Saturday, November 8, 2008

中国美学: 境界 Chinese Aesthetics: Horizon of True Emotions and Scenes

境界是王国维所阐述的其中一个重要的中国美学概念。这本来是个佛家词语,指境或尘,就是感觉作用的区域;又为对象;心识活动范围。
他对境界的解说:‘境非独谓景物也。喜怒哀乐,亦人心中之一境界。故能写真景物,真感情者,谓之有境界。否则谓之无境界。’
就是说,境界要有真感情和真景物。
据他所说,境界有四个透视镜:
1。造境与写境:这理想派和写实派得分别, 虽然事实上不易分别,因大诗人所造之境必合乎自然,所写之境必邻于理想故也。
2。有我与无我之境:艺术家与景物完全认同,是为有我之境,类似里柏斯的移情状态。我在景物中迷失,似乎消失,无我之境也。
3。大小之境:境界有大小,不以是而分优劣。
4。隔与不隔之境:‘隔’就是‘雾里看花’。‘不隔’就是自然表现的真感情与真景物而令参与者获得直觉的理解和深邃的鉴赏。
我们可以总结说,境界是文艺价值的最终判断和艺术创作的理想。
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The notion of Horizon (jing-jie), as elaborated by Wang Guowei, is one of the most important Chinese aesthetic concepts. Jing-jie is actually a Buddhist term visaya which means the scope of sense perception or the characteristic of sense experience.
On the meaning of Horizon, he said: ‘The poetic state is not limited to scenery and objects alone. Pleasure and anger, sorrow and joy are also a sort of jing-jie in men’s hearts. Therefore, those poems that describe true scenes and objects (真景物), true emotions and feelings (真感情), can be said to possess jing-jie. Otherwise, they may be said to be lack of jing-jie.’
In other words, Horizon is about true emotions and true scenes.
According to him, Horizon can be viewed from four perspectives:
1. Created or Described Horizon: This is the basis of the distinction between idealists and realists. In reality, it is not easy to differentiate them, as great art works must be both created naturally and described ideally.
2. Involved-Self or Detached Self: Horizon of an Involved-Self is a situation whereby the artist totally immerses himself personally and emotionally. This is quite similar to Lipps’ condition of empathy. In the case of a Detached-Self, the self is so deeply lost in the object that it seems to disappear.
3. Large or Small Horizon: Horizon can be large or small, but it cannot be used as a basis for determining excellence or inferiority of an art piece.
4. Veiled or Non-Veiled Horizon: The Veiled Horizon refers to a situation where one ‘views flowers through a mist’. On the other hand, Non-Veiled Horizon is achieved through the natural expression of real feelings and scenes that enable participants to attain intuitive apprehension and profound appreciation.
We can therefore conclude that Horizon or jing-jie is an ultimate measure of literary value and an ideal of artistic creation.

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