Chinese Environmental Aesthetics
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Chinese Environmental Aesthetics
China is currently afflicted by enormous environmental problems. This book, drawing on ancient and modern Chinese environmental thinking, considers what it is that makes an environment a desirable place for living. The book emphasises ideas of beauty, and discusses how these ideas can be applied in natural, agricultural and urban environments in order to produce desirable environments. The book argues that environment is both a product of nature and of human beings, and as such is potentially alterable by culture. The book explores the three aspects of environmental beauty whereby such alteration might be beneficially made: integrated and holistic; ecological and man-made; and authentic and everyday. This book addresses environmental issues by distinctively suggesting that an aesthetic approach inspired from ancient Chinese tradition could help us overcome the many problems that human beings have created at local and global levels. Although its main focus is the traditional and current contexts of the People’s Republic of China, the book transcends national borders. A typical example is the ancient Chinese thought system and cultural practice of Feng Shui (風水) that sought to negotiate how the natural environment and human constructions can cohabit without destructing each other. The author evokes that sought-after harmony through the powerful image of gardens of life whose environmental beauty can be found in traditional Chinese gardens and palaces as well as historically and culturally preserved cities.
Ecoaesthetics and Ecosophy in China
Author: Cheng Xiangzhan
language: en
Publisher: Transnational Press London
Release Date: 2023-10-09
Chinese ecoaesthetics, which originated in 1994, has developed theoretically over the last 30 years. This branch of aesthetics, which is "based on ecology" and to "transform aesthetically towards the era of ecological civilization," uses ecological realism as its philosophical foundation and ecohumanism as its guiding principles. Its central aesthetic paradigm is known as the "body-mind-environment" model. Its main research object is "...ecological aesthetic appreciation," an exploration of how to appreciate aesthetics and ecology through "ecological beauty." Additionally, ecohumanism can be further improved by referring to principles of ecology and examining the aesthetic synergies between humans and the earth's ecosystem. Ultimately, ecohumanism is not only a method to aid in survival in an ecological crisis, but to elevate the human condition through assuming ecological responsibilities and promoting ecological civilization, leading to a more valuable and meaningful life. The theme of this book, Ecosophy C, can be summarized as "Moving toward the Aesthetics of Eternal Engendering". Its key phrase, "Creating life" corresponds to shengsheng (生生) in Chinese, literally implying a continuous cycle of reproduction. Philosophically, this concept translates to "eternal engendering". In essence, ecoaesthetics is the pursuit of the endless cycling of bio-engendering, which is the main goal of ecoaesthetics. "Cheng Xiangzhan is outstanding among Chinese environmental aestheticians in joining classical and contemporary Western environmental aesthetics with his original contributions to the more recent work by Chinese scholars. Cheng’s creative and integrative accomplishments are supported by a remarkable facility in English and reflected in his original and systematic consideration of the outstanding issues. While much can be debated, there is substantial material here, and this book makes a signal contribution to carrying the discussion forward." - Arnold Berleant, distinguished environmental aesthetician. His latest book, The Social Aesthetics of Human Environments, will appear in September 2023. Contents SECTION I - BASIC ISSUES IN ECOAESTHETICS CHAPTER 1. Ecohumanism and the Construction of Ecoaesthetics in China CHAPTER 2. The Four Keystones of Ecological Aesthetic Appreciation CHAPTER 3. An Ecoaesthetic Reflection on the Hazy Weather: The Naturalization of Nature CHAPTER 4. Ecological Civilization and Ecological Aesthetics in China SECTION Ⅱ - ECOLOGICAL AESTHETIC APPRECIATION AND ECOSOPHY C CHAPTER 5. Aesthetic Engagement, Ecosophy C, and Ecological Appreciation CHAPTER 7. The Archetype of Chinese Aesthetic Activity and a Construction of Everyday Aesthetics CHAPTER 8. Creating with Nature: Ecosophy C as an Ecological Rationality for Healing the Earth Community SECTION Ⅲ - ECOAESTHETICS AND ENVIRONMENTAL AESTHETICS CHAPTER 9. Arnold Berleant’s Environmental Aesthetics and Chinese Ecological Aesthetics CHAPTER 10. Some Critical Reflections on Berleantian Critique of Kantian Aesthetics from the Perspective of Ecoaesthetics CHAPTER 11. Critical Reflection on Arnold Berleant’s Ideas on Ecological Aesthetics SECTION Ⅳ - ECOAESTHETICS’ APPLICATION CHAPTER 12. Ecoaesthetics and Ecocriticism CHAPTER 13. Contribution of Ecological Aesthetics to Urban Planning CHAPTER 14. Urban Image and Urban Aesthetics: Urban Aesthetics in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Chinese Environmental Humanities
Chinese Environmental Humanities showcases contemporary ecocritical approaches to Chinese culture and aesthetic production as practiced in China itself and beyond. As the first collaborative environmental humanities project of this kind, this book brings together sixteen scholars from a diverse range of disciplines, including literary and cultural studies, philosophy, ecocinema and ecomedia studies, religious studies, minority studies, and animal or multispecies studies. The fourteen chapters are conceptually framed through the lens of the Chinese term huanjing (environment or “encircling the surroundings”), a critical device for imagining the aesthetics and politics of place-making, or “the practice of environing at the margin.” The discourse of environing at the margins facilitates consideration of the modes, aesthetics, ethics, and politics of environmental inclusion and exclusion, providing a lens into the environmental thinking and practices of the world’s most populous society.