The Soul of Creation (Shensi): The Soul of Creation (Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture) 9811604959, 9789811604959

Table of contents :
Publisher’s Note to “Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture Series” (English Edition)
Introduction
Contents
1 “Shen Si:” An Innovation as a Significant Aesthetic Category
1.1 “Shen Si” is Proposed in the Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons as a Construct of Thinking in Artistic Creation
1.2 The Connotations of “Shen Si” as a Category of Thinking in Artistic Creation
2 The Generative Mechanism of Artistic Stimulation and Associations in “Shen Si”
2.1 Differences in Genesis Between “Shen Si” and the Western Theory of “Inspiration”
2.2 “Being Stimulated to Have Artistic Associations” in An Aesthetic Sense
3 “Shen Si” and Imagination in Thinking in Artistic Creation
3.1 The Feature of Internal Visualization in “Shen Si”
3.2 The Creative Function of Artistic Imagination in “Shen Si”
4 Characteristics of Fortuitous Thinking in “Shen Si”
4.1 “Shen Si” and “Fortuity”
4.2 The Aesthetic Effect of “Fortuity” as a Creative Moment
5 “Aesthetics” and “Aesthetic Emotions”
5.1 Aesthetic Emotions in Artistic Creation
5.2 Emotions Expressed as Gifts to the Scenery in Sight, and Associations Evoked as Its Responses in Kind
5.3 Co-Generation of Emotions and Sceneries: Moment of “Shen Si”
6 “Shen Si” and Artistic Medium
6.1 “Shen Si” and the Internalization of Artistic Medium
6.2 Medium and the Image Created by “Shen Si”
6.3 Conclusion
Bibliography

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The Soul of Creation (Shensi ) Jing Zhang Translated byy Liqing Tao

Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture

Published in partnership between FLTRP and Palgrave Macmillan, the Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture offer a unique insight into Chinese culture, defining and contextualizing some of China’s most fundamental and at times complex philosophical concepts. In a concise and reader-friendly manner, these short works define a variety of quintessentially Chinese terms such as harmony (hé/和) or association (x¯ıng/兴) – and examine how they first appeared and developed in Chinese culture, the impact they had on Chinese thought and why they continue to have significant meaning in China today. At a time when the understanding of different histories, languages and cultures globally is at a premium, this series provides a valuable roadmap to the concepts which underpin 21st century Chinese society.

More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/16234

Jing Zhang

The Soul of Creation (Shensi)

Jing Zhang Communication University of China Beijing, China Translated by Liqing Tao City University of New York New York, NY, USA

ISSN 2524-8464 ISSN 2524-8472 (electronic) Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture ISBN 978-981-16-0495-9 ISBN 978-981-16-0496-6 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0496-6 Jointly published with Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing Co., Ltd The edition is not for sale in China Mainland. Customers from China Mainland please order the print book from Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing. ISBN of the China Mainland edition: N/A. This international edition is exclusively licensed to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. for worldwide distribution outside of China © Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing Co., Ltd 2021 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publishers, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publishers nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publishers remain neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: © Melisa Hasan This Palgrave Pivot imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Publisher’s Note to “Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture Series” (English Edition)

In the course of human history, Chinese civilization has always been known for its long history and remarkable breadth and depth. In a unique geographical environment and thanks to a fascinating historical development, the Chinese nation has nurtured academic traditions, humanistic spirits, values, a way of thinking, ethics, and customs unfound elsewhere in the world. All of this was expounded and sublimated by Confucius, Mozi, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Mencius, Xunzi, and other ancient sages and philosophers, and encapsulated into thousands of highly concise and profound key concepts underpinning the brilliant and rich Chinese culture. Reflective of the supreme wisdom and rational thinking of the Chinese nation, the concepts have come to be known as “key concepts in Chinese thought and culture.” They are the brainchild fostered by the Chinese nation engaged for thousands of years in independently exploring and rationally thinking about the universe, the world, social norms and ethics, ways of thinking, and values. They represent the unique and most significant hallmark of Chinese thought and civilization produced by the Chinese nation. They are the greatest intellectual legacy left by ancient Chinese philosophers to the contemporary Chinese and the most valuable intellectual wealth contributed by the Chinese nation to world civilization. The past four decades of reform and opening up have witnessed continued growth of the Chinese economy and its comprehensive strength. As an active participant and contributor to globalization, China has been increasingly admired in the international community for its v

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national conditions, history, thoughts, and culture. On the other hand, its basic research has fallen behind with the development of the times. So far there exist no comprehensive and systematic collation and interpretation of the concepts that reflect its thought and culture, for introduction to overseas readers. There is no unified comprehension and interpretation of many terms, especially those reflective of the unique Chinese philosophy, humanism, values, and ways of thinking. It is even more regrettable that the lack of unified norms for the translation of such terms into foreign languages has frequently led to deviations from their actual meaning, and consequently, confusion and even misunderstanding on the part of overseas readers may result. To ameliorate the above circumstances, we officially launched in 2014 the “Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture Project.” Drawing on the excellent history of traditional Chinese thought and culture, the Project has focused on key concepts encapsulating Chinese philosophy, humanistic spirits, values, ways of thinking, and cultural characteristics, especially those with implications for the development of contemporary world civilization and in line with the common values of the human race. Those concepts were then interpreted in objective and concise Chinese and translated into English and other languages, for overseas readers to better understand the connotations and essence of Chinese thought and culture, and consequently to promote equal dialogue and exchanges between Chinese civilization and other civilizations of the world, so as to jointly build a community and shared future of mankind. So far, over 600 terms have been collated, interpreted, and translated by Project experts and published by the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press (FLTRP) in six volumes in Chinese and English under the serial title of “Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture.” However, due to style and volume restrictions, the historical context, semantic context, origin and evolution, academic influence and the underlying humanistic spirit, values, and modern implications haven’t been fully elaborated for some of them. To give overseas audiences a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of them, FLTRP and Springer Nature have jointly planned the new “Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture Series” (English Edition). Each volume of this series will be centered on one concept only or a couple of closely related concepts. The authors are required to examine in detail the historical context, semantic context, origin and evolution, and academic influence, based on the research findings on ancient Chinese literature. They are expected to unfold their elaboration

PUBLISHER’S NOTE TO “KEY CONCEPTS IN CHINESE THOUGHT …

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around important figures in the development of Chinese thought and culture, as well as their works, theories, and academic viewpoints. The series thus features comprehensive and original academic contributions offering relevant theoretical approaches and insights based on independent research by the respective authors. Integrating professional studies with popular interest, it emphasizes integration of corroboration and exposition and equal emphasis on Oriental and Occidental scholarship. All authors selected are young and middle-aged scholars accomplished in the study of Chinese thought and culture. It is believed that the publication of this series will make it possible for overseas readers to have a more systematic understanding of the philosophy, humanistic values, academic perspectives, and theoretical viewpoints underlying the key concepts of Chinese thought and culture, and a clearer understanding of the ways of thinking, the values and cultural characteristics of the intellectual world of the Chinese nation and overseas Chinese. We are grateful to Harmen van Paradijs, Vice President of Springer Nature Group, and Myriam Poort, Editorial Director, Humanities and Social Sciences, Springer Nature for their generous support in planning and publishing this series. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press August 2018

Introduction

Ontological Investigation of “Shen Si” as an Aesthetic Category “Shen Si,” as indicated by its two constituent Chinese characters, literally means “spiritual/divine” (shen) and “thinking” (si). Taken together, it stands for imaginative contemplation. The construct is a vibrant and fruit-laden tree in the garden of Chinese classical aesthetics. Rooted in the fertile soil of the Chinese culture and philosophy, it has been nurtured by the best of Chinese intellectual thoughts. At the same time, “Shen Si” in its long history has generated numerous wonderful and fascinating unique masterpieces to the Chinese literature and arts. In the various categories in Chinese classical aesthetics, “Shen Si” is a core, primary or fundamental category given its capacity to cover the fundamental nature of thinking in artistic creation, its ability to bond together other relevant constructs in artistic creative thinking, and its ability to encompass the whole process of artistic thinking. “Shen Si,” as a category, is first put forth in the chapter on “Shen Si” in The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons by Liu Xie, an eminent literary critic of Wei-Jin times. It is not a product of an impulse at the moment, nor a subjective fabrication from scratch, but is a synthesis, summary, and elevation of the previous commentaries and critiques on mental activities involved in artistic creation. Among all those critiques, Lu Ji’s Art of Writing, in the Western Jin period, serves as a direct theoretical source for Liu Xie’s “Shen Si.” In his The Art of Writing, Lu Ji describes in extremely beautiful and vivid language the process

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of literary creation from its preparation to conceptualization and from sudden bursts of inspiration to artistic presentation in the form of a literary product. While Lu Ji’s book is known for its vivid description in an exquisite language, it pales by far, however, in comparison with Liu Xie’sLiterary Mind and the Carving of Dragons with regard to the theoretical depth and summary power. Today, when viewed as a category, Liu Xie’s comments on “Shen Si” in the context of classical aesthetics are not merely unprecedented, but also unsurpassed by later generations. If any relevant contemplation about “Shen Si” before Liu Xie is still in a nascent stage, then, by Liu Xie’s time, “Shen Si” as a very important Chinese aesthetic category has already evolved into a full-fledged theory, an impressive milestone in Chinese aesthetics. There are quite a few theories attempting to explain what “Shen Si” is. Some takes it as artistic conceptualization, some as artistic imagination, others as inspiration, and still others as a thinking process for artistic creation. I recognize that all these perspectives have their sufficient and well-grounded reasons, and can establish themselves as valid schools of thoughts in the research of “Dragonology” and “Shen Si.” However, from my perspective of its being a “synthesizing and integrating” construct, “Shen Si” can also be viewed as a fundamental revelation about the thinking entailed in artistic creation. The term “Shen Si” was already in use before Liu Xie’s time, and some comments were made in bits and pieces on artistic thinking. Since Liu Xie’s time, numerous literary critics, critics on poetry, and critics on paintings have extended and applied their ideas stimulated by “Shen Si” from various perspectives. Yet, a comprehensive build-up of “Shen Si” as a construct was only accomplished by the chapter on “Shen Si” in Liu Xie’sLiterary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, which put forward a most systematic and most theoretic presentation of Shen Si. The current booklet, therefore, relies mainly on that chapter by Liu Xie to explore “Shen Si” as an aesthetic category. Nonetheless, I also believe that “Shen Si” is a core category about the thinking entailed in artistic creation in Chinese classical aesthetics, and its scope and depth are not limited to the chapter on “Shen Si” only. A myriad of literary critics, including those on poetry and on paintings, have made their unique contributions to the theory on “Shen Si.” Therefore, my study of “Shen Si” will go beyond the chapter on “Shen Si” by analyzing and synthesizing various commentators’ discussions on the topic, hoping to offer a comprehensive and objective exposition that has theoretical significance in reality.

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In my opinion, “Shen Si” can be treated as the core category for thinking entailed in artistic creation. It can be viewed from two perspectives, one narrow and the other broad. The narrow one refers to the thinking characteristics, the way the mind works, and mental state that is conducive to the creation of artistic masterpieces. The broad one focuses on universal revelation of thinking characteristics, thinking processes, and psychological state of artistic creation, encompassing important elements in thinking entailed in artistic creation such as aesthetic experience and artistic association, artistic conceptualization, inspirations for creation, image formation, and even aesthetic actualization. Moreover, it is also a dynamic depiction of the thinking process of artistic creation. At one level, “Shen Si” refers to the thinking activities that lead to the creation of artworks of highest achievements or of divine exquisiteness. In Chinese classical aesthetics, “entering a divine state” (“Ru Shen”) is a very high evaluation for an artwork, indicating also a state of artistic creation free of all constraints. The stanza by the great Tang poet Du Fu that “Having studied over ten thousand books, my own writing can come as if from a deity” refers to a state of creation that transcends rules and restrictions, resulting thus in a highly unique and valuable aesthetic product. Yan Yu in the Song Dynasty once commented in the chapter on Apology of Poetry in his Canglang’s Criticism of Poetry that: “when a poem is divinely aided, it reaches the apex of poetic creation, and accomplishes all that a poem can give. Nothing therefore can be added anymore.” This is the highest standard Yan Yu holds for poetry. With regard to paintings and calligraphy, Chinese critics also hold “divine products” as works of the highest value. Zhang Huaiguan, a famous critic of calligraphy in Tang Dynasty, classifies calligraphy arts into three categories: “sublime,” “wonderful,” and “skillful,” with “sublime” as the top category. All these point to the fact that, “being sublime” is the highest appraisal for an artwork in China. In addition, from the constructive comments by Lu Ji and Liu Xie, we could also infer that, “Shen Si,” in a sense, is not an ordinary thinking activity, but an optimal state of artistic thinking that brings forth a spontaneous flow of ideas with monumental force and myriad images, from which exceptional artistic creations are borne. The following comment from Liu Xie reveals the exquisite rather than mundane images that are created: “The diction carries melodious sounds of pearls and jades, and varied sceneries appear vividly before one’s eyes. This is the wonder that imagination can work.” A concept closely related to “Shen Si” is “divine opportunity,” which can also fall under the

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broader construct of “Shen Si.” It is characterized by absolutely wonderful thinking beyond this world, leading to the creation of the best and most unique products. When art theorists talk about “divine opportunity,” they are referring to those universally acknowledged artworks whose miraculous configurations always attract immense interest in the force behind their creation. Lu Ji comments that “as with divine intervention, all scattered thoughts and fragmented images begin to make sense and everything falls into place.” He is trying to capture the way the free flow of literary thoughts in creating highly exceptional works. Xie Zhen, a literary critic in Ming Dynasty, praises Dai Fugu’s poetic lines “the spring water circles pier by pier; the evening Sun sets at mountains beyond mountains” as “an extremely well-made couplet achieved only after sustained efforts,” believing that such poetic exquisiteness comes from the heaven: “Such poem requires divine opportunity for which a poet has to wait to interact with surrounding objects for the formation of poem. Without it, a poet cannot come up with such lines no matter how hard he tries” (Si Ming’s Criticism of Poetry, Vol. II ). Dong You, a noted art critic in Song Dynasty who highly lauds the great painter Li Gongling, attributes his paintings to “divine opportunity.” He comments, “when finishing his paintings, he has no regrets. Isn’t it technique maturing into ‘Dao’ in which the divine opportunity manifests itself?” 1 All artworks, when labeled as “divine opportunity,” are masterpieces that take on exquisite refinement, which is exactly one of the connotations of “Shen Si.” Scholars have sufficient reasons to interpret and expound “Shen Si” in various ways such as artistic imagination, inspiration, or artistic conceptualization because “Shen Si” as a construct has evoked in-depth discussions on issues related to artistic imagination, inspiration, artistic conceptualization, and others. However, if we equate “Shen Si” with imagination, inspiration, or artistic conceptualization, then we will fall short of providing an accurate and comprehensive description of what “Shen Si” is. According to Liu Xie in the chapter of “Shen Si” in his The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons and Lu Ji in his Art of Writing, “Shen Si” has always been treated as referring to the entire thinking process entailed in artistic creation including its multiple characteristics. In my opinion, “Shen Si” is the core construct in artistic creation in Chinese classic aesthetics, with

1 Dong, You (1982). Guangchuan Collection of Essays on Paintings. p. 290. In An Lan (ed.) (1982). Painting Appreciations Series. Shanghai, Shanghai People’s Art Press.

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its connotation encompassing the preparation stage of artistic creation, triggering mechanism of creative impulse, fundamental nature of artistic conceptualization, generation of inspiration for creation, formation of aesthetic images, artistic projection of an artwork, and so forth. “Shen Si” has characteristics such as being free, transcendent, intuitive, and creative. It is really a dynamic thinking process and way of thinking, rather than a static concept. “Shen Si” embodies the free spirit of a creative agent, unfettered by time and space, which enables the wings of imagination to break away from the physical boundaries of time and space to touch the sky or grace the earth, and to span over a thousand years back and forth. Liu Xie’s definition of “Shen Si” brings out explicitly this characteristic of the thinking in artistic creation, “The ancients said, ‘Though he lives among common folks, deep in his heart he is concerned with affairs of the royal court.’” Such is how Shen Si works! In conceiving a piece of writing, one’s imagination can miraculously reach far and wide in absolute freedom. “When one is silently absorbed in thoughts, one’s mind can travel thousands of years; when one is observed changing his facial expressions quietly, his mind’s eye is seeing things as far away as ten thousand li” (the chapter on “Shen Si” in The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons ). Similarly, Lu Ji states in his Art of Writing that “The thoughts can reach the most remote places, and the mind can extend to reach the apex of the universe.” That also emphasizes capability of the human mind to break through the constraints of physical time and space, indicating the unrestricted nature of mental activities that can go beyond temporal and spatial limits to create another unique world of aesthetic time and space. The free nature of “Shen Si” also manifests itself in defying any established rules, and in always appearing in a new and refreshing way, leading one to a natural world of wonder and exquisiteness. “Shen” @@@has two connotations: One refers to the operation of divine spirits and mental activity, and the other to the elusive subtle change. Zhang Dainian believes that “‘Shen’ shows the ‘unpredictability’ of Ying-Yang changes, and the ‘wonderful effect’ of changes on all things…the so-called ‘unpredictability’ is nothing but ‘inability to be held as exemplary’ and adaptability to changing contexts, thus indicating the extreme complexity of changes.”2

2 Zhang, Dainian. (1987). A Criticism of the Conceptual Constructs in Chinese Classical Philosophy. Beijing: China’s Social Sciences Press. P. 97.

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“Shen” in “Shen Si” refers, first and foremost, to subtle and elusive changes, and “Shen Si” denotes the indescribable and unpredictable way of thinking. This is just as Zhang Huaihuan in Tang Dynasty states, “All these endless changes are divinely driven. If they are not divinely generated by Nature, how can they reach such perfections?” (Comments on Calligraphy, Vol.II ). “Shen Si” is an intuitive thinking mode, in which an author absorbs the looks of objects, tempers them in the process of creative integration, and eventually creates new images. Lu Ji says in TheArts of Writing, “The literary thoughts arrive just as the sun begins to rise on the horizon. It rises surrounded by darkness and then gradually breaks into brightness. At that moment, the objects become so clear that they race out.” Here, “objects” refer to “looks of objects.” Liu Xie calls these “appearance of an object.” Liu Xie says, “Therefore, when a poet is moved by objects, he will think in association of endless things. Unable to tear himself away from myriad of objects, he would immerse himself in and dwell on the things that are within the reach of his eyes and ears. When trying to convey their artistic appeals and portray their images, a poet has to bring his description in line with the objects observed, and when detailing their hues and colors and imitating their sounds, he also has to make them reflect his emotions through careful and deliberate diction” (the chapter on “Object Appearance” in The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons ). The statement highlights the process of creation in which a poet uses the varied looks of objects as building blocks. However, “Shen Si” does not stop at merely absorbing and depicting their looks, but aims to transform them through integration into new aesthetic images. The chapter on “Shen Si” in The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons states that “using one’s tools to sculpture images according to one’s mental images.” Here, the “images” refer to the aesthetic images shaped by a poet through his mental absorption and integration, bearing as a result clear attributes of creativity, the equal of which may have never been seen before. As an aesthetic thinking activity, “Si” in “Shen Si” is not merely object recognition, but refers to an intense activity in which novel creation and original formation are taking place, and from which new aesthetic images are born. “Shen Si” is not a process of logical thinking, but a subtle and top form of thinking that is beyond description. Liu Xie states in the chapter on “Shen Si” in The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons, “Only the highest level of skills

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will enable one to elucidate the most delicate, and only a thorough knowledge of subtle changes will yield a true understanding of the intrinsic principles. Therefore, even Master Chef Yi Zhi is unable to explain why his dishes taste so well, and Master Carpenter Bian Luan is unable to explain the magic techniques of using an ax. How subtle those things are!” Liu Xie’s statement epitomizes both vividly and accurately the intuitive nature of “Shen Si.” “Shen Si” fuses with the aesthetic emotions of a creative agent during the process of artistic creation. The theory of “Shen Si” holds in high regard the role of emotion. Its arousal is the origin of “Shen Si.” During conceptualization, an author’s “emotion” is always the most significant factor in making associations based on the look of an object, mentally refining it, and eventually coming up with a new aesthetic image. Liu Xie comments that, “Humans are born with seven emotions: pleasure, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, and lust. Those emotions would respond to the outside stimuli. Therefore, it is only natural that a poet would sing out his inner emotions and aspirations in response to the outside objects” (“The chapter on Understanding Poetry” in The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons ). Lu Ji makes a similar comment that, “The vicissitude of four seasons makes me lament the passing of time and the changing sceneries in Nature teem my brain with thoughts. Fallen leaves make me sad in autumn but tender shoots returning in spring gives me so much joy” (The Art of Writing ). Zhong Rong expresses similar sentiment when he says, “The force in Nature moves objects, which in turn touch the poet, who thereafter creates songs and poems with his emotions” (Preface to the “Critique of Poetry). All those commentators and others as well all concur that emotions arise in response to outside objects and become motivation for literary creation. In addition, emotions are an important element in artistic conceptualization. “Singing and bringing out emotions and sentiments” matter most in “Shen Si,” just as Liu Xie says, “writing is driven by emotions.” Liu Xie believes that the beautiful language in a piece of writing is a natural result of artistic expression of the writer’s emotions. Therefore, he thus states that, “Even something as insignificant as grass and trees will have to sustain themselves on their resilience and fruits, not to mention literary works, which focus on expressing aspiration. If a piece of writing does not truly reflect aspiration, how can it be trusted?” (the chapter on “Emotions and Expressions” in The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons ). The so-called “aspiration” refers mainly to the emotions of the writer. Furthermore, in Liu Xie’s view,

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“Shen Si” has “image” as its basic element, whereas “image” is conceived by “emotion.” In the chapter on “Shen Si” of The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons, he says complimentarily, “‘Shen’ uses images to get the meaning through, and images are conceived in emotion.” With that, he has captured with precision the important role of emotion in “Shen Si.” However, that “emotion” cannot be simply taken as an individual’s ordinary feelings and sentiment. It is rather an aesthetic emotion that has been integrated, elevated, and put into a certain form. In his chapter on “Emotions and Expressions” in The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons, Liu Xie proposes the concept of “emotions and expressions,” which is a combination of emotion and form. The so-called “lyric prose” refers exactly to the way of expressing emotions in an aesthetic form. Even though “Shen Si” is spontaneous in nature and the thinking process aims to create aesthetic images, it is not irrational at all. Instead, it incorporates rational thinking or “righteous principles” into images, and draws many other images with its exhortative and penetrating power. Such “exhortative” power in writing is what Lu Ji emphatically highlights, believing that “A piece of writing should have a couple of exhortative sentences in key places to convey its message. Even though there are abundant other themes, those themes must depend on that keynote sentence to realize their values” (The Art of Writing ). The exhortative function here clearly refers to the role of admonishing that a piece of writing should assume to influence people’s hearts and minds with righteous principles. Lu Ji believes that this type of exhortative sentences is the core and soul of a text. In his Art of Writing, Lu Ji adds that “A main theme provides the backbone to a piece of writing, whereas the form provides a structure to enrich it,” indicating that righteous principles are the necessary mainstay of any writing. Li Shan states in Notes on Literary Selections that “A literary form must have principles as its foundation,” shedding light on Lu Ji’s statement above. In the chapter on “Suggestiveness and Expressiveness” in The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons, Liu Xie regards these two words “suggestiveness” and “expressiveness” as an aesthetic pair of concepts that have a profound dialectical relationship with each other. He says, “Therefore, for vibrant and outstanding writings, there is bound to be something that is suggestive and something that is expressive. The suggestive focuses on the key principle beyond writing; and the expressive brings forth the unique beauty within the text. The

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suggestive matters most in meanings beyond words, whereas the expressive is at its best when it presents unique excellence.” “Unique excellence” embodies something that has a profound, rational, and exhortative appeal. The chapter’s “Closing Words” summarizes the “expressiveness” with a clear focus on this point, “An expressive sentence of unique aphoristic exhortations only comes from continuous pondering and contemplation. A sentence that moves hearts and minds speaks louder than beautiful music.” “A sentence…from continuous pondering and contemplation” is the product of thinking at its summit and the quintessence of intellect. Yet, such brilliance in writing does not come from logical reasoning, but is a natural outcome of imagery conceptualization. As a special type of thinking entailed in artistic creation, “Shen Si” does not simply focus on how to construct an internal theme, but considers simultaneously how to conceive aesthetic images for that theme and expressing it artistically. In contrast to the Western theories of artistic imagination and inspiration, ancient Chinese theory of “Shen Si” focuses more on the close integration of image creation and expression through artistic language, or in other words, on employing accurate and vivid artistic language to actualize the internal aesthetic images. Lu Ji makes the following comments in The Art of Writing: Whenever I read writings by gifted scholars, I am able to see what they intend to say. In their writings, they employ a variety of ways of expressions. One can ascertain and tell the good and bad techniques in writing. When I write, I will be particularly sensitive to these points. Writers are constantly worried about their inability in conceptualization to do justice to the objects, and to use appropriate dictions for their conceptualization. It is not difficult to know why such problems arise, but it is difficult to be able to solve such problems. That’s why I write the book The Art of Writing to commend our predecessors’ excellent literary creation, and, in addition, to discuss the underlying reasons for literary successes or failures as well as fundamental rules of literary creation. Later on, such discussions may help us create better literary works. As to specific writing processes, the book can also provide some guidance, but the advent of inspirational moments and contextual specificities necessary for wonderful writings are impossible to exhaust and capture in words. All that can be put into words are described in the book.

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Lu Ji is most worried about an “inability in conceptualization to do justice to the objects, and to use appropriate dictions for their conceptualization.” In fact, to make ideas match the things and to use appropriate diction for ideas are exactly what Lu Ji has been looking for. Lu Ji starts TheArt of Writing by connecting the process of “Shen Si,” the gradual understanding of objects and increasing crystallization of aesthetic images, with their expression by means of language in a literary work: Rich cultural deposits nurture the artistic flowers, just as angels float gracefully across the sky, or dragons dive majestically to the bottom of the sea. In that way, profound words that were hard to come by find their way into writing, just as fish is angled from the deep. Therefore, rhetorical techniques fill an author’s mind, just as a high-flying bird falls from the sky after being shot. All beautiful writings and melodious rhythms of the past and present are culled and epitomized. Boring clichés are discarded while the fresh and the novel expressions live on like beautiful flowers. At that moment, all past and present are brought to one’s view, and all the world’s bests are condensed into a short moment of presentation.

Lu Ji is using very poetic language here to express his conviction that an author’s literary conceptualization needs to be expressed in beautiful and unique language. Liu Xie says in his chapter on “Shen Si” of The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons that, “While ‘Shen’ dwells in an author’s mind, it is shaped by his sentiments and personality; external objects meet his eyes and ears, and their images come out in beautiful language. If language is aptly used, then those objects will be brought out fully. If his sentiments and personality are not made clear, then ‘Shen’ will not show…only in this way can the all-knowing soul find the right sound and rhythm to set the standards, just like a master carpenter who uses his tools to sculpture images according to his mental images.” That quote clearly explains the important function of language in instantiating aesthetic images and making them prominent. In fact, how to use more accurate and aesthetic language to express and actualize aesthetic images is one of the important connotations of “Shen Si” theory.

Contents

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“Shen Si:” An Innovation as a Significant Aesthetic Category 1.1 “ Shen Si” is Proposed in the Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons as a Construct of Thinking in Artistic Creation 1.2 The Connotations of “ Shen Si” as a Category of Thinking in Artistic Creation The Generative Mechanism of Artistic Stimulation and Associations in “Shen Si” 2.1 Differences in Genesis Between “ Shen Si” and the Western Theory of “Inspiration” 2.2 “Being Stimulated to Have Artistic Associations” in An Aesthetic Sense “Shen Si” and Imagination in Thinking in Artistic Creation 3.1 The Feature of Internal Visualization in “ Shen Si” 3.2 The Creative Function of Artistic Imagination in “ Shen Si” Characteristics of Fortuitous Thinking in “Shen Si” 4.1 “ Shen Si” and “Fortuity” 4.2 The Aesthetic Effect of “Fortuity” as a Creative Moment

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“Aesthetics” and “Aesthetic Emotions” 5.1 Aesthetic Emotions in Artistic Creation 5.2 Emotions Expressed as Gifts to the Scenery in Sight, and Associations Evoked as Its Responses in Kind 5.3 Co-Generation of Emotions and Sceneries: Moment of “ Shen Si” “Shen Si” and Artistic Medium 6.1 “ Shen Si” and the Internalization of Artistic Medium 6.2 Medium and the Image Created by “ Shen Si” 6.3 Conclusion

Bibliography

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CHAPTER 1

“Shen Si:” An Innovation as a Significant Aesthetic Category

Abstract As a mature aesthetic construct, “Shen Si” certainly has undergone changes and developed its own complexity in its evolution. Though Liu Xie’s chapter on “Shen Si” in The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons has covered all basic connotations of “Shen Si,” what is advanced there is not exactly the same as the aesthetic construct of “Shen Si” after its continuous enrichment and integration over time since Liu Xie. Therefore, it is necessary to take stock in an objective and systematic way all the connotations of “Shen Si” as expounded by Liu Xie. Keywords Thinking in creation · Imagination · Inspiration

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“Shen Si ” is Proposed in the Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons as a Construct of Thinking in Artistic Creation “Shen Si,” as a stable and mature aesthetic construct, was formally advanced by Liu Xie in The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons, a theoretical book on literature and arts. Its expansive coverage and insightful views are remarkable in either Chinese or foreign history of literary criticism. There are fifty chapters in total, presenting a very wellknit system, with the chapter on “Shen Si” playing indisputably a very © Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing Co., Ltd 2021 J. Zhang, The Soul of Creation (Shensi), Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0496-6_1

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important role. Therefore, understanding the place and role of that chapter in the whole book is of invaluable importance in our understanding of “Shen Si.” Generally speaking, Liu Xie has made it explicit in the Preface that the chapters in the book fall into two parts. The first twenty-five chapters constitute the first part, serving as the “guiding principles.” Among them, the first five chapters, “The Original Dao,” “Exemplary practice by the Sage,” “Following the Classics,” “Distinguishing Divination Books,” and “Critiquing Chu Rhapsodic Poems,” serve as a general introduction, or what Liu Xie called the “linchpin of the book.” The rest twenty chapters from “Understanding Poems” to “Written records” are on various genres of writing, or on “literary styles.” Liu Xie thus summarized them: “As far as making comments on rhymed writings and unrhymed writings are concerned, I have differentiated and separated them into various genres, unravelling the origins to understand their changes and development, explicating concepts to bring out meanings, selecting literary works as examples to make clear their composition principles and fundamental features. Therefore, the first part serves to reveal the guiding principles” (Preface to The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons ). The ensuing twenty-five chapters form the second part. Among them, nineteen chapters from “Shen Si” to “A Summary Note on Writing Principles” discuss various aspects of creation, generally regarded as theories on literary creation. For the remaining chapters, the one on “Change along with Times” is about the relationship between literature and its times, and the one on “Object Appearances” is about literary creation and natural objects (which I believe can fall under the category of theories on literary creation). The chapters on “Talents and Strategies” and “Measuring up Authors” focus on authors’ talents and virtues, and “Appreciators for Literary works” on the attitudes and methods of literary criticism. “The Preface” is an overview of the book without delving into specifics, thematically “threading together all the chapters.” In the Preface, Liu Xie has made the following comments on the second part: (Here) I have explored literary works in terms of their emotions, analyzed their literary expressions, deducted their underlying theoretical principles, clarified the relationship among psychological activities, styles and talents, expounded the source of touching and inspiring powers, structures and momentum of literary works, summarized the way to prepare for writing and get creative with composition by paying due respect to literary inheritance and finding originality, and scrutinized the choice of

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rhythmic language and expressions. I have commented on the relationship between the rise and fall of literary works and vicissitude of times in “Change along with Times”, complimented and criticized literary writers in “Talents and Strategies”, lamented for the lack of talents in literary critique in “Appreciators for Literary Works”, highlighted the importance of a writer in possession of moral virtues, and always expressed that my intent of writing the ‘Preface’ is to thread together all the chapters. Therefore, specific issues on literary creation have been made clear in the second part. (“Preface” in The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons )

The above statement delineates the general configuration of the book. “Shen Si” is the first chapter on literary creation, providing its principles. Liu Xie in the chapter on “Shen Si” labels “Shen Si” as “the primary method of engaging in writing, and an important principle to go by in conceptualizing writing,” demonstrating clearly his emphasis on “Shen Si.” The noted literary theorist Wang Yuanhua has made the following comments with regard to the role of that chapter in the book, “that Liu Xie has used the chapter on ‘Shen Si’ as the general theme for all the chapters on literary creation truly captures his belief that artistic thinking of imaginative activities (“Shen Si”) is prevalent in the whole process of creation. That’s a remarkable insight.”1 It is obvious that Wang Yuanhua is convinced that Liu Xie is taking the chapter on “Shen Si” as a central theme for his theory on literary creation, and, to a great extent, all the following chapters on literary creation such as “Style and Temperament,” “Literary Styles,” “Adapting to Changes,” and “Positionality” are further elaborations of “Shen Si.” The most valued chapters in the Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons are those on literary creation, because they have explicated very systematically and in depth some innate rules and principles of literary creation. While these chapters discuss the basic issues in literary creation, the chapter on “Shen Si” focuses on thinking in creation as a core theme to run through the whole process of literary creation. In order for us to see it in its original meaning, I quote here the chapter on “Shen Si” in its entirety:

1 Wang, Y. (1984). On the Literary Creation Theory in the Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons (p. 209). Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House .

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The ancients said, “Though he lives among common folks, deep in his heart he is concerned with affairs of the royal court.” That illustrates how Shen Si works! In conceiving a piece of writing, one’s miraculous imagination can reach far and wide in total freedom. When one is silently absorbed in thoughts, one’s mind can travel thousands of years; when one is observed changing his facial expressions quietly, his mind’s eye is seeing things as far away as tens of thousands of li. That is the moment when the language one uses yields melodious sounds of pearls and jades, and the moment when varied sceneries are freely summoned before one’s eyes. All these come from one’s imagination touched off by the mental activity of conceiving one’s writing. Therefore conceiving writing is a miraculous thing. It can connect imagination within with objects without. This is the wonder that imagination can work. It enables the human mind to interact with the external physical world through eyes and ears, and narrate such experiences via the key vehicle of language while the brain is teaming with inspired thoughts and heightened emotions. With the facilitation of language as vehicle, the look and shape of an object can be clearly described. However, if the vehicle of language breaks down, then the wonder of imagination will dissipate, leaving the piece of writing devoid of its essence. Therefore, in literary conceptualization, one needs to clear one’s mind of any pre-conceived notions and stay tranquil and pure as the driven snow. That takes hard work, persevering in accumulating knowledge, and analyzing various matters to enrich one’s learning; it requires one to research and experience a myriad of phenomena to become utterly observant; and it also entails searching for beautiful and proper diction to convey the conceptual message. Only then can one’s miraculous mind be able to come up with proper diction true to the principles of sounds, much as a master craftsman using his tools at his volition to create product according to a unique image he perceives in his mind’s eye. This is the prime method of commanding one’s thinking on composition. It is likewise an important starting point to prepare for writing an article. When imagination kicks in, an array of thoughts and images will come parading before one’s mind’s eye. One needs to develop substantial content out of something yet to be thought through, and produce images to give form to thoughts still evolving. Climbing up the high mountains, one feels one’s emotions under the full influence of mountain sceneries; and facing oceans, one lets the spectacular seascapes take over one’s thoughts. No matter how talented one is, his thoughts will be able to go as unrestrained as the free-moving cloud. When one picks up the pen and starts writing, one’s momentum is at its full force; but when the writing is done, whatever one starts with is already half compromised. Why does that happen? The

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answer is because it is easy to imagine spectacular things freely, but difficult to capture their delicacy in actual words. What is in a written piece comes from one’s thoughts and emotions, and what is expressed in meaning comes from what is written there. Therefore, if all these three can be closely integrated, they will come out as one seamlessly in the writing; however, any lack of connection among the three will result in a gaping distance to each other. Some principles are just inside one’s heart but need to be sought from remote regions to substantiate; some ideas are just within reach but need to be meditated upon by travelling afar. Therefore, one needs to cleanse one’s mind, maintain a tranquil state, and improve self-cultivation so as to avoid beating one’s brains out in hard thinking. It should not be necessary to labor one’s mind and heart in order to appreciate and experience the beauty in the outside world. People vary in their talents, resulting in different amount of time required to form one’s thoughts. Genres of writing vary, calling for writings of different lengths and for various types of writers. It took Sima Xianru forever to ponder something before he committed it to writing. Yang Xiong was so exhausted from writing that he drifted into a scary dream the moment he dropped his brush pen. Huan Tan was thinking so intensely about his writing that he constantly fell sick. Wang Chong was so focused on thinking while writing that he exhausted himself physically. It took Zhang Heng ten full years to write his meticulously crafted A Rhapsodic Poem on the Two Capitals. Zuo Si’s well-written A Rhapsodic Poem on the Three Capitals was created over a period of twelve years. While all those are magnum opuses, the lengthy time of creation demonstrates just how slow literary thoughts come into fruition. Liu An, Lord of Huai Nan, finished his A Rhapsodic Poem on Li Sao in one morning at the behest of Emperor Wen Di. Mei Hao could always produce rhapsodic poems at the order of Emperor Wu Di. Cao Zhi composed his writings as if he was simply reciting them. Wang Cang’s writings came as if they were precomposed. Yuan Yu could handily write his essays and letters while on the horseback. Mi Heng was able to draft his report instantly at a banquet table. While all those pieces are only short pieces, they do show that those authors were fast-thinkers. Fast-thinkers always have a comprehensive idea of the methodological highlights they want to create. Their fast-thinking and ready writing come from their careful planning and deep contemplation beforehand. For those who think slowly, they tend to have a myriad of things in minds. Therefore, it takes them a long time to sift through those things and settle on the one to focus on. In sum, if one thinks fast, then one can produce writing at a short notice; and if one has too many things to decide on, then his writing will take long. No matter how fast or slow, and how easy and hard people write, they all have to study broadly and

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master writing techniques. If one writes slowly with only little knowledge, or if one writes fast with only superficial understanding, then it is hard to imagine that either of them will be able to produce impressive writings. Therefore, there are two types of issues for different kinds of authors when they are conceiving their writings: those who do not have a smooth flow of ideas are short of imagination, and those who are wordy are confused in thoughts. Broad learning, in this context, is the redeeming remedy for shortage in imagination, and a focused consistency is the medicine to cure confusion in thoughts. Studying broadly and staying focused both will help authors with their literary conceptualization. Thoughts and ideas vary and differ, and writings take on different forms and styles. Some poorly-written pieces may contain excellent principles whereas some mundane descriptions may offer fresh insight. Just as hemp cloth comes from hemp, they are not different in value at the very start. But when hemp is further rendered into cloth through the weaving machine, the cloth is transformed into a glossy and precious product. Subtleties in literary conception and nuances in texts are truly beyond language, and cannot be explicitly captured in words and phrases. It is only when one has reached the top level of mastery can one capture the most delicate in writing. And it is only when one has comprehended the most subtle changes can one master the writing principles. This is just as Master Chef Ying Zhi when he is unable to utter the delicacy of condiments in his dishes, and Master Carpenter of Wheels when he cannot put in words the principle of using axes. How exquisite! In sum, interactions between the mind and physical objects give rise to all sorts of thoughts. Physical objects present themselves through forms and shapes, whereas inner mind responds to stimuli through emotions. Objects should get a truthful description of their outward appearances, whereas the inner heart should be touched by the conceptual power of the writing. Rhythms and rhymes are produced through making a meticulous use of sounds specific to individual words, and rhetorical techniques of similes and metaphors take form spontaneously. It is through careful thinking, constant contemplation, and focused study that one can successfully engage himself in making a literary creation.

The above quote of the whole chapter intends to present “Shen Si” in a comprehensive and authentic way. As a mature aesthetic construct, “Shen Si” has undergone changes over the years and developed complexity in the process of its evolution. Yet, Liu Xie’s chapter on “Shen Si” in The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons has nevertheless covered all its basic connotations. On the other hand, what is advanced in the chapter on “Shen Si” does not overlap exactly the same aesthetic construct of

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“Shen Si” after its continuous enrichment and integration since Liu Xie. Therefore, an objective understanding of the connotations of “Shen Si” as expounded by Liu Xie is all the more necessary.

1.2 The Connotations of “Shen Si ” as a Category of Thinking in Artistic Creation The chapter on “Shen Si” in The Literary Minds and Carving of Dragons is not about thinking processes in writing in general but about those underlying literary creation. That focus is made clear by lines in the chapter such as “when one is silently absorbed in thoughts, one’s mind can travel thousands of years; when one is observed changing his facial expressions quietly, his mind’s eye is seeing things as far away as ten thousand li”; or in the lines that “climbing up the high mountains, one feels one’s emotions under the full influence of mountain sceneries; and facing oceans, one lets the spectacular seascapes take over one’s thoughts.” Emphasizing this point may seem trivial at first sight, but is very important and necessary for getting the connotations of “Shen Si.” It can actually help us understand better various views about “Shen Si.” For example, people have different takes on the respective roles of conceptualization and imagination in writing. Artistic conceptualization of a literary product cannot be accomplished without imagination. Hence, the two elements are not exclusive. Both “conceptualization” and “imagination” are compatible words to explain “Shen Si.” In fact, Liu Xie in the chapter on “Shen Si” puts forward a more comprehensive description of “Shen Si” than either “conceptualization” or “imagination” can express by itself. In that chapter, Liu Xie has covered all aspects of thinking processes involved in literary creation, including, among others, aesthetic mindset, formation of aesthetic images, and their artistic rendering. I prefer to take a comprehensive view of “Shen Si” by regarding it as pertaining to thinking process and the characteristics of thinking in literary creation. “Shen Si” has shed light on the characteristics of artistic imagination, the most prominent being its ability to traverse over time and space. “Though he lives among common folks, deep in his heart he is concerned with affairs of the royal court.” The saying, as pointed out by Wang Yuanhua, came from Zhongshan Prince Mou in the State of Wei. It originally refers pejoratively to an attitude of “living in the wild but still aspiring for wealth and status.” When Liu Xie adopted the saying in his book, he dropped the negative meaning and used it instead to

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illustrate the characteristics of “Shen Si” which is able to transcend time and space. That “his imaginations and thoughts may transcend time and space” demonstrates the far-reaching and broad nature of the spiritual world when one’s thoughts are set in motion. And “when one is silently absorbed in thoughts, one’s mind can travel thousands of years” describes an author’s ability to focus his thoughts on the past, present, and future, reaching far and wide with no temporal boundaries. Of course, “Shen Si” can also move across spaces far exceeding the constraints of the reality. “Shen Si” includes the state of artistic inspiration occurring in the thinking process in literary creation. The character “Shen” in “Shen Si” denotes the miraculously inexplicable state of mind when inspiration comes to an author. It is in that state of mind when a unique and non-replicable masterpiece is being conceived, totally different from the regular state in which conceptualization of an average product occurs. The phenomena that “one’s mind can travel thousands of years,” and “one’s mind’s eye is seeing things as far away as ten thousand li” are only possible when one’s artistic thinking is fully stimulated and highly excited. That “when imagination kicks in, an array of thoughts and images will come parading before one’s mind’s eye” expresses just such feelings at the moment when inspiration hits. As for artistic inspiration, Lu Ji in his Art of Writing has the following description which is deemed most classic, “As to when literary inspiration comes and when one’s thoughts can flow freely or get stuck, there is no tell but just happens. When inspiration comes, it cannot be held back, and when it is gone, it cannot be stopped.” “When inspiration disappears, it fades as shadows into darkness; when it comes, it just shows as echo of sounds. When inspiration rushes in, as with divine intervention, all scattered thoughts and fragmented images begin to make sense and everything falls into place.” These descriptions vividly capture the spontaneous nature of artistic inspiration in literary creation. This is an important part of the theory on “Shen Si.” “Shen Si” has a mechanism to generate aesthetic stimulation by connecting “internal imagination with external objects.” Rather than a subjective thinking process pure and simple, the generative power of “Shen Si” is also an aesthetic stimulation touched off by coming into contact with physical objects. At the same time, “Shen Si” needs to have objects and images to work on. This is characterized by Liu Xie as the “interaction between mind and objects.” In fact, Liu Xie is not the only one who has pioneered this idea. Theories on artistic genesis in ancient China have typically promoted “the role of objects in stimulating emotions and

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thoughts” in literary creation. When discussing the way creative thinking occurs in the Art of Writing, Lu Ji commented, “The vicissitude of four seasons makes me lament the passing of time and the changing sceneries in Nature teem my brain with thoughts. Fallen leaves make me sad in autumn but tender shoots returning in spring gives me so much joy.” That is also a beautiful description of how literary thoughts are stimulated at the sight of emotionally touching objects. In comparison, Liu Xie’s characterization of “interaction between mind and objects” is an aesthetic proposition more comprehensive in nature. Liu Xie’s theory on “Shen Si” has clearly pointed out the condition under which an aesthetic subject can be visited by “Shen Si.” That condition is an author’s clear/empty and tranquil mindset for aesthetic activities. As Liu Xie says, “In literary conceptualization, one needs to clear one’s mind of any pre-conceived notions and stay tranquil and pure as the driven snow.” This is truly a remarkable transplantation of the notions of “emptiness and tranquility” in the philosophies of Daoism and Xun Zi into the artistic thinking in literary creation. It also sheds light on the aesthetic significance of “emptiness and tranquility” in literary creation. A very significant contribution made by Liu Xie’s “Shen Si” to the Chinese classical aesthetics is the establishment of imagery (Yixiang) as a category. As stand-alone philosophical category, imagery has two components as indicated by its two Chinese characters which mean respectively “feelings and thoughts of an author” and “appearance of an object.” Both components were already established as an individual concept before Liu Xie, but as an integrated single aesthetic construct, this is the first time “imagery” appears in the theory on literary creation. Moreover, Liu Xie puts it in a position most central to the thinking process in literary creation. In other words, “imagery” is a major theoretical component of “Shen Si.” That position has played a pivotal role in its development as a theory of aesthetics in ancient China. A point which is closely related is that Liu Xie’s theory on “Shen Si” does not simply stop at an author’s mental activity, but goes on to discuss in depth and objectively the issues of expressing the “imagery” in an artistic way. An image that exists only in an author’s mind may not be the end of artistic conceptualization. The most important step to complete the process of artistic creation is to express it in exquisite, unique, and artistic language and preserve it in text. The following quote reflects the high standard that Liu Xie has for imagery expression, “Only then can

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one’s miraculous mind be expressed through proper diction based on the principles of sound, much as a master craftsman using his tools to create product according to a unique image he perceives in his mind’s eye.” Liu Xie is unarguably the first who puts forward “Shen Si” as a complete and mature aesthetic category in his comprehensive and wellconceived masterpiece The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons.

CHAPTER 2

The Generative Mechanism of Artistic Stimulation and Associations in “Shen Si”

Abstract The theory on “Shen Si” in the Chinese aesthetics commensurates to a large degree with the theory on “inspiration” in the Western aesthetics. However, the two are very different in attributing the source of “Shen Si.” The Chinese theory believes that “Shen Si” occurs to a creative artist moved by physical objects which stimulate his artistic associations. That is to say there is a serendipitous interaction between the mind and objects. The Western theory, on the other hand, is premised on such driving force as “god-send”, “genius”, and “unconsciousness.” “Being stimulated to make artistic associations” captures the main characteristics of “Shen Si” in its generative stage. At the same time, it illustrates the generative principle of that “imaginative” aspect in “Shen Si.” Keywords Artistic stimulation and associations · Response to stimulating objects

2.1 Differences in Genesis Between “Shen Si ” and the Western Theory of “Inspiration” The theory on “Shen Si” in the Chinese aesthetics and the theory on “inspiration” in the Western aesthetics are largely commensurating. Both of them indicate a state of being inspired with thoughts gushing forth in © Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing Co., Ltd 2021 J. Zhang, The Soul of Creation (Shensi), Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0496-6_2

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the process of artistic creation. An important implication of that state of “Shen Si” is a very miraculous power that appears at the peak of one’s artistic conceptualization. It occurs suddenly and beyond control of the subject, just as Lu Ji says, “When they disappear, they fade as shadows into darkness; and when they come, they show up as echo of sound.” Xie Zhen, a literary critic in the Ming Dynasty, concurs, “It comes unstoppable, as if on its own, far beyond what our thoughts can catch” (Si Ming’s Criticism of Poetry, Volume IV). Hence, the effects and products of “Shen Si” are not possible to be replicated, and the resulting products acquire unique and creative values as literary masterpieces. Poet Dai Fugu in Song Dynasty puts it aptly, “All of a sudden, one may get a stunningly wonderful sentence; yet, sometimes, it just would not come no matter how hard one beats his brains about it.”1 In that sense, Chinese “Shen Si” is highly similar to “inspiration” in the Western aesthetics. However, when “Shen Si” is examined with regard to its generative mechanism, it shows considerable difference from the Western “inspiration” theory, the reason being Chinese “Shen Si” is generated through stimulated associations of a creative mind, that is, an accidental encounter between the mind and objects, whereas the Western “inspiration” is driven by such factors as “god-send,” “genius,” and “unconsciousness.” Let us take some close look at how Western aestheticians expound the origin of inspiration. In an article published in 1977 Summer Issue of The British Journal of Aesthetics, Harold Osborne, the then editor of the journal, discussed the origin and evolution process of “inspiration” as a concept in the West. He divided the development of the concept into three stages. In the first stage, inspiration is regarded as coming from gods in a primitive religious sense. In the second stage, inspiration is integrated with the concept of “genius.” In the third stage, inspiration and psychological “unconsciousness” are fused.2 No matter at which stage the genesis of the Western inspiration usually has only been examined from the angle of the creative subject. Ancient Greek philosophers thought that inspiration is divinely bestowed. Democritus believed that, “Homer was born with divine talents so that he could create grand and spectacular poems,” and “No 1 Dai, F. (1991). Ten Short Rhyming Poems on Poems. In Ten Thousand Short Poems on Poems (p. 120). Beijing: People’s Literature Press. 2 Refer to discussions in Tao, B., & Zhu, Y. (1987). An Introduction to Theories on Inspiration (p. 22). Liaoning: Liaoning People’s Press.

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one can be a great poet without having a flame in the soul, and without having been madly inspired.”3 It is Plato who further transforms a religious connotation in the concept of inspiration into a theory of literary creation. He believes that a poet’s inspiration is a divine “possession.” Plato says, “All good poets, be they good at epics or lyrics, compose their splendid poems not because they have skills, but because they are inspired and possessed.”4 “There is also a third type of possession by Muses. The Muses possess a tender and pure soul, stimulate it, raise it to an ecstatic status, and enable it to sing the merits and achievements of ancient heroes, and offer lessons for progenies. Without the Muses’ possession, whoever attempts to knock open the door of poetry will never be able to go in but remain outside together with his works.”5 Plato’s theory is the most representative view on inspirations in Ancient Greece. They are viewed as “divine oracles.” By eighteenth century, the concept of inspiration has lost its religious connotation. Instead, the Romanticists hold that inspiration is an innate creative faculty of geniuses. Therefore, they resort to the concept of genius for an explication of inspiration origin. Kant regards the source of an original product of literary creation as an innate endowment, namely the genius, therefore attributing the mystic creative inspiration to genius. In his Critique of Judgment, Kant says that, “It is the creator of a piece of work. That piece of work relies on the author’s genius. The author does not know how certain concepts take form in his mind, nor are these concepts under his control for him to conjure up at his volition or plan accordingly to impart to others in established forms to enable them to produce identical works.”6 Kant thus attributes inspiration to genius. Since late nineteenth century, the Western aestheticians have usually employed intuition or unconsciousness to explain inspiration. Croce insists that “art is intuition,” while Freud defines the sub-consciousness that results in literary inspiration as libido in human beings, especially the sexual urges. Freud believes that an artistic work’s “energy, its irrationality and its mystic force come from instincts. 3 Refer to Zhu, G. (1979). A History of Western Aesthetics (pp. 35–36). Beijing: People’s Literature Press. 4 Plato. (1963). Ion. In Plato Dialogues on Literature and Arts (p. 13). Beijing: People’s Literature Press. 5 Plato. Phaedrus. In Plato Dialogues on Literature and Arts (p. 119). Beijing: People’s Literature Press. 6 Kant. (1985). The Critique of Judgment (p. 153). Beijing: Commerce Press.

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We can treat that dark psychological area of instincts as the place to give the sudden emergence of those dictions, sounds, and suggestions of images that an artist uses to create his artistic work…”7 Freud therefore has offered a psychological explanation for inspiration. Be they “divinity,” “genius,” or “unconsciousness,” the Western theories of “inspiration” undoubtedly focus on subject in their attempt to understand the origin of inspiration. In ancient China, explanations of the origin and driving force for artistic thinking or “Shen Si” are very different from the Western perspective. Since the very beginning, they have been based on “responses to stimulating objects.” Chinese theory on “Shen Si” has always taken interactions between the mind and objects or between subjects and objects as its driving force. From “On Music” in the Book of Rites in Han Dynasty to the theories on poetry and paintings in Qing Dynasty, “responses to stimulating objects” has always been viewed as a catalyst for literary thinking. “On Music” has the following comments: All sounds are born in human hearts that are capable of emotions and thoughts. Shifts in emotions and thoughts result from responses to outside objects. When influenced by and responding to the outside objects, changing emotions and thoughts are expressed via sounds. Sounds are not all uniform, therefore echoing and mixing each other to yield patterned variations. Patterned variations are thus called songs, which are called music when they are played in skillfully-ordered sequences accompanied by martial dances or literary dances. Therefore, music comes from sounds and originates from people’s hearts touched by outside objects.8

“On Music” has pointed out that “music” originates from changes in the heart and mind of a creative subject, and such mental and emotional changes arise from responses to the outside objects. “Music” here may not refer to music only, but a comprehensive tripartite art form composed of poetry, music, and dance. In that sense, “On Music” can be taken to a great extent as a generic theory on literature and art. In the Wei-Jin Northern and Southern Period (220 ACE–581 ACE), theories on literary 7 Refer to Herbert Read’s The Nature of Literary Criticism. Cited in Tao, B., & Zhu, Y. (1987). An Introduction to Theories on Inspiration (p. 27). Liaoning: Liaoning People’s Press. 8 (1996). Selected Essays on Writings of the Pre-Qin to Two Hans Period (p. 260). Beijing: People’s Literature Press.

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and artistic creations primarily take the perspective of “responses to stimulating objects” to explain the origin and driving force of inspiration. Noted literary theorists such as Lu Ji, Liu Xie, and Zhong Rong at that time have all unequivocally taken that stance. For example, Lu Ji puts forth such aesthetic concept of being “moved by objects” in The Art of Writing, “The vicissitude of four seasons makes me lament the passing of time and the changing sceneries in Nature teem my brain with thoughts. Fallen leaves make me sad in autumn but tender shoots returning in spring gives me so much joy.” The stimulating effect of objects is a usual theme in Lu Ji’s poems and rhapsodies. In the Chapter on “Object Appearance” in the Literary Minds and Carving of Dragons, Liu Xie makes a beautiful and meaningful remark as follows: Four seasons rotate, heat and cold weather alternate. Consequently, seasonal views change, making people’s emotions fluctuate. When spring brings uplifting weather, ants begin to move about; and when autumn pulls in depressing cold, mantises set to gather food for winter. Even tiny bugs are responding. How powerful is the succession of the seasons to touch all things! Even the beautiful heart of the most precious jade is moved by the seasons, and the flowers of small plants are brought forward to show their special spirits. When the nature calls, how can people ignore its influence?

The above quote is about the stimulating effect of seasonable changes on a poet’s heart and soul. The author makes three points here. First, he accentuates the seasonal look of nature, namely the appearance of objects that touch people. Second, he asserts that a poet’s stimulated emotions and thoughts are not merely a response to the appearance of an object, but also a response to the changes in appearance of the object, that is, to its internal rhythm of life reflected by its external changes. Third, he reveals that the most fundamental reason for interaction between the “changes in the appearance of an object” and human minds lies in the power of universal energy (Qi) to touch and transform all lives. The Chapter on “Object Appearance” has not only delineated the stimulating effect of objects on human minds, but also explicated the controlling and elevating function of the human mind on objects. Another acclaimed literary critic of poetry Zhong Rong in his Preface to the “Critique of Poetry” regards “energy” as the essential medium for the stimulating effect of objects:

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Energy drives the changes of objects and objects stimulate people whose emotions and thoughts are thereafter called forth and then expressed in dances and singings…Therefore, in spring breeze and spring birds, in autumn moon and autumn crickets, in summer cloud and sultry rain, and in winter moon and freezing cold, four seasons have touched and stimulated emotions and thoughts of poets. When meeting for festivals, people use poems to express congeniality; and when being isolated, people use poems to complain their loneliness. As for the Chu minister forced into exile, disgraced Han Dynasty’s concubines leaving the palace; or abandoned corpuses lying in wilderness, lonely ghosts roaming among grasses; or soldiers stationing on remote posts, engulfed in incessant border wars; or remote travelers shivering on the road in thin clothes, widows in their cold boudoirs drained dry their longing tears; or resigned officials once leaving their posts in the court without any intention to ever return; or girls expecting to use their unrivalled beauty to curry favor with Kings as Lady Yang had. All this touches and moves people’s hearts and souls. Short of poems, nothing could convey all the thoughts. Short of long songs, nothing could bring out all the emotions.

This paragraph is one of the classical descriptions of the theory on “the stimulating effect of objects.” However, Zhong Rong here has instilled something new into this tradition. Poets create poems that are stimulated by objects, which, in turn, are constantly changing due to the generative energy. Zhong Rong uses “energy” to explain the origin for the changes of objects, imbuing it with a thriving and generating sense of life. This has significantly influenced the development of the concept of “literary energy” in Chinese classical aesthetics. The concept of “energy” is deeply associated with the concept of “Shen Si.” In the pre-Qin time, Discourses of the States has already made some extensive exploration of the concept of “energy,” believing it is the YingYang energy of the world. The Ying-Yang energy resides in everything and is the exquisitely minute and primary substance that constitutes all things in the world. Discourses of the States also holds that human body is formed through energy which also governs people’s temperaments. Retaining the energy inside oneself and keeping an equilibrium between Ying and Yang is the key to being peaceful and happy. The Chapter on “Ze Yang” in Zhuang Zi has explicitly used Ying-Yang to explain what is energy, “YingYang is the essence of energy.” Zhuang Zi believes that energy as a minute primal substance generated by the “Way” makes up everything in the cosmos including forms of heaven, earth, humans, and matters. Zhuang

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Zi thus says, “human life is the collection of energy. Life forms when energy comes together, and death occurs when energy dissipates.” Xun Zi thinks energy is natural in essence and a common element of material for everything in the world and for the human beings. In his view, life and death of everything in the world come from interactions between the energies of Ying and Yang. He states that: “the union between heaven and earth gives birth to everything, and the interactions between Ying and Yang give rise to changes” (The Chapter “On Heaven” in Xun Zi). In the same Chapter, Xun Zi further comments that “stars move around in their regular movements; the Sun and the Moon shine alternately; the four seasons take their turns to reign; Ying and Yang interact in harmony to bring about everything; and wind and rain are reaching everything that is in need. Thus all beings have achieved their harmony to grow, and have obtained their needed nutrients to realize themselves.” In that fashion, heaven with its energy of Yang and earth with its energy of Ying interact in harmonious accord with each other, bringing forth all lives in the universe, and effecting movements and changes of things. Guan Zi proposes the concept of “fine energy,” in which “fine” refers to the minute, movable, and changeable energy. The so-called “fine energy” in Guan Zi has multiple features, of which the most important is the unique transformation of Ying and Yang toward their opposite, which demonstrates the property of energies of Ying and Yang. Fine energy is divided into these two energies: the energy of Ying and energy of Yang. It is through the opposition and interaction between two energies that all things are born including intelligent human beings. Debates in the White Tiger Hall in the Eastern Han further proposes that human beings are born with the energies of Ying and Yang and energies of the Five Elements, and therefore, human souls, spirits, temperaments, and so on are closely associated with the characteristics and changing principles of the energies of Ying-Yang and Five Elements. It says, “What does ‘refined spirit’ mean? ‘Refined’ means tranquility, and is the way the energy of the Extreme Ying (the Moon) cultivates life. Like water, it accommodates the life to come. ‘Spirit’ means divine or not clearly observable, and is the energy of the Extreme Yang (the Sun). The energy of the Sun flows freely and permeates everything. It is the fundamental source for all lives” (The Chapter on “Sentiments” in Debates in the White Tiger Hall ). Interaction between humans and matters is made possible thanks to “their sharing of one common energy.” “Mr. Wisdom’s Tour of the North” in Zhuang Zi says, “The whole universe is threaded by one

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energy.” Therefore, connected through this one energy, humans and all things in the world can sense, feel, and communicate with each other. The proposition by Zhong Rong in his “Preface” to the Critique of Poetry is predicated on this traditional concept of energy when he says that “energy drives the changes of objects and objects stimulate people whose emotions and thoughts are called forth thereafter and then expressed in dance and singing.” Since Tang Dynasty, theories about “being stimulated by objects” are legion. But none of them have added anything new to it. “Being stimulated by objects” highlights the interactive nature of sensing and mingling between the creative subjects and objects. Being stimulated by objects refers to the process in which the subject’s emotional fluctuations in his heart correspondent to the changes in the outside objects will give birth to the creative impulse and then give form to words, including other corresponding artistic expressions in other artistic fields. In the framework of the concept of “being stimulated by objects,” subjects and objects are interdependent and integrated into each other to bring about conceptualization of artistic creation. Subjects do not come up with inspiration in isolation and in a vacuum, nor do they rely passively on the objects for such inspiration. Hearts moved and stimulated by objects do not indicate that the resulting writing is an imitation of the outside objects. Instead, it is an interactive stimulation between the subjects and objects. This is a fundamental theme in Chinese aesthetics and artistic theories on the origin of artistic creation. It also reflects a consistent practice throughout China’s ancient artistic creation. This is fundamentally different from the Western focus that views the genesis of creative inspiration purely from the perspective of a creative subject. The concept of “being stimulated by objects” is very close to the concept of “being stimulated to have artistic associations,” and the two can be easily confused as referring to the same when in fact they are not. The concept of “being stimulated to have artistic association” or “artistic stimulation and association” contains the process of responding to the stimulating objects but with a richer connotation. Perhaps, the concept of “being stimulated to have artistic associations” can better elucidate the uniqueness of “Shen Si.”

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2.2 “Being Stimulated to Have Artistic Associations” in An Aesthetic Sense On its genesis, “Shen Si” is characterized by “being stimulated to have artistic association,” which is so-called because it refers to the process in which a creative subject is accidentally stimulated in an objective setting to give birth to an artistic state of mind and an aesthetic form of creation. The concept of “being stimulated to have artistic associations” is premised on an instantaneous fusing between the subject and the object or “a state of mind mingling with objects.” It is essentially characterized by accidentalness and randomness. It captures the main features of “Shen Si” at its genesis and also explains the genetic mechanism of “Shen” (being imaginative) in “Shen Si.” With the concept of “being stimulated to have artistic associations” as the genetic basis, the construct of “Shen Si” has been prevented from being mystified or total subjectivity as in the justification on account of “religious revelation” or “genius.” The concept of “being stimulated to have artistic associations” starts from that of “artistic associations” (“Xing”) in “Exposition” (“Fu”), “Comparison” (“Bi”), and the poetic approach of “Artistic associations” put forward in the Six Principles of Poetry. In terms of the meanings of “Comparison” and “Artistic associations,” scholars throughout the history have offered various explanations based on different perspectives. Among them, those who have used the relationship between the creative subjects and objects to define “Comparison” and “Artistic Associations” come closest to the experience of aesthetic appreciation. Among those definitions, the most pithy and representative one is the view offered by Zheng Zong in Eastern Han, Zhu Xi, and Li Zhong Meng in Song Dynasty. Zheng Zong says, “Comparison means to compare things; artistic associations mean to symbolize things.”9 Zhu Xi states that they mean “to talk about other things in order to lead to the poem intended” (Collection of Poems, Volume I ). Li Zhong Meng also makes the statement that “coming into contact with objects gives rise to emotions. It is objects that stimulate emotions.” Zheng Zong believes that “artistic association” is used when a creative subject projects his own intention into the “objects,” which in fact is not any different from his definition of “comparison,” thus may not accurately convey the original meaning 9 Li, X. (1999). Notes and Commentaries on the Zhou Rites. In Notes and Commentaries on Thirteen Classics (p. 610). Beijing: Beijing University Press.

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of “artistic associations.” The original meaning of “artistic associations” should be as Kong Yinda defines it: “Artistic association means heightened mental activities.” This echoes what Liu Xie says, “Emotions are stimulated as to give rise to the style of artistic associations” (The Chapter on “Comparison and Artistically Associating” in the Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons ). Zheng Zong’s definition of “artistic associations” is against the way of thinking embodied in the concept of “artistic associations.” Zhu Xi’s definition is relatively reflective of the actual situation in which the method of artistic expressions is used in the Book of Songs. However, it remains a mere description of the phenomenon and has not touched the psychological aspect of poetic creation. I believe that the definition by Li Zhong Meng, a little known literary critic, has best captured the psychological motive for poetic creation. The statement that “Coming into contact with things gives rise to emotions” points out that a creative subject is stimulated accidentally by outside objects, that his emotions and thoughts are touched, and that he is swelling with a creative impulse. “Contact” is a chance and random incident, not a pre-planned and purported search by the creative subject. This is where “artistic association” is different from “comparison.” Li Zhong Meng’s definition of “comparison” as “looking for objects to embody one’s emotions” is very precise, setting up a clear contrast with “artistic associations.” “Shen Si” is imaginative primarily because it is sudden, accidental, and random, and secondly because its end product through artistic conception is an excellent work of originality. Statements like “being stimulated to have artistic associations” (sometimes called “divine opportunity”) have captured these two key elements. Ever since Tang and Song Dynasties, there have been numerous critiques in poetry and paintings on the concept of “being stimulated to have artistic associations” and they show several new characteristics. First of all, they are paying increasing attention to the fortuitous contact and random interaction between aesthetic subjects and objects, and they connect the concept of “being stimulated to have artistic associations” with the creation of aesthetic conception. Secondly, the critics begin to discuss more the aesthetically instinctive nature of the concept of “being stimulated to have artistic associations” and have relatively indepth discussions, too. Thirdly, they begin to consider “being stimulated to have artistic associations” from the perspective of readers’ reception and are able to make new contributions.

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Wang Changling, a famous poet in Tang Dynasty, has used the method of “being stimulated to have artistic associations” in his Rules of Poetry to create aesthetic conception called “generating thoughts”: “Thinking long and hard, I can not obtain my intended images but instead suffer from mental and physical exhaustion; resting and relaxing mind and body, I accidentally glimpse in my mind’s eye the intended images. There they are generated by chance.” Here, he points out that “Shen Si” or inspirations come naturally when the mind and sceneries meet accidentally. Dong You, a painter in Song Dynasty, and his peers regard “divine opportunity” as “Shen Si” in painting, believing that such “divine opportunity” results from painters’ “invoked artistic associations when encountering stimulating objects.” In his noted work Guangchuan Collection of Prefaces and Postscripts on Paintings, Dong You resorts extensively to “divine opportunity” in critiquing paintings. In fact, what he exults is not intentional and hard pursuit by beating the brain, but chance or fortuitous “Shen Si” during a painter’s encountering with the nature. For example, he makes the following remarks in critiquing Fan Kuan: The painting reflects someone who is fascinated by mountains and waters. He has focused attention and an open mind. Whatever he experienced in his heart and soul will show and reveal. Therefore, when he is painting, he is focused on nothing but his encountering the mountains, woods, springs, and rocks that fascinate him…Those who do not understand what true mountains are but resort to painting staggered rocks and earth are merely deceiving themselves. Only those who immerse themselves whole-heartedly in what has been refined by Nature can encounter the objects they need for their paintings. These are the true painters.10

When using the concept of “being stimulated to have artistic associations” to talk about artistic creations, most critics believe artists should be “resting and relaxing in mind and body” with no focused intention. When artists encounter objects in such a relaxed state, they can produce truly excellent poems and paintings. Those critics usually dismiss creative methods that call for long and hard labor such as exemplified in the following lines, “Having obtained two sentences over three years, my eyes are welled up with tears once I had them”; and “After getting

10 Dong, Y. (1982). Guangchuan Collection of Essays on Paintings (p. 307). In An Lan (Ed.) (1982). Painting Appreciations Series. Shanghai, Shanghai People’s Art Press.

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one right word in a poem, I found myself having subconsciously twisted and broken several long hairs of beard.” Ye Mengde, a poetry critic in Song Dynasty, made a very insightful comment on the creative method of “being stimulated to have artistic associations.” He says: “The pond is overgrown with spring grass, and the garden willows are fraught with chirping birds.” People usually don’t understand why these lines are written so well, so they tend to take them as resulting from a search for extraordinary rarity. In fact, however, it is so well written because of its unintentionality. It came from the poet’s random encounter with the scenery, so he borrowed scenery in view for his lines. The lines came to him without any trace of artificial manipulation. It is not an accomplishment after usual ways of thinking. A poet should regard such naturalness as fundamental ingenuity. For those who believe instead in thinking hard and long to achieve rare expressions are usually the ones who do not get the essence of poetry writing.11

According to Ye Mengde, the lines by Xie Linyun are beautifully written not because he searched conscientiously for wonder and ingenuity, nor because he set up such an intention beforehand, but because he chanced upon the sceneries with a right state of mind. Since the poetic lines are “not an accomplishment achieved through usual ways of thinking,” they are therefore not replicable and highly individualized. Ye Mengde is not making a general comment on poetry here, but to elevate the issue to the level of principles for conceptualization in poetry writing. Yang Wanli, a well-known poet in Southern Song Dynasty, makes an emphatic use of the concept “being stimulated to have artistic associations” in his own poetry composition. He says: In general, my best poems are those about emotions and sceneries capable of triggering artistic associations; the second tier are those that are expository. As to the poems that are composed to fit in rhyming patterns and meanings of others, they are not of my own choice. For any poem, I usually have no specific intention to compose it. But certain matters and certain things may have just touched me, and my mind and heart are also moved by those matters and things. Such encounters come first, then my feelings

11 Ye, M. Shiling Poetics, Vol. II. See He, W. (Ed.) (1981). A Collection of Poetics of Past Dynasties (p. 426). Beijing: Zhonghua Book Bureau.

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ensued, and the poem come into being. What have I done? Nothing. It is the heaven that did it! This is called artistically associating.12

Xie Zhen, a noted poetry critic in Ming Dynasty, calls ardently for poems to be based on artistic associations resulted from stimulation. He states, “There are poems that are not made intentionally, but are based on artistic associations, coming freely and naturally. These poems have reached the highest level of creation” (Si Ming’s Criticism of Poetry, Vol I ). The “imaginative” part in “Shen Si” can be viewed as an ineffable ingenuity, a miraculous and aesthetic instinct. By “poems have reached the highest level of creation” in the last sentence, he refers to a way of artistic conceptualization that is expansive and limitless in scope, thus conducive to producing poems at an acme of perfection. In Xie Zhen’s view, only those poems that are “based on artistic associations, coming freely and naturally” should be considered the best. Artistic creations produced after “being stimulated to have artistic associations” are excellent artworks mostly characterized by their uniqueness that is not replicable. That is also the characteristics of “Shen Si.” “Shen Si” is not an ordinary conceptualization, but a miraculous type of thinking that gives birth to exceptional works. Lu You once mentioned in his poem how he had been artistically stimulated to such a degree that he jettisoned his past practice of “rummaging through poetic leftovers to write my lines.” He shared his feelings about the moment when he was eventually able to create excellent poems that bear his own unique feature: The essence of poetry writing once eluded me and I was begging others for some poetic remnants. I knew I was powerless and lame deep in my heart, and guilty as hell pining for the fame I did not deserve. In Nanzheng post I joined the army at forty, and night over day we threw parties and were drunken. We built a court of ten thousand steps long to play ball, and inspected thirty thousand horses in stables. Betting calls rocked the brightly-lit gambling house, and beautifully clad dancers radiated their female charm to every table. Strings of PiPa vibrated as if hails pouring down in cacophony, foreign drums produced steady cadence as if wind and rain racing past. All of a sudden I realized the secret of poetry-writing, and poems by Qu Yuan and Jia Dao appeared before my eyes. Exquisite 12 Yang, W. A Letter in Response to Xu Da the Grand General of Jiankang Prefecture. In Collection of Writings of Chengzhai (Vol. 67).

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brocade made possible by divine opportunity is at my disposal, and rulers and scissors are not the wonderful tools to cut such fine cloth. The world is not short of talents and geniuses, but any slight lack of understanding can lead to a wide difference between heaven and earth. I am not lamenting that I am getting old and reaching the end of my life, but it is a pity that we will forever lose the exquisite music of Guang Ling San.13

His “secret of poetry-writing” is the reward from his army life in Nanzheng. The divine opportunity mentioned by Lu You refers to the inspirational poetic thinking that helps him create remarkable poems. Shen Zongqian, an art critic in Qing Dynasty, constantly emphasizes that the creation of a “miracle piece of eternity” is due to “spontaneous imagination” through stimulating encounters: Variations emerge when all rules and regulations are exhausted. Once a spontaneous imagination comes to meet the painter, the effect will be realized above and beyond a painter’s all exquisite skills. If the moment is not right, then the spontaneous imagination will not come; and if the moment is passed, then it will be gone forever. This momentary meeting between a painter and spontaneous imagination will result in a miracle piece of eternity. When Wu Daozi drew the variations of the hell, he had not planned for such a painting. But when he was watching General Pei’s sword-playing, he had that spontaneous imagination. Therefore, masterpiece paintings can only be accomplished through a happy encountering with the kind of- imagination induced by a lucky opportunity, but can never come through intentional efforts on the part of a painter.14

Shen Zongqian cherished most the “spontaneous imagination,” believing that paintings are not what one conceived before-hand, but the results of accidental encounter between painters and objects. The statement that “divine opportunity presents itself to the painter, so a painting is born through such interaction” points out that art products created in such circumstances are the unique creations “that have never been produced before, and can hardly be expected of the generations to come.”

13 Lu, Y. A Poem on Evening of September First Reflecting After Reading Poem Drafts. In Jian Nan Collection of Poems (Vol. 25, p. XXV). 14 Jie Zhou’s Critiques of Learning to Paint, Vol. I. In Yu, J. (2000). (Ed.) Classified Collections of Ancient Chinese Theories on Paintings, 2nd ed. (p. 890). Beijing: People’s Arts Press.

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Therefore, fortuitous encounters between subjects and objects are ripe moments to beget “a miracle piece of eternity,” while any “forced” work intentionally conceived can only come out as skillful crafts at best. Painting created through “spontaneous imagination” is not dependent on “planned painting” and is also beyond what “planned painting” can achieve.

CHAPTER 3

“Shen Si” and Imagination in Thinking in Artistic Creation

Abstract As a Chinese theory on the nature of thinking in artistic creation, “Shen Si” contains a component of imagination which has a clear feature of internal visualization that is characteristic of the creative products. Artistic imagination is internal to artists. It is not a visual image that external objects present to artists. That internal visualization is the feature of imagination, also known as inner images. An artist’s “Shen Si” does not merely copy external objects in his artistic conceptualization, but re-configure, process, transform the external objects, and create according to the artist’s own aesthetic ideals based on his emotions and thoughts. Therefore, this type of creation matters most in artistic imagination. Keywords Internal visualization/Inner images · Creation

3.1 The Feature of Internal Visualization in “Shen Si ” The theory of “Shen Si” in the ancient Chinese aesthetics is also characterized by the internal visualization of artistic imagination. Artistic imagination does not happen in a vacuum, but is the free movement of external images. The inputs for imagination are external images, and the outcome of imagination is also external images. Mr. Jin Kaicheng © Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing Co., Ltd 2021 J. Zhang, The Soul of Creation (Shensi), Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0496-6_3

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has discussed the imagination from a perspective of artistic psychology in such a way. “This is what imagination means in psychology: a psychological process that, through conscious movements of external images, uses existing external images and experiences to create new images. There are two points that need to be highlighted: (1) imagination is movement of external images, and (2) the outcome of imagination is new presentations of things, nothing more and nothing less.”1 Since imagination is always accompanied by external images, it, therefore, takes on a significance of internal visualization. Imagination means to “imagine” an “image.” Likewise, the “contemplation” part in “Shen Si” “does not merely mean thinking, but also means to think of things that are not currently in sight.”2 Imagination is then to re-configure and re-assemble various external images in memory to form new images in mind by the creative subject. Artistic imagination is drastically different from abstract thinking. Since it takes the form of images in one’s mind, it has a very salient visual function. However, the images are not visual images of external objects. They only exist inside the artist’s mind. This function of imagination is the internal visualization, and these images are also known as inner images.3 Renowned drama theorist Stanislavski first advanced the aesthetic proposition of “inner images.” He says: When our visual images gush forth from our mind, our imagination, and our memory, they invisibly re-appear outside ourselves for our view. However, these supposed objects from our mind are not viewed through our physical eyes, but in our mind’s eye.4

This type of inner images is the basic building blocks for artistic imagination. The theory on “Shen Si” in ancient Chinese aesthetics actually has dealt fairly extensively with the issue of inner images of artistic imagination. The so-called “bringing into one’s sight things as far away as tens of thousands of li” refers to the inner visual ability. The statement 1 Jin, K. (1987). A Survey of the Psychology of Literature and Arts (p. 75). Beijing: People’s Literature Press. 2 Liu, W. (1989). A History of Chinese Psychology of Literature and Arts (p. 127). Haikou, Hainan Province: Sanhuan Press. 3 For this issue, please refer to Mr. Zhang Delin’s article “Authors’ Inner Visualizations and Artistic Creations” published in Literary Review (1991), Vol. II. 4 Stanislavski. Actors’ Self Cultivation (Vol. I, p. 118).

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that “That is the moment when the language one uses yields melodious sounds of pearls and jades” can be taken as the inner auditory images, while the statement that “the moment when varied sceneries are freely summoned before one’s eyes” is talking about the external images of changing sceneries presented in inner visual images. “All these come from one’s imagination touched off by the mental activity of conceiving one’s writing.” “Therefore conceiving writing is a miraculous thing. It can connect imagination within with objects without.” Of which, one of the implications is that when object appearances or images of external objects move into one’s mind, they are always accompanied by “Shen Si.” The following statement that “It enables the human mind to interact with the external physical world through eyes and ears, and narrate such experiences via the key vehicle of language while the brain is teaming with inspired thoughts and heightened emotions” indicates that appearances of objects meet the eyes and ears, but it is the inner language that can give expressions to the images. The next statement that “With the facilitation of language as vehicle, the look and shape of an object can be clearly described” highlights that when language as a facilitating vehicle grows clear, images of objects begin to grow crystal clear and take their forms in an artist’s mind. In The Art of Writing, Lu Ji thus comments that “The literary thoughts arrive just as the sun begins to rise on the horizon. It rises surrounded by darkness and then gradually breaks into brightness. At that moment, the objects become so clear that they race out.” Here, Lu Ji describes that in the process of artistic imagination, a writer’s composition grows from the invisible to the visible, and images keep pouring in. All this can be taken as discussing inner images in artistic imagination. Inner images in artistic imagination are not pure psychological phenomena that are isolated from physical objects in the external world. They are not water without its source nor trees without their roots. On the contrary, they are products resulting from the perception of the physical objects in the external world and are the active responses to the physical objects. Images are acquired through people’s perception which is based on objective reality. But at the same time, images are also generated under the influence of artists’ emotions and thoughts. The acquisition of images of external matters is mainly realized through visual and auditory organs. Hegel has made it very clear in the following remarks:

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What belongs to this creative activity, first and foremost, are the talent and sensitivity that can grasp the reality and its images. These talent and sensitivity utilize constantly attentive senses of hearing and sight to imprint into minds the colorful and complex world of reality. In addition, this creative activity is also dependent on solid memory to keep the multipatterned colorful world in our minds. Viewed from this perspective, an artist should not depend on self-fabricated fantasy, but should instead move away from superficial “ideals” into reality. In arts and poetry, starting from ‘ideals’ is always untrustworthy because artists should always rely on the wealth of life rather than the wealth of abstract and general ideas. Unlike in philosophy, the building materials for artistic creation are not ideas but realistic external images. Therefore, an artist must situate himself in this type of material in order to establish an intimate relation with it. An artist must see a lot, hear a lot, and remember a lot… Goethe, for example, started this way, and, throughout his life, continued to broaden the scope of his observations on a daily basis. The talent and interest for clearly holding onto the realistic images in the real world, supplemented by his solid memory of what he had observed, are the primary conditions for creative activity.5

Hegel has pointed out in a very explicit and profound way that artistic imagination as a creative activity requires an artist to form aesthetic images in mind based on his grip of the reality and its images. An artist should utilize human senses such as those of sight and hearing to imprint the colorful pictures and patterns of the real world onto one’s mind, and then transform them into aesthetic images. Kant has very similar comments in this regard: Imagination (as a cognitive function of production) generates powerfully another alternative nature from the materials provided by the real nature. When experiences become too banal to me, I go and talk to the nature…On such occasions, it is certainly the nature that affords me with materials, which I then transform them into utterly different things much superior to the natural ones.6

5 Hegel, G. W. F. (1979). Aesthetics (in Chinese translation), Vol. 1 (pp. 357–358). Beijing: Commerce Press. 6 Kant, I. (1964). Critique of Judgment (Chinese translation by Zong Baihua) (p. 160). Beijing: Commerce Press.

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Kant underscores the point that imagination sources its materials from the real nature and transforms them into a “second nature.” Both Kant and Hagel believe that images in artistic imagination rely on physical objects and their images as its source. The theory on “Shen Si” in Chinese classical aesthetics is generally interested in the concept of inner images in the process of “Shen Si.” At the same time, it regards them as the active reflections and transformation of the external physical objects. Lu Ji says that “The vicissitude of four seasons makes me lament the passing of time and the changing sceneries in Nature teem my brain with thoughts. Fallen leaves make me sad in autumn but tender shoots returning in spring gives me so much joy.” The Art of Writing believes that our inspiration for writing comes from changes of all things and beings. Liu Xie’s statements of “connecting internal imagination with external objects” and “external objects are perceived by our eyes and ears” emphasize, on the one hand, the inner images in artistic imagination, whereas on the other hand, point out that images come from the objective matters. In the Chapter on “Object Appearance” in The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons, Liu Xie has not only discussed the stimulating effect of images of objects on poets, but also shed light on the issue of inner visualization in poets’ artistic imagination. “Object Appearance” refers to natural images, namely the appearances and images of physical objects. “Objects” simply refer to natural scenes and matters. What we need to pay attention to is the word “appearance.” “Appearance” utilizes a Buddhist concept, referring to external phenomenon. In Buddhism, there is a basic thesis, namely: “Appearance is not different from emptiness, and emptiness is not different from appearance. Appearance is emptiness and emptiness is appearance.”7 In his early years, Liu Xie entered Dingling Temple and assisted Monk Zengyou to collate a large number of Buddhist scriptures, consequently becoming intimately familiar with Buddhism. Therefore, Buddhist influence on him is expected. The concept of “Object Appearance” has certain Buddhist connotations. As a compound word in Chinese, “Object Appearance” is not of a parallel structure, but a structure consisting of a substantive word preceded by its modifier. “Object” is the modifier for “appearance.” As a complete

7 “Prajna Paramita Sutra” in Ren, J. (1985) (Ed.). Selections of the Buddhist Canons (p. 15). Beijing: Chinese Social Sciences Press.

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aesthetic concept, “Object Appearance” refers to the external appearances of physical objects. On the issue of artistic imagination in Chinese classical aesthetics, many writers have likewise touched upon this nature of internal visualization. In his Preface to Landscape Paintings, Zongbing uses the phrase “clean up one’s mind to be able to fully appreciate external images” to denote the images that “the worthies” can see in their mind’s eye. He continues in the Preface: “In the final analysis, spirit (“Shen”) is invisible, but lives in the observable objects and therefore influences one’s perception of the nature. Its principles are embodied in the images. If one can ingeniously delineate them, then one can bring all these marvelous images and emotions to the fore.” “Shen” here refers to the divine essence, a fundamentally transcendental thing, which is not visible but resides in the visible mountains and rivers that move artists to resonate with thousands of things in nature. In the “images of things” captured by a painter from observing mountains and rivers, there exists that “divine essence.” In Poetics such as Literary Mirrors In Treasured Collections by Bianzhao Jinggang in Tang Dynasty, he said: In writing, one should come up with multiple intentions. One should exert oneself to the utmost, exhausting oneself physically and mentally to the extent of forgetting the existence of self. Do not set boundaries for thinking. If the train of thoughts does not flow freely, one should relax one’s mind to allow aesthetic conception to emerge. Then one can use the aesthetic conception to capture the train of thoughts. When the thoughts come, one can put them to writing. However, if the aesthetic conception and its related thoughts do not come, then one should not try to write.” “When coming up with an aesthetic conception for a poem, one should fully concentrate, observe external objects, then use one’s heart to feel the objects, and move deep into their artistic embodiment. This is like climbing up to the peak of a mountain, looking down at everything as if they are all on one’s palm. With this approach, one can hope to see images clearly in one’s mind. If that happens, one can immediately set to writing the poem. If the observed image and one’s mental image resonate, then one can follow the rhyming patterns to write the poems on paper, and then give it a title. Mountains and woods, the Sun and the Moon, and the landscapes are real, and poems are written to sing and chant about them. This is like seeing the Sun and the Moon in the water, writing is the scenery in which the delineated appearance of external things is its essence. When one looks into the writing, one should be able to observe the conceived images. (The

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Chapter “On Writing Intension”, Southern Volume, in Literary Mirrors in Treasured Collections )

BianZhao Jinggang believes that our thoughts about writing come first by concentrating oneself on observing external objects and then by transforming the external images into clearly visible internal images, namely the “thoughts related to the aesthetic conception.” This is a very powerful, internally visible, selected and integrated aesthetic image. For another example, in Rules of Poetry, a book attributed to Wang Changlin, it is said when commenting on “Aesthetic Conception Through Objects” that “If you want to write poems about landscape, you need to observe closely springs and creeks, rocks and towering peaks, imprint their extraordinary beauty and charm on your memory, put yourself in the scene created in your mind, and view in your mind’s eye the image you obtain until you can see it as vividly as if it were right on your palm. By then, you can start to think about writing the poem. A deep appreciation of the scene and its objects is instrumental in achieving a true poetic image.” This quote is about creating landscape poems. It starts with observing the natural images of “springs and creeks, rocks and towering peaks” and then proceeds to “imprint their extraordinary beauty and charm on your memory,” “put yourself in the scene created in your mind,” and “view in your mind’s eye…vividly.” They are all about creating strong and vivid images in a poet’s mind. Literary critic Sikong Tu in Late Tang famously makes the following comments on poetry, “Dai Rongzhou says, ‘the sceneries for a poet are just like the sunlight warming up the jewel mining field Blue Field Mountains, light mist rising from treasured jewel stones. They are sceneries that can be viewed but not pictured before one’s eyes.’ These are the images beyond images and sceneries beyond sceneries. How can they be directly described?” (Letter to Wang Jipu). Sikong Tu’s critique of poems underlines the aesthetic characteristic of “images beyond images,” and this type of crystal-clear “sceneries for a poet” is what exactly a poet needs to have when he starts writing a poem. Mei Yaochen, a poet in Song Dynasty, has this to say about the aesthetic conception in poetry, “expressing endless meanings beyond words; describing indescribable scenes as if they were in front of one’s eyes” (“Preface” to Ouyang Xiu’s Criticism of Poetry). This phenomenon of seeing things “as if they were in front of one’s eyes” is precisely the way a poet creates images in his mind.

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It is worth pointing out that though inner images in artistic imagination are the transformed images based on observation of physical objects, hence their obvious and close association with external things and clearly observable appearances of the latter in the artist’s mind’s eye, they have not been aesthetically shaped yet and therefore are still vague and changing. Sikong Tu’s “not pictured before one’s eyes” refers just to such vagueness.

3.2 The Creative Function of Artistic Imagination in “Shen Si ” As a Chinese theory on the thinking entailed in artistic creations, “Shen Si” highlights creativity in imagination in very prominent way. Copying the appearance of an external object when conceptualizing one’s work is not “Shen Si” on the part of the artist. Instead, “Shen Si” requires the artist to use his emotions and thoughts as soul, and follow his aesthetic ideals to re-assemble, process, and transform external images in creating his own works. Therefore, what matters in artistic imagination is this type of creation. All great artistic works, ancient or contemporary, have this hallmark of highly individualized creativity. Kant and Hagel have both made insightful remarks on this point. Kant says, “Imagination is productive.”8 Hagel has also said explicitly that “since artistic works are produced by people’s hearts and souls, such production would require a subject’s creative activity…. Such creative activity is an artist’s imagination.”9 Both of them have highlighted the creative nature of artistic imagination. In general psychology, imagination can be categorized as creative imagination and re-creative imagination. Though the two types are different, they cannot be separated completely in the psychological process of artistic creation. Both play very important roles. Yet it is creative imagination that is most important as a psychological function that creates unique aesthetic images. Jin Kaicheng, a noted literary theorist, says when commenting on the creative imagination:

8 Kant, I. (1964). Critique of Judgment (Chinese translation by Zong Baihua) (p. 161). Beijing: Commerce Press. 9 Hegel, G. W. F. (1979). Aesthetics (in Chinese translation), Vol. I (p. 356). Beijing: Commerce Press.

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Creative imagination is a more independent, novel, and creative type of imagination. It is also the most important conscientious activity of producing images in literary and artistic creation. Creative imagination also results from an author’s processing and transforming the original images in his memory. As far as the so-called processing and transformation are concerned, the primary psychological activities are the analysis and synthesis of the original images. All new images in artistic creations are transformed from the ‘old materials’, no matter how new they may look. The so-called ‘old materials’ refer to the preserved images of the external things that have been reflected in one’s mind and have been kept there in memory. Using imagination to create new images is fundamentally a process of breaking up or crashing to pieces the original images only to transform them into new ones.10

This, in general, is what creative imagination is. The artist uses his own unique aesthetic consciousness to process and transform the original image to construct a new image never seen before. This is an artist’s creative imagination. The original images existing in artists’ minds are chaotic, disorderly, and deposited in their minds over time and from different places. In order to create intended aesthetic images, artists will use conscientious imagination to choose, decompose, and then re-integrate the original images and then create new images based on their emotions, thoughts, and aesthetic consciousness. The new images look partially familiar in terms of their “physical” make-up, yet when viewed as a whole, they are quite different from other images and aesthetic conceptions. This is so because the emotions, thoughts, imaginations, and aesthetic concepts of a creative subject play a pivotal role. Facing a similar aesthetic object, different creative subjects would generate fairly different images in their respective minds. For example, when Du Fu, Chen Can, Chu Guangyi, and Xie Ju toured the Ci En Temple Pagoda in Chang’an, they each wrote a poem, and each of their poems has a different aesthetic conception. Qing Dynasty’s Qiu Zhaoao made the following comment: These poets climbed up the Pagoda at around the same historic time, and wrote their own poems. Xie Ju’s poem was reportedly lost. The poems by Chen Can and Chu Guangyi are beautiful and appropriate, matching 10 Jin, K. (1987). A Survey of the Psychology of Literature and Arts (p. 82). Beijing: People’s Literature Press.

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the reputations they enjoy. Gao Shi’s poem is pithy and clean in a fresh yet solid style. Du Fu’s poem follows an exceptionally rigorous rhyming pattern, and has lofty artistic images and solemn and powerful sounds. His poem offers an insightful perspective and remarkable erudition. He is able to fully express in a poetic exquisiteness his emotions, sentiments and reflections on life, demonstrating his position as a poet towering among his worthy peers and generations to come. The three poems by Chen Can, Zhu Guanyi and Gao Shi are too restrained at their conclusions and therefore lack a robust ending. Du Fu’s poem, on the other hand, has opened a new horizon for the reader, couching in its conclusion a unique and thought-provoking commentary. That has made his poem far more powerful than the others. (Annotated Du Fu’s Poems, Vol. II )

Qiu Zhaoao’s comment focuses on the different styles of the poets. The poets all visited the same Ci En Temple Pagoda, overlooking the same scenery, yet each comes up with different aesthetic images. In other words, each poet’s creative imagination is not identical. On this point, Xie Zhen, a poetry critic in Ming Dynasty has very insightful comments as follows: Emotions and sceneries provide underlying basis for poetry. Neither emotions nor sceneries can stand alone to make up poems. Nor are they against each other in poems. Climbing mountains can bring forth one’s thoughts and emotions to communicate in mind with the ancients, and can explore things far and near to touch off emotional associations with one’s own sorrows and exultations. These chance encounters between emotions and sceneries can create images from none and make sounds from silence. Emotions and sceneries share commonalities and have differences, and depicting them can be difficult and easy. Two key elements of writing poems are emotions and sceneries. The observed objects without remain the same, yet the emotions triggered within may vary. Therefore, one should work hard to fuse the external and internal so that interactions between the two are seamless. (Si Ming’s Criticism of Poetry, Vol. III )

Even though the external object for aesthetic appreciation remains the same, the aesthetic images within artists are hard to be identical due to the differences among subjects. “The observed objects without remain the same, yet the emotions triggered within may vary.” That gives rise to artistic imaginations that vary across individual artists.

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Creative artistic imaginations are not spontaneous and unconscious. Instead, they are intentional and deliberate. Hagel holds that imagination should be differentiated from fantasy: “Do not mix imagination with utterly passive fantasy.”11 The difference between imagination and fantasy is as follows: Imagination is intentional, creative, and, in artistic creation, aesthetic, whereas fantasy is spontaneous, disorderly, and non-aesthetic. Creative imagination will subject images of an original object to selection, processing, and transformation based on a subject’s volition to create a new and integrated image. As an outstanding literary critic, Lu Ji gives high priority to and pursues tirelessly fresh and original aesthetic images in imagination. The paragraph in his Art of Writing that starts with “At its inception…” has reiterated the importance of possessing unique beauty in artistic imagination and conceptualization of artistic works. He sets up very high bar for writing: It should be unrivaled before and after. “When I weave my thoughts using my mental shuttles (Zhu Zhou), I am still worried that others would beat me to the articulation of thoughts.” The image of warp and woof in weaving is used here to show analogy to artistic conceptualization. Li Shan explains, “It is a weaving metaphor. Even though the poem comes from his own emotions, the poet is still worried that others will get ahead of him” (Selected Writings, Vol. 17). Liu Xie, in the Chapter on “Shen Si” in The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons, has also used the same phrase to talk metaphorically about the artistic conception and imagination in his work. He says, “Just as hemp cloth comes from hemp, they are not different in value at the very start. But when hemp is further rendered into cloth through the weaving machine, the cloth is transformed into a glossy and precious product.” The product of cloth is far better than its source material of hemp thanks to the weaving machine. Likewise, the exquisiteness and originality of an artwork come from very careful and artistic conceptualization and imagination. For Liu Xie, intentionality is a way to achieve originality in artistic imagination. On the one hand, Liu Xie emphasizes the stimulating effect of objects on the subject, putting forth the proposition that “humans have seven emotions which will be called forth by observed sceneries. It is only natural that we express our aspirations in our responses to the stimulating sceneries.” On the other hand, he stresses the function of 11 Hegel, G. W. F. (1979). Aesthetics (in Chinese translation), Vol. I (p. 357). Beijing: Commerce Press.

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the subject in the formation of an image: “using words and employing melodious sounds and rhyming patterns to describe complex appearance of observed objects as well as bringing out my own emotional responses” (The Chapter on “Object Appearance” in The Literacy Mind and Carving of Dragon). “Describing the complex appearance of observed objects” is to capture the look of the observed objects, whereas “bringing out my own emotional responses” is to exercise control over the images by the author. Liu Xie says that “Authors have to rely on the objects’ known features to express adequately, and follow the objects’ recognized patterns to bring out fresh insight. As long as an author is good at exploring the characteristics of familiar things, he can instill new life into the old in writing” (The Chapter on “Object Appearance” in The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragon). This quote also talks about how to give full play to the subjective role of an author’s heart and soul in order to capture the features of the observed objects. The physical materials may look very familiar (the old) to everyone, but the images created from them may be fresh and new. Creative imagination follows the intention of a subject to make the original image into a complete and aesthetic conception. Zong Bing says that “myriad of interests consolidated into ‘Shen Si’” (Preface to Landscape Painting ), in which “Shen Si” condenses in it a painter’s subjective intention. When the painter is attracted by the landscapes, his stimulated interests are rich and complex, and the images he forms are also varied and plentiful. But when he paints, the painter needs to use “Shen Si” to unify all these images and stimulated interests into an integral and complete painting. If we take “Shen Si” as a theory of thinking entailed in artistic creations in the Chinese classical aesthetics, then the most important stage or component must be imagination. For that reason, many theorists and commentators simply take imagination as “Shen Si.” This issue certainly has room for further discussion. Yet, in the discourses on “Shen Si,” imagination is undeniably the component that is the richest and the most artistically creative.

CHAPTER 4

Characteristics of Fortuitous Thinking in “Shen Si”

Abstract “Fortuity” reflects the unique characteristics of “Shen Si” as a Chinese theory of thinking in artistic creation. In my view, “fortuity” refers to a kind of thinking that is accidental and spontaneous but enables a creative subject to stimulate his aesthetic emotions, thoughts, and creative impulse. It occurs with no pre-arrangement, but in response to the changes in the external objects that stimulate a creative subject. As something pivotal to “Shen Si” in artistic creation, “fortuity” enables an artistic product to have an air of “grandness,” artistic individuality that beyond replication, natural and perfect aesthetic conceptualization, aesthetic images, and astonishing aesthetic effects. Keywords Fortuity · Randomness · Wonder

4.1

“Shen Si ” and “Fortuity”

As a uniquely Chinese theory on thinking entailed in artistic creations, “Shen Si” encompasses key elements in artistic thinking such as inspiration, imagination, and conceptualization of artistic works. In addition, it refers to characteristics of ideas that give birth to the best artistic works. “Shen” in “Shen Si” describes very aptly the ingenious conceptualization in creation that reaches the highest level of perfection with no possibility © Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing Co., Ltd 2021 J. Zhang, The Soul of Creation (Shensi), Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0496-6_4

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for preparation beforehand. The line that “the ingenuity of such composition cannot be subjected to rational thoughts” (Zhong Xing “A poem made of the lines obtained from watching the Moon”) describes this type of “Shen.” Occurrence of inspiration is also a characteristic of “Shen Si.” During the climax of artistic creation, poets or artists would experience an explosion of inspirations. That is also a “highlight” moment in “Shen Si.” Inspiration occurs in a way that is fortuitous or chance in nature. That has been agreed upon by all scholars who have commented on inspiration. The reason for its fortuity or accidentalness lies in the mechanism for it to be stimulated to make artistic associations, which is same for the genesis of “Shen Si.” In my opinion, “Shen Si” comes primarily from a subject’s response to the stimulating objects (the objects here include both natural objects and social matters). It refers to the situation in which the creative subject, through chance encounters with his objective surroundings, generates in his heart and mind aesthetic images and making aesthetic conceptualization. It can be said that being fortuitous is a very salient feature of “Shen Si.” Lu Ji’s comments on generative process of creative thinking in his Art of Writing have already pointed out the fortuitous nature of “Shen Si.” He says, “As to when literary inspirations come and when one’s thoughts flow freely or get stifled, there is no tell. When inspiration comes, it cannot be held back, and when it is gone, it cannot be stopped. When inspiration disappears, it fades as shadows into darkness; when it comes, it just shows as echo of sounds. When inspiration rushes in, as with divine intervention, all scattered thoughts and fragmented images begin to make sense and everything falls into place.” Here, he is clearly describing the state of inspiration in creation. “When it comes, it cannot be held back, and when it is gone, it cannot be stopped” is referring to the nature of inspiration that defies preplanning and grasp. Visitation by inspiration is a divine opportunity. It cannot be predicted and happens mostly by chance. The reason for such fortuitous nature lies in the randomness and unpredictability of the encounters between aesthetic subjects and aesthetic objects. In my view, “fortuity” refers to a random and accidental type of thinking that underlies the stimulated aesthetic emotions, thoughts, and creative impulse on the part of a creative subject (from an aesthetic perspective, he can also be regarded as aesthetic subject). It occurs with no pre-arrangement, but in response to the changes in the external objects that stimulate a creative subject.

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In Chinese ancient theories on artistic creations, comments on the accidental nature of the creative moments are legion, highlighting the extensive attention the Chinese aesthetics has paid to the notion of “fortuity.” We should notice that discussions about the “fortuity” among literary critics have always focused on the thinking characteristics shared by masterpieces that are perfect in technique and ingenious in conception aesthetically speaking. For instance, Li Deyu in Tang Dynasty pointed out, “Writing should be natural and spontaneous. It comes in a state of trance without forcing one’s thoughts. If it comes from intentional efforts and hard thinking, then it will be tasteless. Any works that deliberately use ornate dictions are of little value.”1 In On Writings, Li believes that “Shen Si” in a piece of writing should be “natural and spontaneous” and come “without forcing one’s thoughts,” which clearly underscored the accidental nature of good writing. For another example, monk poet Guanxiu in Tang Dynasty writes in On Poetry, “Embracing the heaven and gracing the earth, the lines, if done, can only come from angels. I have searched high and low in vain for those lines, yet too often they show up in my writing uninvited. They come when natural wind touches my grey hair, and they come in autumn colors that move me. Chanted aloud under the frosty moon, those lines would move both spirits and ghosts to tears.”2 Guan Xiu describes the poetic thoughts that are “embracing the heaven and gracing the earth” as accidental “guests coming in by themselves.” Su Dongpo, too, talks about catching the evanescent poetic inspiration in a timely fashion: “poetry-writing is as urgent as pursuing a criminal at large, and fresh scenes are forever gone if not captured in words in a timely fashion.”3 It is urgent because if a poet does not write down the beautiful image or aesthetic conception in his mind when such poetic and inspirational thoughts come to him, they will disappear forever without a trace. Famous poets such as Lu You and Yang Wanli in Southern Song Dynasty all take the fortuitous nature of poetic thinking seriously, regarding it as the type most conducive to producing masterpieces in poetry. Lu You talks about it in his poem, “Writing is actually made by 1 Li, D. On Writings. Refer to Collection of Li Wenrao’s Writings, 2nd Part, Vol. III. 2 You, M. (1981). Complete Collections of Tang Poetics, Vol. VI. In Poetics of All Past

Dynasties (p. 244). Zhong Hua Book Bureau. 3 Su, S. Lunar December Visiting Two Monks Hui Qin and Hui Si at Gu Mountain. In Collection of Su Shi’s Poems, Vol. VII. Annotated by Zhong Hua Book Bureau.

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nature, caught through a deft pen only by chance. It is indeed a jade of purity, and nothing can be added by man to enhance it.”4 He believes that excellent writings are achieved by skillful authors accidentally. Only literary works like that will be pure and perfect as if coming from nature. Yang Wanli emphasizes literary flexibility, which has two connotations: One is to absorb vitality and beauty directly from nature, and the other is to accentuate the randomness or fortuity that triggers poetic thinking. He reflects on his own creations in the following way: “Every afternoon when the clerks have left the court, I would take a walk in the back garden with a fan in hand, visit the ancient city site, collect willows and chrysanthemums, and search through flower patches and bamboo bushes. Then all images would rush to present themselves as poetic materials and just cannot be disposed of. Before I finish writing about one, another one has already rushed in. I therefore have no difficulties writing poems” (Preface to Collection of Poems at Jing Brook). This type of poetic conceptions comes from changes in life and nature, and thus is random in occurrence. The poet has no pre-formed intention to search poetic materials. Yang Wanli’s poems result mostly from his contact with nature and events in social life, and they come by chance. For that reason, they are lively and full of vigor. Likewise, Yang Wanli in his critique of poetry ranks poems that are so inspired as to touch off artistic associations as the best ones: “In general, my best poems are those about emotions and sceneries capable of triggering artistic associations; the second tier are those that are expository. As to the poems that are composed to fit in rhyming patterns and meanings of others’, they are not of my own choice. For any poem, I usually have no specific intention to compose it. But certain matters and certain things may have just touched me, and my mind and heart are also moved by those matters and things. Such encounters come first, then my feelings ensued, and the poem come into being. What have I done?”5 The poet has no preconceived intention to write a particular poem. His poetic conceptions are accidentally touched off by “certain matters and certain things.” Poems created in such a way are the best ones to him. Xie Zhen in Ming Dynasty sets great store on fortuitous stimulation to have artistic associations, regarding it as a way of conceiving literary

4 Lu, Y. Writing. In Jian Nan Collection of Poems, Vol. LXXXIII. 5 Yang, W. A Letter in Response to Xu Da the Grand General of Jiankang Prefecture.

In Collection of Writings of Chengzhai, Vol. LXVII.

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works. He promotes this notion of poetics throughout his famous book Si Ming’s Criticism of Poetry. He states explicitly that “Poems are written on the basis of chance meetings between the two parties.” The theoretical support for that statement is the mechanism that generates “Shen Si” in poetry writing, which is the encounter between the subjective emotions and objective sceneries. He says: Emotions and sceneries provide underlying basis for poetry. Neither emotions nor sceneries can stand alone to make up poems. Nor are they against each other in poems. Climbing mountains can bring forth one’s thoughts and emotions to communicate in mind with the ancients, and can explore things far and near to touch off emotional associations with one’s own sorrows and exultations. These chance encounters between emotions and sceneries can create images from none and make sounds from silence. Emotions and sceneries share commonalities and have differences, and depicting them can be difficult and easy. Two key elements of writing poems are emotions and sceneries.” (Si Ming’s Criticism of Poetry, Vol. III ) Poems are written on the basis of chance meetings between the two parties. Seeing begets words, in turn they integrate into thoughts for a poem. Writing comes before deciding the focus, which results from deliberation in writing. (Si Ming’s Criticism of Poetry, Vol. IV )

Xie Zhen views the fortuitous encounter between “emotions” and “sceneries” as the generative moment for “Shen Si” in poetic creation. He not only connects “emotions” and “sceneries” and makes them as a pair of aesthetic constructs that are tightly associated, interdependent and stable, but also points out that the relationship between the two in “Shen Si” during poetic creation should be “chance encounters.” That can be understood as a very important contribution by Xie Zhen to the Chinese poetic aesthetics. Moreover, his theoretical contribution goes beyond a mere general emphasis on the fortuitous nature of poetic conception. He further believes that this type of fortuitous acquisition of ideas can only be possible through persistent cultivation of knowledge in poetics and tireless pursuit of aesthetics. He uses the following analogy to illustrate his point: Poetry-making is just like someone taking up a broom daily to sweep every corner of the market. Each time he would sift through the dirt he has swept searching for chipped coins, broken hairpins, bits of copper, and pieces of

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iron. He would then put all those into his bag, and return home for food only when he is hungry. This is not a very good way of life. But he sticks to it and continues day in and day out. Over time, he will pick up something valuable such as pieces of gold or silver, which will last him for a year. Such acquisition is only by chance. It is not easy to get valuable things, and it is even more difficult to find an aphoristic poetry line. But if one persists in sweeping the dirt without letting up, then valuable things will come his way; if one works hard without giving up, aphoristic lines will take form. (Si Ming’s Criticism of Poetry, Vol. III )

Xie Zhen makes a very clever analogy to illustrate that good poems come into being by chance, but those chances are also associated by necessary accumulation of poetic knowledge and “working hard without letting up” in pursuit for excellent lines. In other words, he has illustrated the fortuitous moment when “Shen Si” is stimulated by encounters between emotions and scenes. On the other hand, he has also revealed the importance of learning and persistent pursuit in an aesthetic experience of “Shen Si.” Other poetic critics and artists in Ming Dynasty have also used the notion of “fortuity” to describe the way “Shen Si” is generated in artistic creation. For example, Hu Zhengheng made such comments on poetry: “Poems are fortuitous in making. Even famous poets cannot do anything to add to it, no matter how hard they try” (Collections of Tang Poems and Essays, Vol. X ). Outstanding playwright Tang Xiangzhu concurs. “I think the excellence of a piece of writing lies not in how well it sticks to the form, but in it being a natural and divine energy coming in a trance-like state devoid of forced thinking. It is unique and strange, defying any description, and corresponding to nothing that we have ever known” (Preface to What is Out of Ordinary in Complete Works of Tang Xiangzhu, Vol. 32). Zhong Xing likewise depicts what poetic conception is: “Evanescent thoughts are forever traced by the writing brush of man, lest they be gone and never returns. Every now and then they appear with paper begging for your brush, even the deity of wind cannot show such speed when it appears.”6 All the examples above take fortuity as the right moment for “Shen Si” to occur in artistic creation.

6 “Short Remarks Inscribed on Lin Mao’s Picture Wall”. See (1992) Collections of Hidden Treasure Studio, Vol. V. Shanghai: Shanghai Classical Text Publishing House.

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Poetic critics and artists in Qing Dynasty pay more attention to fortuity in artistic creation than their counterparts in Ming Dynasty. For example, Wu Qiao in his Fireside Criticism of Poetry believes that poetic conception comes best from accidental occasions: “Poetic thinking differs from that in essay-writing. Thinking in essay writing works like the spring season that is sure to beget lives on earth. But poetic thinking is like sweet spring water that crimsons the grass in spring time. Even the poet has no way of knowing how it comes about. He simply uses a required rhyming pattern to capture the poetic thoughts in a timely fashion” (Fireside Criticism of Poetry, Vol. I ). Wu Qiao here compares conceptions in poems and in essays, believing that for essays, it comes mainly from inevitability, whereas for poems, it mostly happens accidentally. A famous poet of the School of Inspirations in Qing Dynasty Zhang Wentao holds in high esteem the “flash of inspiration” obtained accidentally in poetic creation, which is reflected in his own poems. Zhang Wentao has the following poems on poetic creation in his Twelve Four-line Rhyming Poems on Poetic Creations: From where can I obtain writings emotionally charged? It is usually in the flash of inspiration that comes to my help. Wondrous lines touching the heart suddenly show themselves, as if they are immortal generals dispatched from heaven. Vivid poetic emotions appear in front of me, coming as storms gathering force and going away as clouds dissipating. It is never easy to use common words in poems, which will only come naturally after repeated practices to perfection. My longing for Dao only comes when my pursuit for worldly fame dies out, and only in my dreams or enchantment have I got poetic lines by chance. Nature speaks in lines with its own natural appeal, and good poems are those that capture human emotions.7

In all these poems on poem creation, Zhang Wentao emphatically advances his belief on fortuitous “Shen Si” as the best approach to poetry creation. “Wondrous lines” refers to those poetic lines elegantly expressed. So does the phrase “in my dreams or my enchantment.” To Zhang Wentao, those lines are invariably helped by inspirational onset in a fortuitous manner. By the same token, “coming as storms gathering force and going away as clouds dissipating” talks about the accidental visits 7 Zhang, W. Twelve Four-line Rhyming Poems on Poetic Creations. See Poetic Grasses by Chuanshan, Vol. XI.

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by “poetic emotion.” Zhang Wentao’s poem collection Chuanshan Shi Cao (Poetic Grasses by Chuanshan) has many lines that illustrate how the poet gets his poetic thoughts on accidental occasions. Take a look at the following lines: “A pen enabled by a flash of inspiration begets the poem in an instance, whereas wine is no help to a mind depleted of poetic aspirations” (An Autumn Night ); “Clear-minded and happy though without wine, in a common setting I suddenly got the poem” (Early Spring Random Thoughts ); “A little nap accidentally got me a poem, city drums should not wake me up” (Early Spring Vocation); “reluctant to welcome a casual visitor after a long solitary living, I accidentally got poetic lines when bathed in Zen awareness in my poetic studio” (“On the evening of August 24th, I was reading the three poems JianTan shared with me. For the whole day, I was frustrated and depressed. So I followed the same rhyming pattern of his original poems to express my feeling. The reason we are all sighing our own sighs is that we are all burdened by ourselves”); “Without intentional look for poems, I am picking up poetic lines all around me, and I have turned an overworked body into a free and happy soul” (“Miscellaneous Poems on Drinking with Tianqiao in the Summer of Chengdu”); “Emotions cannot hide when they are true to heart, and lines will have a miraculous touch when they are divinely endowed” (“This brush pen’’). All those lines show that the poet depends on fortuitous inspirations to create his exceptional poems.

4.2 The Aesthetic Effect of “Fortuity” as a Creative Moment As a moment for “Shen Si” to occur in artistic creation, what artistic, or aesthetic effects does “fortuity” have? How does it differ from the writing that is conceived by establishing objectives and themes first? This issue, still worthy of our pondering, has been approached by the ancients from multiple perspectives. In sum, the aesthetic effect of fortuitous “Shen Si” on artistic creation is as follows: Firstly, fortuitous “Shen Si” is able to infuse subjective aspirations in authors and artists with natural energy in the universe, thereby allowing artistic works to transcend their physical images and connect with the majesty and power of the “Grand Dao.” Secondly, due to chance encounter between very unique emotions experienced by a creative subject at a particular moment in a particular place and constantly changing external objects,

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fortuitous “Shen Si” enables artistic works to have artistic individuality that is non-replicable and full of rejuvenating vitality. Thirdly, thanks to the accidental inspirational thoughts in artistic creation, artistic works thus created are an example of natural fusion of aesthetic conceptions with aesthetic images, making them drastically different from those artificial works that are resulted from assiduous and painful toils. Fourthly, fortuity in “Shen Si” also gives an artistic work an aesthetic effect of wonder. Those are the characteristics typically found in a masterpiece. Lu Ji and Liu Xie have both pointed out that “Shen Si” in artistic creation is harmonious with heaven and earth, and conducive to the “Grand Dao.” Lu Ji writes “At that moment, all past and present are brought to one’s view, and all the world’s bests are condensed into a short moment of presentation.” These lines do not merely refer to imagination that transcends time and space, but also point to the union of an individual’s emotions and thoughts with grand harmony in the universe. Liu Xie comments on “Shen Si” by saying, “When “Shen Si” kicks in, an array of thoughts and images will come parading before one’s mind’s eye. One is then to extract content out of evolving thinking about the composition, and give form to images still forming in thoughts. Climbing up the high mountains, one feels one’s emotions under the full influence of mountain sceneries; and facing oceans, one lets the spectacular seascapes take over one’s thoughts” (the chapter on “Shen Si” in The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons ). Here, an author’s “Shen Si” is roaming and permeating mountains and seas, and giving birth to myriads of impressions and images. Other authors have concurred. Xie Zhen, for example, comments on the “fortuitous meetings” “out of emotions and sceneries” in the following quotes: “Sceneries are the medium for poems and emotions are the embryonic form of poems. They unite to become poems. In a few lines of words, poems are capable of resonating via myriad of images. Fully charged with vitality, they can have an endless reach” (i Ming’s Criticism of Poetry, Vol III ); “Thinking reaches places deep and far, and my thoughts no longer limit to myself and anything else. How profound is the process of poetry-creation!” (i Ming’s Criticism of Poetry, Vol III ). “Fortuitous encounter” between “emotions” and “scenes” has given rise to the “fully charged vitality” of the poem. For another example, Yuan Mei says in his Sequel to Critique of Poetry that: “The energy between heaven and earth empowers the movement of all things, and makes them flow continuously without gathering in one place. They arrive before you know and are gone before you even attempt to ask them to stay. Poetry is just naturally made, and sceneries in view turn into appealing and intriguing images. Things are changing so much that there are only new views that greet the eyes” (On Scenes In Front of Me). He also links the fortuitous nature of poetic thoughts which “are received

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before arrival and are gone before attempted retention” with the natural energy in cosmos as reflected in “the energy between heaven and earth empowers the movement of all things, and makes them flow continuously without gathering in one place.” “Fortuitous” thinking in artistic creation gives artistic works a look of Nature’s engineering, exhibiting a charm that is spontaneous and ingenious. Works thus created are just as effortless as water comes to a finished canal or twisting off a ripe melon from its vine. They are markedly different from those works that are assiduously produced and highly embellished. Li Deyu, a poetic critic in Tang Dynasty, remarks that, “Writing as a product should be natural with miraculous power. It comes in a dream-like trance without forced thoughts. If it comes from deliberate efforts in thinking, then it will be tasteless. Any works that intentionally use ornate dictions are of little value.” For him, writings that are “natural with a miraculous power” are the finest. Shao Yong has also said something to the same effect: “A momentary stimulation may yield a poem as if it results from deliberation all night long yet free from any artificial traces.”8 Lu You is of the same opinion: “Writing is heaven-made in actuality, caught through a deft pen only by chance.” All those comments above highlight the natural ingenuity of writings “fortuitously got.” The lines by Zhang Shiju that “famous writings in antiquity are like lotus flowers freshly emerging from water, naturally pure and beautiful. Free of any artificial ornament, these writings are all obtained by chance”9 are particularly pertinent in illustrating this “fortuity.”

The chance meetings between subjective emotions and objective sceneries would usually give birth to a unique product of originality with its internal vitality. Ye Mengde, for example, says that, “The expert delicacy of the dictions here resides exactly in its unintentionality. Unexpectedly running into the scenery, the poet uses it for his lines without deliberations and forced wording. The outcome is beyond what usual practices can reach” (Shi Lin’s Criticism of Poetry). The preceding quote refers just to the original and artistic value effected by this type of fortuitous “Shen Si.” Such original aesthetic conceptions and aesthetic images usually will have a powerful aesthetic appeal beyond the reach of any meticulous thinking. Dai Fugu, for instance, comments in his Short Poems on Poetic 8 Shao, Y. On Poetry and Its Reading Aloud. In A Collection of Poems by Yi Chuan, Vol. XVIII. 9 Ye, M. Shiling Poetics, Vol. II. See He, W. (Ed.) (1981). A Collection of Poetics of Past Dynasties (p. 427). Beijing: Zhonghua Book Bureau.

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Creations that “Poems roam formlessly in the unknown land, and the poet has tried everything between heaven and earth for emotional expression. Sometimes lines of wonder are obtained abruptly, anything made through exhausting search.” What a poet gets in a fortuitous moment for creation is “lines of wonder.” “Wonder” is an important criterion for the aesthetic effect of a piece of creative work. From the perspective of aesthetic psychology, wonder is a necessary condition for experiencing pleasure. Real aesthetic pleasure comes accompanied by a sense of wonder. Wonder is an aesthetic discovery. Aristotle is the first one to take “wonder” as an aesthetic discovery. He states that, “Among all discoveries, the best are the ones that come from the plots themselves, and make the audience wonder at the events that occur according to the law of nature.”10 This kind of discovery is brought about by wonder. Hegel particularly emphasizes the significant role of wonder in “artistic inspection.” He holds that, “artistic inspections, religious inspections (or better regarded as the unification of the two) and scientific studies generally all come from a sense of wonder. If a person does not have a sense of wonder, he must still be unenlightened, not interested in things, and nothing is present for him because he cannot distinguish himself from the objective world and its other components.”11 The noted English poet Coleridge, in his critique of Wordsworth, points out that the element of “wonder” is the poet’s aesthetic pursuit: Mr. Wordsworth, on the other hand, was to propose to himself as his object, to give the charm of novelty to things of every day, and to excite a feeling analogous to the supernatural, by awakening the mind’s attention from the lethargy of custom, and directing it to the loveliness and the wonders of the world before us; an inexhaustible treasure, but for which in consequence of the film of familiarity and selfish solicitude we have eyes, yet see not, ears that hear not, and hearts that neither feel nor understand.12

10 Aristotle. (1962) Poetics (in Chinese translation) (p. 55). Beijing: People’s Literature

Press. 11 Hegel, G. W. F. (1979). Aesthetics (in Chinese translation), Vol. 2 (p. 22). Beijing: Commerce Press. 12 Coleridge, S. T. (1852). The Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Prose and Verse. Complete in One Volume (p. 298). Philadelphia, PA: Crissy & Markley (Online Google Books).

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Chinese poets have also made “wonder” an important hallmark for artistic values as well as an aesthetic object. Du Fu’s poetic lines in the following are the most representative of such perspective. He says, “Adhering to my idiosyncratic love for outstanding sentences, I would not stop seeking for words of wonder until my last breath” (A Short Narrative When the River Water Wells Up as Sea Waves ). Li Qingzhao, a famous Ci poet, also prides herself on this ability of coming up with wonderful sentences even when she complains about that her talents are not recognized: “What is the use of my writing all these poetic lines of wonder?” Examples on this issue are legion. Some artists, such as Zhang Wentao, have linked the fortuitous “Shen Si” with the wondrous aesthetic effects of artistic works. He wrote, “Wondrous lines touching the heart suddenly show themselves, as if they are immortal generals dispatched from heaven.” Tang Xiangzhu comments that “A natural and divine energy comes in a trance-like state devoid of forced thinking. It is unique and strange, defying any description, and corresponding to nothing that we have ever known” (Preface to What is Out of Ordinary). Like many others, Tang Xiangzhu also maintains that it is the fortuitous “Shen Si” that produces the aesthetic effects of wonder.

CHAPTER 5

“Aesthetics” and “Aesthetic Emotions”

Abstract Aesthetic emotions in literary creation are an important content for the theory of “Shen Si.” They are the driving force for the genesis of “Shen Si,” the essential element that gives birth to aesthetic images. But at the same time, they are also part of the entire process of “Shen Si.” Ancient literary critics in China pay close attention to the role of emotions in artistic creation. Chinese poetics in particular is built upon the foundation of expressing emotions. The expression “emotions expressed as gifts to the scenery in sight, and associations evoked as its responses in kind” unravels the mind’s reception and expression of as well as the interactions with the perceived objects. Here, sceneries are not simply sceneries, but projected ones in the subject’s consciousness. And minds are not simply minds that have nothing to do with external objects, but the minds that have absorbed the objects one is faced with. Keywords Esthetic emotions · Intentionality · Interactions

5.1

Aesthetic Emotions in Artistic Creation

“Shen Si,” as artistic thinking in creation, is closely associated with emotions of a creative subject. Without the full enthusiasm stimulated in artists and authors while living their daily life and experiencing the © Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing Co., Ltd 2021 J. Zhang, The Soul of Creation (Shensi), Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0496-6_5

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physical world, it is rarely possible for creative impulses to occur, and it would be equally unlikely to experience an explosion of creative inspiration. Without such enthusiasm, artists can hardly generate vivid, round, and vital aesthetic images. Therefore, emotions on the part of authors and artists, instead of being trivial and secondary, are an essential factor in the success of artistic creation. This issue has been discussed by numerous literary and artistic theorists as well as artists both at home and abroad. The current chapter is not about the relationship between arts and emotions in general terms. Instead, I will explore this issue by examining the relationship between artistic thinking and aesthetic emotions. Belinsky once remarked, “Emotion is an important active factor in the nature of poetry; without emotion, there will be no poets and no poetry. Of course, it is not impossible to have such a person who has emotions and can even write adequate poems that are immersed in emotions–-but still is absolutely not a poet.”1 As far as poetic creations are concerned, a poet’s emotions play a crucial role. Without stimulated emotions, there will be no urge to write poems. “Poetry expresses aspirations” is a major founding principle of Chinese poetics. The word “aspirations” here includes emotion (Kong Yingda in Tang Dynasty concludes: “It is called emotion when it is within oneself, but called aspiration when the emotion is stimulated. Therefore emotion and aspiration are the one and same thing).2 Later in WeiJing Period, the well-known literary writer Lu Ji, in his Art of Writing, put forward an influential aesthetic proposition that “The ornate exquisiteness in poetry is brought forth by emotions,” thereby explicitly accentuating emotions as the driving force for poetry creation. We need to distinguish aesthetic emotions from natural emotions. Our emotions in real life such as happiness, sorrow, and fear are natural emotions before they are elevated to those in artistic works and therefore are very different from aesthetic emotions in artistic works. The so-called aesthetic emotions are those expressed through artistic forms by artists in their works. They are closely connected with, but not equal to, natural emotions.

1 See Belinsky on Literature (pp. 13–14). Shanghai: New Literature and Arts Press. 2 Yuan, Y. (1979). Thirteen Classic Canons with Notes and Commentaries (p. 270).

Beijing: Zhong Hua Book Bureau.

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Though Hegel has not advanced the concept of “aesthetic emotions,” his relevant comments reveal very profoundly the property of “aesthetic emotions.” He says: Generally speaking, music sounds like a happy song of larks singing up in the sky. Crying out loud out of suffering and happiness at the top of one’s voice is not music. When music is expressing suffering, it should have certain sweetness seeping through its tone of complaints, making it unambiguous so that people will hear this sweet complaint, so that even though they have to endure the suffering it expresses, they will feel it worthwhile. That is all of the sweet and harmonious lyric one can hear in every type of arts.3

Hegel’s “Crying out loud out of suffering and happiness” is just a way to unleash natural emotions. It is not an artistic expression nor can it become the type of emotions for people to acquire aesthetic experience. However, when emotions are expressed in arts, be they representing painful emotions or not, they should “have a sweetness seeping through its tone of complaint, making it unambiguous.” That, undoubtedly, is a highly aesthetic way of expression. In fact, what Hegel discusses here is exactly the issue of aestheticizing emotions. Wordsworth says, “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility: the emotion is contemplated till, by a species of reaction, the tranquility gradually disappears, and an emotion, kindred to that which was before the subject of contemplation, is gradually produced, and does itself actually exist in the mind.”4 In his view, a poet’s emotion is based on his own past experiences, but when it goes from recollection to contemplation, the heart and soul of the poet have undergone a profound jolt, generating an emotion that is similar to the one contemplated but has been artistically elevated. This emotion is precisely the aesthetic emotion. Santayana also believes that “aesthetic pleasure is characterized by its objectification.”5 The so-called “objectification” is to give it an expression. 3 Hegel, G. W. F. (1979). Aesthetics (in Chinese translation), Vol. 1 (p. 205). Beijing: Commerce Press. 4 Wordsworth, W. (1916). The Preface to Lyrical Ballads. In F. B. Snyder & R. G. Martin (Eds.). A Book of English Literature (p. 391). New York: Macmillan. 5 Santayana, G. (1982). The Sense of Beauty (in Chinese translation) (p. 30). Beijing: Chinese Social Sciences Publishing House.

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Susanne Langer, a famous American semiologist, has made clear distinctions on the same issue. She believes: An artist, then, expresses feeling, but not in the way a politician blows off steam or a baby laughs and cries. He formulates that elusive aspect of reality that is commonly taken to be amorphous and chaotic; that is, he objectifies the subjective realm. What he expresses is, therefore, not his own actual feelings, but what he knows about human feeling. Once he is in possession of a rich symbolism, that knowledge may actually exceed his entire personal experience. A work of art expresses a conception of life, emotion, inner reality. But it is neither a confessional nor a frozen tantrum; it is a developed metaphor, a non-discursive symbol that articulates what is verbally ineffable ---the logic of consciousness itself.6

What Susanne Langer means by “human feeling” is just what we term as “aesthetic emotion.” She is being too strict in distinguishing between the natural emotion and aesthetic emotion. In her view, arts should not express an individual’s momentary emotion, not much to say a pure self-expression. “Human feeling,” namely “aesthetic emotion,” should be the subject for expression in a work of art. She believes that “Shere self-expression requires no artistic form” and “A lynching-party howling around the gallows-tree, a woman wringing her hands over a sick child, a lover who has just rescued his sweetheart in an accident and stands trembling, sweating, and perhaps laughing or crying with emotion, is giving vent to intense feelings; but such scenes are not occasions for music, least of all for composing.”7 What Langer has depicted here are just these natural emotions. She is convinced that these are not what artistic works need, saying that “the laws of emotional catharsis are natural laws, not artistic.”8 Susanne Langer insists that a work of art should express aesthetic emotion, which is lifted from personal level to that of “human feeling” and whose existence in creative products is expressed through artistic forms.

6 Langer, S. K. (1983/1957). Problems of Art (p. 26). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 7 Langer, S. (1954). Philosophy in a New Key, 6th ed. (p. 175). A Mentor Book, published by the New American Library. 8 Ibid.

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Ancient literary critics in China always emphasize the role of emotion in artistic creation. That is particularly true for Chinese poetics that, from its inception, has been built on the foundation of emotional expression. For example, The Preface to Mao Version of the Book of Songs states, “Poetry is where aspirations reside. It is aspiration when it is in one’s heart. When it finds expression in language, it is a poem. A poem is the emotion stimulated and found expression in language.” Poetry is, therefore, the outcome of stimulated emotion manifested in language. Mr. Zhan Furui further explains what this type of “emotion” is: “The emotions highlighted in The Preface to Mao Version of the Book of Songs are not personal emotions. Instead they are universal emotions such as the ones about governance or about the fall of one’s home country, and they are therefore emotions ‘about a state’s affairs but expressed through emotions of an individual poet,’ and ‘discoursing about all things under heaven, and expressing all customs and practices from four corners of the world.’ Of course, such universal emotions are primarily collective emotions.”9

5.2 Emotions Expressed as Gifts to the Scenery in Sight, and Associations Evoked as Its Responses in Kind The emotions mentioned by Lu Ji and Liu Xie in their representative works on literary theory entitled The Art of Writing and The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, respectively, typically morph from natural emotion to aesthetic emotion. At the same time, they would touch off “Shen Si” on the part of the writer. At the sight of the seasonal changes in Nature, Lu Ji cannot help lamenting the passage of time and feeling amazed by the robust vitality of Nature. He writes, “The vicissitude of four seasons makes me lament the passing of time and the changing sceneries in Nature teem my brain with thoughts. Fallen leaves make me sad in autumn but tender shoots returning in spring gives me so much joy.” That is an example of literary creation inspired by the changes in Nature and the feelings they touch off. Whether feeling sad for falling leaves in autumn or joyful for resurrection of life in spring,

9 Zhan, F. (1997). Literary Theoretical Constructs in the Middle Ancient Times (p. 65). Baoding, Hebei: He Bei University Press.

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they are psychological response to the outer world, thus blending or bridging subjective feelings of sadness or happiness to objective changes observed in Nature, and in doing so, establishing a relationship between the two. Liu Xie states, “So the new spring will refresh one and lift up the mood, smothering summer will damp one’s spirit, breezing autumn will clear one’s mind and usher in sober reflection, and snowy winter will bring solemn thoughts. Sceneries vary from season to season and one’s mood changes accordingly, which in turn affects the tone of one’s writing. If falling leaves can trigger one’s emotions and sounds made by insects can touch one’s heart, no wonder a moon-lit night and rays of the morning sun can work wonder in one’s heart” (The Chapter on “Object Appearance” in The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons ). It is worth noting that Liu Xie has established a linkage between the changes in Nature and the changes in a person’s mood. Spring uplifts people, summer depresses people, autumn makes people sober, and winter grim. Hence, the different moods of poets can be attributed to the influence of Nature. “Physical world changes its look along with season.” That physical world clearly refers to the way it presents itself. The variation in its look touches off the aesthetic sense on the part of a poet. In addition, Liu Xie sheds light on the close linkage between the tone of a literary creation and the sceneries of the physical world. Poets depict their emotions aroused by a particular scene that touches them. In that sense, the emotions expressed in the writing is essentially an esthetic response to a scene in Nature. Gestalt theory from the West has examined the relationship between the natural world and human emotions. It believes that the outer world (physical) and inner world (psychological) are identical in their structure, which is the main reason why the natural world and artistic creation are both capable of appealing to human emotions. Rudolf Arnheim, a representative of Gestalt aesthetics, regards the essence of art as nothing but a show of force, which in turn reflects the nature of the external and internal worlds. He believes, “The ultimate value of art lies in its ability to help the human beings understand the external world as well as themselves. What art displays is what people can comprehend or believe to be true.”10 He perceives the world as essentially a force, be it physical or psychological. Though they are different in type, their make-up is the same. That

10 Arnheim, R. Art and Visual Perception.

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is why they can converge in the physiological electric field, thus blurring the boundary between external existence and internal emotions. It is due to this kind of mingling between psychological and physical worlds that the external existence is endowed with attributes projected by human emotions. The reason why seasonal changes in Nature can elicit correspondingly an emotional response in human beings is thus convincingly explained. In the Art of Writing, Lu Ji sheds light on the relationship between emotions and how “Shen Si” works. He writes, “The literary thoughts arrive just as the sun first appears on the horizon. It rises surrounded by darkness and then gradually breaks into brightness. The objects at that moment become so clear that they race out. With deep deposits of cultural nourishment, artistic flowers are nurtured. Just as angels float gracefully across the sky, or as dragons dive majestically to the bottom of the sea. In that way, profound words that were hard to come by find their way into writing, just as fish is angled from the deep. Therefore, rhetorical techniques fill an author’s mind, just as a high-flying bird falls from the sky after being shot.” It means that as emotions surge and become more focused and distinct, external objects will be admitted into imagination and stored for image construction. Sometimes words will not come out readily, just like fishing in a deep pond, whereas at other times, words will flow effortlessly, just like a bird falling through the cloud after being hit by an arrow. The former scenario describes a painstaking process of writing whereas the latter an agile brain working at its best. All this has a close association with an author’s emotional state at the moment. Lu Ji’s brother Lu Yun who is a famous literary man also emphasizes the association between emotions and literary thoughts. He says, “Your text ‘Narrating My Thoughts in this Rhapsodic Poem’ has deep emotions, most accurate dictions, and refreshingly wonderful in the final analysis.”11 The so-called “refreshingly wonderful” refers in particular to the effect brought about by an image that embodies the poet’s emotions and is both refreshing and wonderful. Likewise, Liu Xie regards emotions as a driving force for “Shen Si” in literary creation. In the Chapter on “Shen Si” in The Literary Mind and the Carving of the Dragons, he states, “Climbing up the high mountains, one feels one’s emotions under the full influence of mountain 11 Lu, Y. A Letter to My Elder Brother Pingyuan. See Collection of Lu Yun’s Writings, Vol. VIII.

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sceneries; and facing oceans, one lets the spectacular seascapes take over one’s thoughts. No matter how talented one is, his thoughts will be able to go unrestrained as the free-moving cloud.” The sceneries of mountains and oceans would fill the poet with swelling emotions and inspire his thoughts. That sets off a creative urge. Liu Xie has also paid a great attention to the association between emotions and images. In the Chapter on “Shen Si” in The Literary Mind and the Carving of the Dragons, he writes, “Interaction between the mind and physical objects gives rise to all sorts of thoughts. Physical objects present themselves through forms and shapes, whereas inner mind responds to stimuli through emotions.” That is a profound statement aesthetically. “Shen Si” is based on the aesthetic image in the mind of a poet, which functions as the middle link, whereas the image is the product of emotions within the poet, so in essence, that statement has revealed the basic idea of an important concept in literary psychology, namely “thinking in images.” Not only that, the statement is even more profound than the concept of “thinking in images” in a certain sense. Liu Xie’s “image” has already the connotation of aesthetic image as developed today. That “image” is the one chosen by the poet inside his mind and filtered through his thoughts and emotions. On the other hand, the poet uses that image to build and organize his thinking. In addition, the entire process evolves around the image. What is more important is that Liu Xie is able to link the emotional shifts with the birth of image by pointing out the relationship between fluctuation in emotions and creation of images. From Liu Xie’s articulation, we can see that it is the dynamic nature of emotions that drives the process of literary creation. Emotions are not static, but developing and changing in response to external stimuli, resulting in an urge for creation on the part of the writer or poet. The Book of Rites is the first one that has suggested this point among the Chinese theories on aesthetics. It argues that music flows from the heart when “it is touched.” For example, it states, “Music comes from the heart when it is touched by the sceneries in the external world. Music gives sound to a touched heart. The sounds combine and resonate to provide variations and regulations, which are called music.” “Music comes from within the heart, from the feelings inside the heart, resulting thus in sounds and the so-called music.” “Music results from striking a cord in the heart.” “A touched heart” which is repeatedly mentioned here is nothing but the fluctuation and changes of one’s emotions, a driving force for literary creation. As Liu Xie sums up very accurately that “interaction between

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the mind and physical objects gives rise to all sorts of thoughts. Physical objects present themselves through forms and shapes, whereas inner mind responds to stimuli through emotions.” Liu Xie has also pointed out the interaction between “emotions” and “sceneries” as a source of origination for “Shen Si’ within a poet. He states at the conclusion of the Chapter of “Object Appearance” in The Literary Mind and the Carving of the Dragons that peaks of blue mountains far and near with waters streaming down and circumventing the foot of the mountain, with trees of various types and colors covering the mountain, and with clouds gathering in mid-air, such a sight would touch the heart and make it eager to vent itself when the eyes caress the objects in view. The warm and agreeable sunshine in spring and the brisk westward wind in autumn invite the poet to interact spiritually with the scenery and reward his mental engagement with a rich flow of literary inspiration. “Emotions expressed as gifts to the scenery in sight, and associations evoked as its responses in kind.” From the perspective of phenomenology, that is an intentional activity. Intentionality is a basic concept in phenomenology, a concept that Husserl borrowed from Brentano and built on it further. It argues that all consciousness directs toward an object of consciousness, whereas that object can only be an intentional object, which is an object being conscious of. Brentano regards “intentionality” as a definitive element of psychological phenomenon and is “of an object.” To Brentano, that is the most important and only lasting characteristics of psychological phenomenon. To Husserl, however, “intentionality” is not only a high point in his Logical Investigation, but also deemed by him as his major insight into phenomenology. Mr. Ni Liangkang, a renowned researcher on phenomenology in China, points out that intentionality “is the hallmark of consciousness. That is, all consciousness is about something and can be directly pin-pointed and described as such. Intentionality does not exist in the inner world of the subject, nor in the external world of the object, but in the specific relationship between subject and object.”12 Consciousness is always of an object. Intentionality does not refer to the intentional activity of consciousness, its tendency to identify with something or take control, nor is the object in front of the subject merely an object, but has a very significant influence on the subject. 12 Ni, L. (1999). A General Introduction to the Concepts in Husserl’s Phenomenology ( pp. 249–250). SDX Joint Publishing Company.

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Coming back to Liu Xie, we can see that his observation that “repeated encounters with a particular scene may touch one’s heart so much as to feel the urge to vent one’s emotions” describes exactly the dynamic interaction between subject and object, between heart-felt feelings and the object perceived. The scene is not merely a scene, but one projected in the consciousness of the subject, nor does the heart stay detached from the external world, but is capturing and engaging with the object.

5.3 Co-Generation of Emotions and Sceneries: Moment of “Shen Si ” That interaction between emotions and sceneries is able to stimulate a poet and trigger his “Shen Si” is something discussed by many theorists in an apt way. The most insightful among them is the one who highlights the seamless relationship between the two as a necessary condition for “Shen Si.” Some of the discussions focus on the ways the two interact with each other. For instance, Fan Xiwen in Song Dynasty describes the interaction as follows: Du Fu writes in his poems, “The sky extends far and deep when cleared of clouds, and the river runs to the remote horizon reflecting the belated moon. An old man, I am now visited more often than not by illness, and yet I am invited from time to time as a guest. ” The first couplet depicts the scenery whereas the second one emotions. “I am no longer young and strong, yet I am still moving around without settling down. The river meanders through the city, and the spring wind brings in the beat of the drums. ”In this poem, the first couplet depicts emotions whereas the second one scenery. “The water flows no longer rouse my sense of competition. The still clouds resonate well with my lethargic mentality. ” Emotions are couched in the scenery depicted. “The rolled-up curtain reveals only white water, and the desk has brought into view just the green mountains. ” Sceneries are reflected in the emotions depicted. “When I am moved, my tears would rain on the flowers; and when I am forced to leave, the saddened heart would startle the bird. ”Sceneries and emotions are mingled together… Therefore, I know that sceneries will not move people without emotions within, and emotions are not stimulated without

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sceneries. If people insist that all poems should be so composed, then they are too far away from the reality.13

Citing Du Fu’s poems as examples, Fan Xiwen sums up a number of ways a poet employs in expressing his emotions through scenery depiction. The first way is to depict the scenery in the first two lines and then emotions in the next two lines. The second way is to reverse the order by depicting emotions first followed by the scenery. The third way is to let the scenery express one’s emotions whereas the fourth is to let the emotions bring out the scenery. The fifth and last way is to mingle emotions and sceneries together. Those five ways to establish relationship between emotions and sceneries are equally effective, but the one that fuses them together is the most applauded. Qi Biaojia in Ming Dynasty has pointed out the masterful level that such fusion is capable to reach. He says, “Being able to articulate with ease, make emotions blend naturally with the setting and deliver messages with poetic technique in a sincere, effective, and inspired way is surely beyond the reach by those who write superficial and artificial poems.”14 In one sense, “Shen Si” implies divinely marvelous and flawless quality. That is what Yan Yu meant in Canglang’s Criticism of Poetry when he says, “When a poem is inspired, it will be perfect, flawless, and defy any revision.” Qi Biaojia means the same by what he describes as “effective and inspired way.” Wang Fuzhi, a renowned thinker and literary theorist between Ming and Qing Dynasties, has discussed in depth the integration of “emotions” and “sceneries” in his famous books Jiang Zhai’s Desultory Remarks on Poetry, A Selection of Ancient Poetry with Commentary, A Selection of Tang Poetry with Commentary, A Selection of Ming Poetry with Commentary, etc. Moreover, he has discussed the interaction between emotions and sceneries in the context of artistic thinking. He says, Emotions and scenes are two different things, but they are in fact inseparable. For a poem to come to life and succeed in that aspect to a perfect degree, emotions and scenes must encompass and embody each other. For example, “Gazing at the moon in Chang’an” describes obviously a lonely

13 Fan, X. (1983). Midnight Dialogues Across Two Beds. In D. Fubao (Ed.), Sequence to Poems in History (p. 417). Zhonghua Publishing House. 14 Yuan Shan Tang Drama. See Collection of Essays on Chinese Classic Plays (p. 140), Book VI. Theatrical Publishing House of China, 1959.

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heart suffering from homesickness. “Relaxing at the official residence” depicts joyful feelings at reaching home away from home. To embed scenes in feelings is even more difficult. For example, ‘Choice words flow freely from the brush pen’ portrays a scene in which a literary talent is indulging in self-appreciation for having created a beautiful piece of work.15

Wang Fuzhi regards “emotions” and “sceneries” as two essential elements in poems that should not be separated. Sceneries in emotions and emotions in sceneries are two ways of interaction between “emotions” and “sceneries.” In the former, an object of aesthetic appreciation presents itself to the subject engaged in aesthetic appreciation, whereas in the latter, the subject discovers and reconstructs the object. “Gazing at the moon in Chang’an” and “Relaxing at the official residence” are not merely depicting a scenery per se without a purpose. Instead, the scenery serves to express the emotions of “loneliness” away from home and “joyfulness” at reaching the destination. “Choice words flow freely from the brush pen” seems to depict a poet talking to himself, yet, in actuality, that poet as the subject of aesthetic appreciation is discovering and reconstructing an object of aesthetic appreciation. What’s depicted reveals actually a personal experience. In his Jiang Zhai’s Desultory Remarks on Poetry, Wang Fuzhi writes, “Emotions and sceneries are classified as inner emotions and physical objects, yet a scenery can trigger emotions and emotional depiction can invoke a scenery. Thus, sorrow and happiness, prosperity and decline are all intertwined with and embedded in each other.” Here, Wang Fuzhi acknowledges first of all that “emotions” and “sceneries” are two different concepts applicable to subjects and objects, respectively, but that differentiation does not mean that the two are absolutely polarized. Instead, they can interact with each other both ways. In his opinion, the “scenery” in a poem is not purely a scenery in Nature, but the one permeated and projected by the subject. Similarly, the emotions in a poem are not hollow and unanchored, but are supported and enriched by the physical objects. That is a very original insight. It sheds light onto the two-way relationship between subject and object that are mutually reinforcing and transmitting. He once cites an analogy to illustrate his point: “Poems and proses must have hosts and guests. If not, then 15 Wang, F. (1961). Introduction to the Forever Daylight in the Evening Room. In Desultory Remarks on Poetry from Ginger Studio, Vol. II. People’s Literature Publishing House.

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the gathering will be chaotic …. There should be a host at home to receive guests, and the guests cannot be there without a host. Both need to cherish a friendly feeling to stay in harmonious co-existence …. ‘A flowery path welcomes a sword-bearing soldier while the morning star is setting.’ That line presents a clear and harmonious image of a host and his guest.”16 Here, the relationship between subject and object in poetic creation is analogized to that of host and guests in a social gathering, a situation in which the most desirable outcome is for the host and guests to establish clear and well-defined roles and achieve a harmonious interaction. Poems should strive for such a clear and harmonious relationship, too. Pure scenery description is too commonplace to be poetic and too chaotic to be called a poem if that scenery description has nothing to do with a subject. At the same time, the subject must project his feelings in a natural and imperceptible way, as in Yan Yu’s famous analogy like “the legendary Ling deer who leaves no traces on the ground by sleeping with its horns hanging from a tree.” According to the traditional view of the Chinese classic theory of aesthetics, “sublime” is the top rating above that of “ingenious” in aesthetic appraisal. Zhang Huaiguan, a famous calligrapher in Tang Dynasty, uses three ratings to judge calligraphy in his book Commentary on Calligraphy. They are “sublime, wonderful, and skillful.” In the preface to that book, he writes, “Calligraphy has ten styles and scholarship has three levels in quality. Now I am going to discuss their differences by writing this book to commend ten merits and discuss my theory. In the book, I am going to compare and contrast and then rank them by three ratings, namely sublime, wonderful, and skillful. In addition, I am going to write a biography for the people selected for discussion. The book has anecdotes attached, too, and is compiled into three volumes entitled Critiquing Calligraphy.” Zhu Jingxuan in late Tang Dynasty has also evaluated painters by ranking them as “sublime, wonderful, skillful, and free.” It is stated in Summaries of Complete Collection of Books in Zhi Studio that “This book classifies writings as sublime, wonderful, skillful, and free. The first three except the last are further classified into three sub-categories.” He, too, considers “sublime” as the highest rating. Those “sublime poems” admired by Wang Fuzhi are also above the ingenious ones. That sublime level requires a poem to have a perfect fusion between

16 Ibid.

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emotions and sceneries. In addition, Wang Fuzhi states, “Emotions can help convey the meaning, sceneries can help touch the heart, and objects can help reveal hidden truth. Such is the way inspired lines come into being to testify to the wonder of divine creation” (Jiang Zhai’s Desultory Remarks on Poetry, Vol. II). The nifty fusion between “emotions” and “sceneries” gives birth to “an inspired line” which is perfect in its ingenious craftsmanship. That is indeed a hallmark of “Shen Si.” Aesthetic emotion in literary creation is an important element in the theory of “Shen Si.” It is both the power house for “Shen Si” and fertile soil for aesthetic images. It is also evident in the entire process of creation. When engaged in artistic thinking during literary creation, aesthetic emotion has always been an important factor that goes hand-in-hand with “Shen Si.”

CHAPTER 6

“Shen Si” and Artistic Medium

Abstract A work of art must have medium in order to express itself, come into existence, and pass along from generation to generation, but the issue of medium has not received adequate attention from the academic community. Some famous aestheticians have studied and written about the issue, but from the perspective of art history, the academic community is yet to fulfill its responsibility in that respect. I see medium mainly from the view of its internalization on the part of the artists. The “Shen Si” for artistic creation needs to work side by side with the medium of language which serves as a vehicle of thinking. In my point of view, medium serves as a link between an artist’s conceptualization and communication of that concept to the external world. That is the significance of medium I am going to discuss now. Keywords Artistic medium · Sense of medium · Internalization of medium · Image

6.1

“Shen Si ” and the Internalization of Artistic Medium

The concept of artistic medium does not exist only in the Chinese theory on art, but is commonly found in the writings of Western aestheticians © Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing Co., Ltd 2021 J. Zhang, The Soul of Creation (Shensi), Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0496-6_6

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and art theorists. Researches on artistic medium are relatively few, but I consider it an important area that calls for an urgent exploration. Medium is physical in nature, but its function goes beyond providing an artwork with a form of expression to reach and encompass the creative thinking of writers or artists. Once their creative urge is stimulated, their spontaneous feelings are elevated to aesthetic emotions which create, in turn, aesthetic images. That is an internal process evolves within one’s mind, but how does that process lead to a visible form of artistic expression? What is the link between the two? After a considerable period of examining this issue, I have concluded that it is the medium found in different types of art. When an artistic work is still in its conceptual stage, medium does not have an actual physical form. Rather, it exists in the idea as what probably can be called “a sense of medium.” Liu Xie seems to have indicated the point in his theory on “Shen Si.” Judging from the writings on “Shen Si” in ancient China, “Shen Si” has been regarded as a special kind of thinking in the process of artistic creation and conceptualization, far from ordinary, and typically found in masterpieces. It is important to note that as a source for conceptualizing an artistic creation, “Shen Si” is by no means baseless and void of substance, though it enjoys total freedom from the limitation of space and time, as expressed in “Though he lives among the common folks, deep in his heart he concerns himself with affairs of the imperial court,” “one’s miraculous imagination can reach far and wide in total freedom,” and “his mind’s eye is seeing things as far away as tens of thousands of li.” To think it otherwise is mistaken or superficial. What is also called for here is to understand the nature of the artistic thinking. The purpose of introducing the concept of artistic medium when discussing “Shen Si” is to shed light on the indispensable internal physicalized condition in the artistic thinking. Literary works must take on a physical form. Without that form, they cannot exist. If they remain in the stage of conceptualization, there will be no writers and artists as we know today. Dewey, an American philosopher, points out, “Art denotes a process of doing or making. This is true of fine and as of technological art. Art involves molding of clay, chipping of marble, casting of bronze, laying on of pigment, construction of buildings, singing of songs, playing of instruments, enacting roles on the stage, going through rhythmic movements in the dance. Every art does something with some physical material, the body or something outside the body, with or without the use of intervening tools, and with a view to production of something visible, audible,

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or tangible.”1 In his discussion about arts as experience, Dewey highlights the physical manifestation of artistic creation and that art medium provides first and foremost the material condition for art. Of course, physical manifestation is not the only condition. Without artists and their individualistic use of the form in pursuit of a holistic effect, the physical manifestation, no matter how optimal, will not be able to become art by itself. We tend to regard the medium as a means for art to express itself in a way that can be easily understood and identified with by its viewers. However, a key aesthetic proposition “Intuition is expression” by Croce draws a lot of criticism from philosophers and art theorists, such as Bosanquet in the United Kingdom, Cassirer in Germany, and Dewey and Aldridge in the United States. They all clearly object to Croce’s point of view. In my opinion, art medium is not only an external form of an artwork, but also a link between the artistic idea and its embodiment. I once define art medium as follows, “Art medium refers to the physical material that an artist utilizes in creating an artwork. It is a symbolic system that enables an artistic idea germinating in one’s thought to become externally visible through a piece of unique and innovative artwork. Artistic creation is far from what Croce purported to be in his so-called ‘intuition is expression’. Rather, it is a process that starts internally as an idea but ends up externally as a physical object. Any piece of artwork has its physical existence, a product that connects an artist’s creative impulse and artistic conceptualization with its physical shape and formation through the vehicle of medium.”2 There is not much chance to produce innovative and fresh insights if we talk about medium in general terms. My research on medium focuses on the link between artistic conceptualization and its expression (or the realization of an artistic product in other words). What people have generally understood and recognized is the physical property of medium, and they also acknowledge that medium plays an indispensable role in the formation of an artwork. However, they fail to notice the fundamental role that medium plays in the very beginning when an author or an artist hits upon an idea and experiences a creative impulse. That is what I mean by internalization as discussed in this chapter. I maintain that medium is

1 Dewey, J. (1934/1980). Art as Experience (p. 47). New York, NY: Perigee Books. 2 Zhang, J. (2011). On Art Medium. Journal of Arts and Literature, Issue XII.

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the link between conceptualization inside an artist or an author and its external physical representation. Arts are classified into different types and their classification is based on nothing else but medium. Literary works use language as their medium, music sounds and rhythm, paintings color and structure, etc. Based on his theory of imitation, Aristotle has made a rudimentary classification of the art forms existing in his times by differentiating them mainly on the medium they use. In his Poetics, Aristotle writes, “Epic poetry and tragedy, comedy also and Dithyrambic poetry, and the music of the flute and of the lyre in most of their forms, are all in their general conception modes of imitation. They differ, however, from one another in three respects –- the medium, the objects, the manner or mode of imitation, being in each case distinct.”3 He is the first one who categorized arts by their medium. When talking about the criteria for classifying arts, Hegel points out, “Since an artistic creation will have to come up in a sensuous reality, it has attained characteristics that pertain to its existence in the senses. Consequently, these senses and the property of the physical materials or media that objectify the artistic creation and correspond to the senses will necessarily provide criteria for the categorization of various arts.”4 He has classified arts into sculpture, sound, and poetry based on their different impacts on senses. That different impacts come from their different medium. Different types of artists work with different medium in different domains and their different degrees of freedom as well as creativity in making use of the medium define the achievement of the individual as an artist. Susanne Langer, a well-known American philosopher, argues that every art form creates its own distinct virtual realm which is closely linked with its distinct medium. In her view, the so-called “virtual realm” is nothing but a comprehensive system of symbols. Although she believes that every art form is a holistic creation, it still can be separated into two essential components of real materials and virtual form. Since different medium gives different forms of arts, writers and artists, therefore, work in a free reign with their own medium and gain fame in using their medium, too, just as poets make creative use of language, 3 Poetics by Aristotle in Ancient Greece (p. 3), Translated by N. Luo. People’s literature Publishing House, 1982. 4 Aesthetics by Hegel in Germany, Vol. 3, Part I (p. 5), Translated by G. Zhu, The Commercial Press, 1981.

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musicians sound and melody, etc. What I meant to say is that medium has a role not only in giving the artwork an external form, but also in its internal conceptualization. Materialization exists not merely in the external reality, but also in the conceptualization within an artist’s mind. Of course, the existence of medium is relatively easy to see and acknowledge, but to say it exists in the mind of an artist may puzzle people as an absurd idea. In order to differentiate the two, I may call its internal existence “the sense of medium.” When a writer is inspired and engaged in creative thinking, their “Shen Si” is neither abstract nor void of substance. Instead, the writer is conceptualizing in his mind by using language as his medium. In the chapter on “Shen Si,” Liu Xie has discussed the internal thought process and the development of ideas, but I can say with certainty that the literary creation he has discussed is by no means ordinary writings, but those with aesthetic values. Another point worth making is that language, the same one used in ordinary writing, is the tool for literature. Then how is that language able to become the artistic medium for literature? The answer to that question hits right home the aesthetic nature of literature. Although the medium is the same, the words in literary works, however, need to create a “vivid” image or “picture-like appearance” as is termed by the Phenomenological Aesthetics. In several of my articles, I have used the term “inner images” to describe the phenomenon of this nature. Compared with such art forms as painting and sculpture, poetry and other similar literary forms are relatively weak in visualization and need to use language to create images that can be picturized within one’s mind. Although their visualization does not compare well with painting and sculpture, they can, however, portray processes of experiences, express feelings, and bring out people’s spirits in greater freedom. Hegel speaks of the aesthetic characteristics of poetry in this way, “Poetry, the art of language, combines the two extremes of visual arts and music at a higher level, and incorporates them into itself to make an integral whole in the inner spiritual realm. On the one hand, poetry, like music, follows the principle that appreciates inner life as inner life, which architecture, sculpture, and painting do not have to observe. On the other hand, poetry is able to extend inner perceptions and emotions into an objective world without losing the explicitness of sculpture and painting, surpassing all other art forms in its ability to display better the entire process of a subject matter, the sequence of a series of events, mental activities, emotional fluctuations, changes of thoughts, and a complete

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process of an action plot.”5 Hegel discusses in depth the special characteristics of the language in literary writings, which has the ability to create an image in the reader’s mind as well as the writer’s. Hegel calls it “way of idea perception.” To a poet, such “way of idea perception” is within the heart in the form of an image. After comparing poetry with visual arts in terms of their medium, Hegel points out, “Visual arts express the perceivable shapes through stone and color, while music expresses itself through sounds and melody full of vitality. This is how content expresses itself artistically in its external form. Poetry is different. It can only express through ideas themselves, which behooves our constant revisits. Therefore, a poet’s creativity manifests itself in its ability to shape a content into an image in his mind without externalizing it in a real shape or melodic structure. Hence, poetry has made the external object for other arts as internal object for itself. Its spirit then presents this internal object for the ideas to perceive in the form it is always inclined to assume in spirit.”6 From the aesthetic point of view, Hegel is absolutely right. That is a very distinct difference between poetry (or other genres of literature) and the rest of art forms.

6.2

Medium and the Image Created by “Shen Si ”

In the chapter on “Shen Si” from The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, image seems to be regarded as the most essential element in the thought process for an artist. Then, how does that image visualized by the poet (or writer) come into being? Or how is that image created? Those are the questions raised in this article. The answer is, the image is created through language, which is the medium of literature. Speaking in terms of “Shen Si,” the language referred to here is not the one used for external expression, but the one in the mind of a writer. The chapter on “Shen Si” describes the state of internal thinking when the writer is engaged in literary creation. “In conceiving a piece of writing, one’s miraculous imagination can reach far and wide in total freedom. When one is silently absorbed in thoughts, one’s mind can travel thousands of years; when one is observed changing his facial expressions

5 Hegel. (1981). Aesthetics, Vol. III, Part 2 (p. 3). Translated by G. Zhu. The Commercial Press. 6 Ibid., Vol. III, Part 2 (p. 56).

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quietly, his mind’s eye is seeing things as far away as tens of thousands of li. That is the moment when the language one uses yields melodious sounds of pearls and jades, and the moment when varied sceneries are freely summoned before one’s eyes. All these come from one’s imagination touched off by the mental activity of conceiving one’s writing. Therefore conceiving writing is a miraculous thing. It can connect imagination within with objects without. This is the wonder that imagination can work. It enables the human mind to interact with the external physical world through eyes and ears, and narrate such experience via the key vehicle of language while the brain is teaming with inspired thoughts and heightened emotions. With the facilitation of language as vehicle, the look and shape of an object can be clearly described.”7 The so-called “mind interacting with the physical world” means a physical object is able to project its image onto the poet’s mind and becomes an internalized image through the poet’s transformation. “Through eyes and ears” refers to the audio and visual effects of the physical objects captured by the image in a poem. “Via the key vehicle of language” points out the crucial importance of language in this creative process within the poet. Or it can be argued, artistic imagination by itself is not enough to create an image. Instead, it must have language as its vehicle. In the following, we are going to discuss this point further, especially the relationship between language and image. Image does not come into being by itself, but is created via “language.” “With the facilitation of language as vehicle, the look and shape of an object can be clearly described.” That statement highlights the function of language in creating images. The word “vehicle” is derived from the previous “via the key vehicle of language,” whereas “the look and shape of an object can be clearly described” means to say that words used in description will enable an object to project itself onto the mind and become a vivid image. “Objects” not only refer to those in Nature, but also include social events. Their look and shape are “clearly described” emphasizing the vividness of images and their tangible presence. The sentence followed, namely “Only then can one’s miraculous mind be able to come up with proper diction true to the principles of sounds, much as a master craftsman using his tools at his volition to create product according to a unique image he perceives in his mind’s eye. This 7 Liu, X. (1958). Shensi Chapter in the Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons. See commentaries on the Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons by Fan Wenlan (p. 493). People’s Literature Publishing House.

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is the prime method of commanding one’s thinking on composition. It is likewise an important starting point to prepare for writing an article” can be viewed as the key to “Shen Si.” It has pointed out very accurately that as a vehicle of literature, language creates images within a reader’s mind. The “image” that Liu Xie has discussed is exactly a true source from which the theory of “imagery” much hyped today originates. And I believe that sentence best clarifies the meaning of “Shen Si.” For one thing, it has explained how a writer thinks. For the other, it has made clear that image is essential for literary creation and has set apart literary language from ordinary language or scientific language. “Miraculous mind” refers, of course, to one’s inner world. Here, it means the state of mind in creation and the role of language (wording) in expressing the artistic thinking are constantly discussed. “Come up with proper diction true to the principles of sounds” posits that when thinking and conceptualizing, writers and poets would find themselves working on sound and rhythm. Although at Liu Xie’s time, there are no strict rules about rhythm, rhymes, and format as is the case in Tang Dynasty. “Four tones,” however, has already become the established rhythm and rhymes for poetry thanks to the introduction of Buddhism into China. Writings in general also pay attention to rhythm and rhyme, but it is in poetry, a genre of literature that emphasizes language aesthetics, that choices of words are made in accord with its internal rhythmic and rhyming needs. “A master craftsman using his tools at his volition to create product according to a unique image he perceives in his mind’s eye” is a theory quite significant. For one thing, it paves the way for “image” to become a basic concept in psychology of art, for the other, it makes clear that language is the medium of images. A highly used concept in literary criticism over recent decades, “image” has come to replace “characterization” to a great extent, and imagery has become an important concept in art and literary criticism in the field of literature and aesthetics in the West along with a profound influence in the academia at home, too. Ezra Pound, an American imagist poet defines an image as not a replica of a physical likeness, but “that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time.”8 Rene Wellek and Austin Warren, renowned American literary scholars, thus summarize image in their classic book Theory of Literature, “Imagery is a topic which belongs both to psychology and to literary study. In psychology,

8 Pound. (1918). A Retrospect (p. 374). Reprinted in Kolocotroni et al.

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the word ‘image’ means a mental reproduction, a memory, of a past sensational or perceptual ex-perience, not necessarily visual.”9 It is apparent that image is a distinct psychological phenomenon. That is a common focus among literary scholars when they discuss image. Liu Xie, on the other hand, examines “image” in a linguistic context, namely the inner projection onto readers’ minds that writers try to create. That is the first endogenic elaboration of image. Subsequent propositions can find their most accurate definitions in “Shen Si” by Liu Xie. “Using his tools at his volition to create product according to a unique image he perceives in his mind’s eye” can be interpreted in its context to indicate how an image is created in mind by using language freely and skillfully. Language (wording) is the medium of literary creation, but during artistic conceptualization, which is an internal process, this medium is also a kind of “sense of medium.” Liu Xie explains the point as follows, which is highly significant theoretically. He says, “When “Shen Si” kicks in, an array of thoughts and images will come parading before one’s mind’s eye. One needs to develop substantial content out of something yet to be thought through, and produce images to give form to thoughts still evolving. Climbing up the high mountains, one feels one’s emotions under the full influence of mountain sceneries; and facing oceans, one lets the spectacular seascapes take over one’s thoughts. No matter how talented one is, his thoughts will be able to go as unrestrained as the free-moving cloud.” Apparently, Liu Xie is still referring here to the internal process of artistic thinking in literary creation. When a writer has “Shen Si,” his brain is electrified and teaming with images. Yet, those numerous images are not possible to result in a physical product if the writer does not make them into an organic whole by using the language (words) he has in his mind and sharpens certain impressions that are not clear enough to turn them into complete and distinct images. Many people regard “Shen Si” as artistic imagination. For instance, Wang Yuanhua uses “imagination” to explain “Shen Si.” He says, “As the first chapter on creation, “Shen Si” has made clear that imagination runs throughout artistic conceptualization.”10 Zu Baoquan has also pointed out, “Generally speaking, ‘Shen Si’ refers to imagination in the sense that is understood today, but it has another

9 Wellek, R., & Warren, A. (1942). Theory of Literature (p. 191). New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc. 10 Wang, Y. Reflections on Literature.

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specific meaning, namely ‘artistic thinking’ during creative conceptualization.”11 His is the most representative opinion among scholars who study “Shen Si.” In my view, artistic imagination, though part of “Shen Si,” does not have the rich connotation of “Shen Si” and is lacking by far. The most important point on top of all others is that writers use language as medium to “frame” and “shape” the fired-up imagination into a complete and distinct image. Liu Xie has also discussed the issue when he writes subsequently: When setting one’s pen to paper, one feels teeming thoughts driving him forward with full force; but when the writing is done, whatever one starts with is already half compromised. Why does this happen to one’s writing? Because it is easy to imagine spectaculars freely, but difficult to capture their delicacy in actual words. Image comes from one’s thoughts whereas language gives expression to the image. Therefore, if all these three can be closely integrated, they will be as one in writing; however, a lack of correspondence among the three will render them apart for over thousands of li from each other. Sometimes some principles are just at one’s heart but they would need be sought out from remote regions; sometimes certain meanings are just within reach but would be obtained only through meditations done when travelling afar. Therefore, one needs to clean one’s mind, maintain a tranquil state, and enhance self-cultivation to avoid hard thinking. When one can truly appreciate and entertain the beauty of the world in proper words, he does not have to submit himself to strenuous toil.

When literary creation proceeds to the stage of expressing the idea, a significant distance may exist between mental conceptualization and its actual delivery, the reason being an image must be shaped into an organic whole before it can be described in words. “Image comes from inspired thoughts whereas language gives expression to the image.” The “image” here is not abstract but concrete in meaning. Images come from “Shen Si” and are delivered by means of language. It is also mentioned here that “Shen Si” is inspiring not only because it is free and transcending, but also because it comes directly from Nature rather than from “hard thinking” and “strenuous toil.” Ensuring a high suitability between language and image is exactly what inspired thoughts are capable of achieving. Being 11 Baoquan, Z. (1993). Interpretation of the Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons (p. 528). An Hui Education Press.

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able to “truly appreciate and entertain the beauty of the world in proper words” refers exactly to the process of creation in which a writer creates his perfect image using language coming to his mind. “Shen Si” is the opposite of “painstaking thoughts.” The former refers to a state of mind that is very alert and full of energy. In the chapter of “Cultivating Energy,” Liu Xie states: Thinking can be quick or slow, ideas can be rushing or blocked. The heart is not in its right place when the head is submerged for washing the hair, thus giving rise to various weird thoughts. When the mind is not clear, then forcing it to do too much thinking will only confuse it more. Therefore, when doing the creative work, it is important to clear and adjust the mind to make it free from any clutters. Only when the mind is calmed down and thinking cleared, can a person feels comfortable and normal. Write when inspired, stop when not and do some thinking instead. Enjoy life and be yourself so as to get rested and feel refreshed. Talk freely and laugh heartedly so as to recover from exhaustion. Creative ideas often come from leisure with energy to spare after the literary work is finished. That will ensure sharp thinking and open up the literary mind. Though not a guaranteed panacea, that approach is surely a good way to rest oneself.

Liu Xie considers “leisure” as an essential condition for “Shen Si.” As to the relationship between “Shen Si” and artistic medium, the concluding comments in the chapter on “Shen Si” are particularly insightful: In sum, Interaction between the mind and physical objects give rise to all sorts of thoughts. Physical objects present themselves through forms and shapes, inner mind responds to stimuli through emotions. Outward appearances can be obtained by observing objects; and the inner heart can be reached by observing emotional principles. Rhythms and rhymes are produced through meticulous use of language sounds, and rhetorical techniques of similes and metaphors are beginning to take form. It is through careful thinking, constant contemplation, and focused study that one successfully engages in conceiving a literary creation.

The complimentary conclusion clearly discusses the psychological aspect of artistic thinking. There are several key points as follows: Firstly, “Shen Si” evolves around images; the whole process of “Shen Si” is to establish connection among images, with vicissitudes in emotion driving the process. Secondly, the image that a writer envisages is nothing but a physical being captured through senses with logic governing its internal

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processing within his mind. Thirdly, in that artistic processing, rhythmic language is the tool used to portray the image, thereby giving birth to artistic comparisons and associations. As the first chapter of The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, “Shen Si” provides a profound insight into the instrumental role that language (wording) plays in the artistic thinking during literary creation. It is the medium used in creating images and integrating pieces into a holistic whole. In order to effectively employ the medium in the internal process of creation, the person who undertakes that creative thinking must be a welltrained artist in his or her domain, namely the training in skills to use the medium. Du Fu says, “Having studied over ten thousand books, I find my own writings coming as if from deity.” He has pointed out a way to achieve the level of perfection demanded by the poetic language. Unlike the general public, artists experience the world in a unique way. Moreover, they experience the world in the context of a particular medium specific to their domain and get inspired in the process. When expounding his fundamental concept of “art as experience,” Dewey points out that artists “feel the world” with the sense of medium. Bosanquet points out explicitly that “Every craftsman, we saw, feels the peculiar delight and enjoys the peculiar capacity of his own medium. This delight and sense of capacity are of course not confined to the moments when he is actually manipulating his work. His fascinated imagination lies in the powers of his medium; he thinks and feels in terms of it; it is the peculiar body of which his aesthetic imagination and no other is the peculiar soul.”12 Different kinds of art differ in their physical characteristics. The literature uses written language; paintings lines, inks, and colors; music sounds, rhythms, and melody; sculpture bronze or marble; and so forth. Yet, materials are not medium itself. In conceptualization, an artist relies on his sense of medium toward various materials rather than materials themselves. That sense of medium is a subjective and idiosyncratic response from an artist toward a particular type of material, which in turn gives birth to an organic product. Take painting for an example. Da Vinci pointed out that “without lifting his hands, a painter can simply use his mind to understand such principles as light, shade, color, volume, shape, position, distance, movement, and stillness. That is the science of 12 Bosanquet, B. (1915). Three Lectures on Aesthetic (p. 62). St. Martin’s Street, London: Macmillan.

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painting within the mind of the person who is conceptualizing where creative activities originate that are more important than the conceptualization or sciences mentioned above.”13 Obviously, the essential elements of medium such as “light, shade, color, volume, shape” as Da Vinci said are what a painter visualizes when he conceptualizes in his mind. Hegel commented on perspectives in painting that, “A sense of color should be something unique to artists. It is a special ability that enables them to control hues and conceptualize in hues. It therefore is also an essential element in manifesting imagination. An artist perceives his world through his subjective lens of hues (that is, the sense of color discussed above); meanwhile, that subjectivity is nonetheless creative. It is due to this subjectivity that a painter is able to paint in all colorful variations not from pure randomness nor peculiar taste for unnatural coloring, but from the nature of matter itself.”14 Hegel’s “sense of color” is exactly the subjectivity that is inherent in medium, which is also the way a painter approaches the world. For another example, music takes on its unique aesthetic appeal through the medium of sound. “Sound and the melody it composes are a product of art and its expression. It is completely different from the way that painting and sculpture utilize human bodies and their postures and appearances.”15 Hegel emphasizes the spiritual element of music and its inspiring power. At the same time, he also highlights the subjective aspect of music, believing that “only by using an appropriate way to express the spirit in sound and its complex structure subjectively formed, can music elevate itself to become a true piece of art, no matter whether its spiritual element is already clearly and explicitly expressed through lyrics or implicitly through suggestion of its sound and harmony among sounds as well as its beautiful melody.”16 What Hegel talks about here is the ability of sound to function as medium to express vividly one’s inner emotions. “Shen Si” implies such meaning, too. Writers and artists experience and feel the world with their peculiar sense of medium and their command of

13 Vinci, D. (1997). De Vinci on Painting. In M. Lu & X. Li (Eds.), Selected Readings on Typology of Arts (p. 82). Wuhan, Hubei: Huazhong Normal University Press. 14 Aesthetics by Hegel in Germany, Vol. 3, Part I (p. 282). Translated by G. Zhu, The Commercial Press, 1981. 15 Ibid., p. 335. 16 Ibid., p. 344.

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the artistic language to create an aesthetic effect via analogy and association. Lu Ji thus describes the state of mind when a writer is engaged in creative activities, “At the beginning, one is to close eyes and ears to any external objects, and to focus, instead, on quiet and intense contemplations. The thoughts reach as far as the remotest places, and the mind extends as high as to the apex of universe. The literary thoughts arrive just as sun rises first appears on the horizon. It rises surrounded by darkness and then gradually breaks into brightness. The objects at that moment become so clear that they race out. With deep deposits of cultural nourishment, artistic flowers are nurtured,” which is made possible by the mastery of language, the medium, and poet’s ability attained after extensive readings and writings. When talking about preparatory work for landscape painting, Zong Bing has this to say, “Besides, the scenery is the place the artist has visited many times and it is a sight he has so closely examined; so his painting bears the characteristics of the original scenery contour, and captures the natural hues of the scenery.”17 Except for some highly accomplished painters, that achievement is simply beyond attainment by any ordinary person. Medium connects the internal thoughts and their external manifestation in a creative process. That is how “Shen Si” is linked with medium.

6.3

Conclusion

“Shen Si” occurs and exists during an individual’s creative conceptualization. It does not happen to everyone or under any circumstances. It would be very naïve if we overlook the factors associated with a creative subject and emphasize only the stimulating role of external factors on the subject. “Shen Si” in the creative process can only occur to an accomplished artist or writer who is highly artistically talented, very experienced from his long history of artistic creation, excellent in command of principles governing artistic creation in his domain, and proficient in using the artistic language of that domain. In the theory of aesthetics in ancient China, “Shen Si” is a core construct of thinking in artistic creation. It consists of aesthetic stimulation, artistic conceptualization, aesthetic sense, creative inspiration, image 17 Preface to Landscape Painting by Zong Bing. See Jianhua, Y. (2000). Compilation of Theories about Painting in Ancient China, Vol. I (p. 583). People’s Fine Arts Publishing House.

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formation, development of the sense of medium, etc. Therefore, it is a dynamic and comprehensive articulation of thinking in artistic creation. In a sense, “Shen Si” is an inexhaustible topic. It resonates with the modern aesthetics thanks to its trove of treasure which can be kept exploring and never fails to yield new discoveries. The sustained artistic training and artistic cultivation on the part of a creative subject is the key to unlock the door to that trove of treasures. As stated in the chapter on “Shen Si” in The Literary Mind and Carving of Dragons, “Hard work and perseverance will accumulate knowledge; analyzing various matters will enrich one’s learning; research and experiencing a myriad of phenomena will make one highly observant; tireless searching for beautiful and proper diction will convey the intended message.” That statement has pointed out the right path for cultivating literary and poetic talents.

Bibliography

Aesthetics by Hegel in Germany, Vol. 3, Part I, Translated by G. Zhu, The Commercial Press, 1979. Aristotle. (1962). Poetics (in Chinese translation). Beijing: People’s Literature Press. He, W. (Ed.). (1981). A Collection of Poetics of Past Dynasties. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Bureau. Hegel, G. W. F. (1979). Aesthetics (in Chinese translation), Vol. 2. Beijing: Commerce Press. Kant. (1985). The Critique of Judgment. Beijing: Commerce Press. Langer, S. K. (1983). Problems of Art. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1957. Li, X. (1999). Notes and Commentaries on the Zhou Rites. In Notes and Commentaries on Thirteen Classics. Beijing: Beijing University Press. Ren, J. (Ed.). (1985). Selections of the Buddhist Canons. Beijing: Chinese Social Sciences Press. Yu, J. (2000) (Ed.). Classified Collections of Ancient Chinese Theories on Paintings (2nd ed.). Beijing: People’s Arts Press. Zhang, D. (1987). A Criticism of the Conceptual Constructs in Chinese Classical Philosophy. Beijing: China’s Social Sciences Press.

© Foreign Language Teaching and Research Publishing Co., Ltd 2021 J. Zhang, The Soul of Creation (Shensi), Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0496-6

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