a sparrow， but a sparrow will never fall for a parakeet just because a parakeet looks more appealing than itself. A toad will not pursue a frog just because the frog is adorable. All this is determined by the species. This means that animals do not have a sense of beauty; there is no such thing as beauty or ugliness outside the human world. Therefore， aesthetic and creative activities based on art are a phenomenon unique to humans; only human beings have art that can truly reflect their emotions.

The evolution from apes to homo sapiens， the birth of human beings， provided the primary conditions for the dawn of art. The human body and senses evolved during this process. The eye was originally utilitarian. The philosophical phrase “the disappearance of the utilitarian means the rise of the non-utilitarian” meant that the human eye was initially utilitarian. What kind of utilitarianism？ Primitive man needed discerning eyes to catch his prey; his eyes must be very utilitarian. As human societies evolved and progressed， this utilitarianism began to disappear slowly. The eyes of a human gradually evolved to be able to appreciate the form of beauty. The arm of the primitive man throwing stones had strength and utilitarianism; they enabled him to pick up a bow and arrows or a rock to hunt. But the arm of the modern man， capable of playing the violin， of painting and writing， has moved from the purely utilitarian to the non-utilitarian. It has become capable of creating form and beauty. The same goes for the ear; as they once said， “an ear capable of hearing the wind.” The ear was also very utilitarian; as they say， an eye can see in all directions， and an ear can hear sound from any direction. An ear can indeed hear very far. But the ear no longer purely reflects this utilitarian function. It can now also listen to music. Music is a good tonic for the soul. There is music for listening to in the car or for in the middle of the night. Everyone has different life experiences and different aesthetic tastes. They will choose a kind of music based on them： some like classical， others prefer the blues. Younger people may listen to more hip music， like young girls may like Tohoshinki. When I read in the papers that the singing duo TVXQ！ was about to disband， I felt it a pity. These boys who were like porcelain dolls could not be together forever， just like “every feast in this world has to come to an end someday.”

Desires， thoughts， emotions， imagination， and other inner activities of human psychology — all these are closely related to the origin of art. Of course， there are many hypotheses about the origin of art， such as “the Theory of Ideas” — Plato and Hegel were its first and leading advocates; “the Theory of the Will” — that art is an expression of one’s aspirations， especially in the writing of poetry; “Mimicry” and “the Subconscious” — that art reflects a certain subconscious， and results from transference. There are also the “game theory” and the “witchcraft theory” on the origin of art. There are many different theories on the origin of art， but I will elaborate on the four most representative and the closest to our point of view.