It is of great theoretical significance to reiterate the natural aesthetic tradition of China's ancient aesthetics, which has at least the following four inspirations for the basic theoretical research of contemporary aesthetics.

Natural aesthetics research

Although we logically admit that there is more than one aesthetic form of human beings, besides artistic aesthetics, there are other forms, such as craft aesthetics, natural aesthetics, life aesthetics (or social aesthetics), but aesthetic theory is actually supported by art in the form of aesthetic objects. In our aesthetic theory, the status of each aesthetic form is unequal, and art is the most favored aesthetic object, while other aesthetic forms are often ignored. Therefore, in the study of aesthetic object form, its interior is extremely unbalanced, and the most in-depth study is art, which is dwarfed by other aesthetic object forms. However, if aesthetics really takes art as the main body, then aesthetics is no different from art, and aesthetics loses its ability to broadly summarize human aesthetic activities, which is probably maintained by the legitimacy of aesthetics. At the same time, aesthetics, as the phenomenology of human perceptual spirit, cannot form a perfect knowledge system if it only pays attention to art and is satisfied with ignorance of other aesthetic activities of human beings.

Compared with the art-centered aesthetic tradition, the study of natural aesthetics may be the weakest link in contemporary aesthetics, because many aestheticians insist that natural beauty is the lowest and simplest aesthetic object, while others simply refuse to admit the rationality of the concept of "natural beauty". Therefore, some basic issues such as the connotation of natural beauty, the types of objects, the position of natural beauty in the sequence of human aesthetic forms, the influence of natural aesthetics on other human aesthetic forms, and the contemporary cultural value of natural aesthetics have not yet been clarified.

On the contrary, in ancient China, the natural state of heaven and earth was always regarded as the highest realm of human spiritual life, and the appreciation of nature was regarded as an effective way for human self-transcendence. The spiritual state of artistic aesthetics was always enriched and promoted with the theme of natural aesthetics. Perhaps, it is time to deeply reflect on the tradition of art centralism: after all, art is the product of human concepts and culture and has its own insurmountable limitations. As far as the whole aesthetic life of human beings is concerned, it is far from enough to appreciate art. Being satisfied with art means being satisfied with the state of human beings' own joys and sorrows, and the state of creation falls into the maze of human narcissism. I don't know that there is a wider and higher world besides human self and the little joys and sorrows created by human self-nature. Mr. Hugo's famous saying may need to be reversed: the ocean is bigger than the human heart, and the sky is bigger than the ocean. In fact, the tradition of artistic centralism in aesthetics is only the concrete expression of egocentrism of the whole western modern people. Now, we need to learn from the ideological resources of China's natural aesthetics tradition, re-examine our own aesthetic theory, re-recognize the value of natural aesthetics, and enrich the weakest link of natural aesthetics research, which should promote the study of natural aesthetics. Only in this way can we open up a new realm of aesthetic basic theory research and improve the internal knowledge structure of aesthetics.

The origin of human aesthetic consciousness

China people have long viewed the world from the perspective of "literature" and put forward the categories of "literature" and "quality". The original meaning of Chinese character "Wen" is texture, grain, pattern and so on. , that is, today's "form", and "quality" is the performance of matter and the material utility represented by matter. According to my understanding, this exchange of categories faithfully reveals one of the most basic facts of early human aesthetic consciousness: human spiritual aesthetic activities stem from transcending practical purposes and from a sense of form for realistic objects. Compared with the concept of "beauty" in western aesthetics, it is much more primitive and simple, and it faithfully reveals the precious historical information of human aesthetic consciousness in its origin stage. Compared with the concept of "beauty" in the history of western aesthetics, the categories of "literature" and "quality" in China's ancient aesthetics have richer historical connotations. [3] Not only that, but also from the special perspective of the genesis of aesthetic consciousness, it eloquently proves that the sense of form is the core of human aesthetic consciousness and the most basic and important practical link. The field of vision of "literature" is the field of vision of "form", and it will never be meaningful to talk about human aesthetic consciousness without the sense of form. This was true of early humans, and it is also true today.

China people make a further distinction between "literature" and "form": "Observing astronomy to observe time changes, and observing humanity to transform the world." [4] "Astronomy" is the text of nature, that is, the perceptual objects and phenomena of nature, such as the sun, the moon, the stars, mountains and rivers, trees, flowers, birds and beasts, that is, the colors, sounds and forms of these objects and phenomena, that is, the beauty of nature, that is, natural beauty; And "humanity" is the "literature" created by human beings, which includes human craft decoration, artistic creation and even all cultural creation, that is, culture.

According to Yi Zhuan, Fu first saw the "text" of Heaven, and then realized the way of life. In addition, the "eight-letter" cultural symbol of divination of human destiny comes from the observation of astronomical phenomena, landforms, traces of birds and animals and the enlightenment to nature. [5] In the world, astronomy comes first, and then human beings. All human creations, including literary aesthetics, are based on astronomy. This idea was echoed by later generations. Liu Xie deduced the source of human literature from astronomy and regarded astronomy as the philosophical root of human beings. [6]

According to this idea, we can ask a question: What is the earliest aesthetic form of human beings? When writing the history of aesthetics, the average aesthetician always mentions various unearthed cultural relics at the beginning, such as decorations and patterns on objects. In other words, most aestheticians believe that craft beauty is the earliest aesthetic form of human beings. However, where did these patterns on early human artifacts come from? Where does the sense of body come from? Where did humans learn to "formally" see the world? In fact, the decorative patterns and patterns on cultural relics and utensils are the late products of human civilization. Here, human beings not only have a sense of form, but also have the ability to express forms and the skills and ability to make forms initially. So it can't be the earliest aesthetic consciousness. Here, inspired by the ancients in China, we are willing to put forward a new hypothesis: the earliest aesthetic consciousness is not here in craft aesthetics, but here in natural beauty. People's sense of form and sensitivity to the color, sound and shape of objects all come from the observation of natural objects and the enlightenment from nature. Feeling the beauty of nature is the earliest aesthetic behavior of human beings, and the sense of form of human beings stems from the gaze and observation of natural objects. Compared with the necessary material operation skills needed for craft decoration, it is much easier to appreciate nature, accept its stimulation and perceive its beauty. In short, natural aesthetics comes first, and then handmade. Natural beauty is the earliest aesthetic form of human beings.

Of course, this hypothesis faces a paradox: the appreciation of pure natural beauty does not require any materialized behavior, so there is no conclusive proof about the early natural aesthetics of human beings, and the unproved hypothesis is unconvincing; Once you can prove it, it is already "unnatural". What you can prove is not natural beauty. What shall we do? Our opinion is that natural beauty, especially at the genetic stage, can only be proved indirectly, but not directly. What is proved indirectly is much later than what you want to prove, and it can only explain the lower limit of time, not the upper limit. If we agree with this indirect proof method, the research field of natural beauty will be extremely broad, such as using the text of The Book of Songs to study China's early natural aesthetic consciousness.

The historical materials of China's aesthetics seem to show that natural aesthetics is an effective link to study the origin of human aesthetic consciousness, which can at least explain two extremely important factors-people's sense of form towards realistic objects and their spiritual attitude beyond material utility. In fact, the sense of form and mental attitude are two in one, two in one: the concept of "Wen" itself has proved this attitude, and "Wen" is "non-quality", which reminds people that "Wen" is only the external texture of objects, it is only beauty, and it has no practical function, so it is not necessary to make use of them. "Literature" vision and "form" vision are also intangible utilitarian vision and aesthetic vision.

Feel the leap from physical fasting to spiritual pleasure.

Today, we can easily claim that aesthetics is a spiritual activity. Aesthetics is not only a pleasure for eyes and ears, but also an emotional pleasure and spiritual enjoyment. This is common sense. Further consideration, we can ask the question: Is the spiritual attitude in human aesthetic consciousness transcendental? How to find the realistic starting point of delicate and rich emotional life in human aesthetic consciousness, and how to feel spiritual pleasure in human aesthetic consciousness from the quickness of body is realistic? Looking for the beauty of craftsmanship? Yes, otherwise, why should human beings specialize in decoration instead of practicality? But it is very weak, because the beauty of craftsmanship is generally limited to the beauty of form and the joy of eyes and ears. It is difficult to endow handicrafts with rich spiritual connotations, and it is also difficult for human beings to develop a rich and delicate spiritual life on them. Looking for it from art? Yes, but it's getting late. Art is obviously not the earliest starting point of the spiritual elements of human aesthetic consciousness, nor is it a typical object to study the occurrence of human aesthetic consciousness. This realistic connection is not elsewhere, but in natural aesthetics.

A withered sun gives birth to Tí @ [7]

Jianghai can be the king of hundreds of valleys, just because of his kindness. If a saint wants to be a master, he must say it; If you want to be an ancestor, you must be behind you. [8]

The Millennium is frost. The so-called Iraqis are on the water side. [9]

There are two evils: Pu and He. If there is a beautiful person, what injury is it? [ 10]

Birds are dying, and their songs are sad; The dying man speaks the truth. [ 1 1]

These examples show that, at the latest in the Spring and Autumn Period, China people faced natural phenomena, which was not only a form of observation, but also a sensual temptation and a mental or emotional fluctuation. They don't just treat nature purely objectively. Faced with various natural phenomena, they often associate them with human social life, their own destiny and psychological feelings, and are willing to regard natural objects and phenomena as mysterious hints of human destiny, some symbols of human feelings and some fables of life wisdom. In a word, from the history of natural aesthetics, we see a history of human mind, and we see the spiritual life of human beings, which is also the realistic starting point of phenomenology of spirit, which is difficult to find in handicraft industry.

In aesthetic consciousness, how did people realize the leap from physical pleasure to psychological pleasure? The historical data of Chinese aesthetics tell us that it was realized in natural aesthetic activities. Natural aesthetics seems simpler and easier than scientific beauty. In fact, it is a kind of aesthetic form with the richest connotation and the cradle of poets. The ancients in China believed that poetry should be written with the help of mountains and rivers, which shows the significance of natural aesthetics to people's spiritual growth and artistic aesthetic creation: natural aesthetics is the necessary psychological basis for artistic aesthetic creation and appreciation. If human beings are indifferent to natural phenomena, it is hard to imagine that human beings will have developed artistic activities at this time, because people at this time have no real spiritual life.

The internal source of human aesthetic psychology

It is in natural aesthetic activities that human beings have achieved a leap from physical quickness to psychological pleasure. This is the great significance of natural aesthetics to the development history of human aesthetic consciousness, and it is the inspiration from China's natural aesthetic tradition. However, why does people's aesthetic consciousness have such a leap, and what is its internal basis?

When the heart moves, everything does its best. Emotion is moved by things, so it is shaped by sound. [ 12]

The beast of Qi is touching, so it shakes its temperament and dances. [ 13]

Sigh with the four seasons, look at everything and think about everything; Sad leaves fall in autumn and happy leaves fall in spring. [ 14]

In the Spring and Autumn Period, Yin and Yang are sad, and my heart is shaking. ..... a leaf is desirable, and the sound of insects is enough to attract the heart. The breeze is the same as the bright moon, and the day is the spring forest! [ 15]

This is the famous "sense of things" theory. The idea it wants to express is that man is basically the son of nature, and the changes of natural phenomena, such as the alternation of spring and autumn and the changes of sunny and rainy days, will cause corresponding changes in man's mental state, because his spiritual world is synchronized with the whole natural life rhythm. Therefore, in the face of thousands of natural phenomena, people will not be indifferent, but they can't help it: they will cry when they are gentle, they will be sad when they meet flowers, and they will be sad when they meet the moon. When they are fierce, they can't dance with their hands and feet. This is a common phenomenon in human natural aesthetic activities, and its internal basis is the heterogeneous isomorphism between nature and human mind, which is the embodiment of "harmony between man and nature" in the field of natural aesthetics.

For a long time, the theory of material sense has only been regarded as a literary theory and a poetics, which is really a great misunderstanding. First of all, human beings must have certain psychological interests and ability conditions of natural aesthetics, and realize the sublimation and leap of natural aesthetics from physiology to psychology and from objectivity to subjectivity, in order to expect the methods of association and imagination, comparison and lyricism in literary and artistic creation. For this reason, ancient talents were not satisfied with discussing things separately, but discussing the more fundamental relationship between mind and things in poetics, in fact, looking for the root of human literary psychology from the more primitive and simpler links of natural aesthetics. Without the investigation of the history of human aesthetic soul in the natural aesthetic link, all kinds of phenomena in literary aesthetics can only be known, but we don't know why. From this perspective, natural aesthetics is indeed an anthropological link of artistic aesthetics. Studying natural aesthetics is a link to solve the mystery of human art and even literary psychology and the whole history of human aesthetic consciousness.

The theory of feeling of things is first of all a kind of natural aesthetic theory, which mainly explains the intrinsic reasons why the appreciator not only has the beauty of sound and emotion, but also has various subjective psychological reactions in the process of human natural aesthetic. Its theme is the relationship between mind and matter, and the psychological relationship between man and natural objects and phenomena. It shows that people's aesthetic psychological ability is not elsewhere, but produced in the natural aesthetic process of "sentient animals" The theory of physical sense not only simply describes the process of psychological abilities such as association and imagination in natural aesthetics, but also provides a more fundamental philosophical support-the unity of man and nature. The leap from the joy of eyes and ears to the joy of emotions is a key link in the development history of human aesthetic consciousness. How did this leap come about? Physical sense theory provides a very personalized explanation. In the field of natural aesthetics, it explains the emergence of human aesthetic psychological ability and the fundamental philosophical connection between heaven and man through the theory of heaven and man. "Being moved by things" is not only a simple description of natural aesthetic experience, but also implies a profound theoretical proposition that all human aesthetic experiences are based on natural aesthetics.

If human beings do not quickly realize the leap of hearing and feeling in natural aesthetics, the inspiration and talent of poetry will not appear, and there will be no more complicated poetry in the world than Waiting for People. Once we have the psychological ability of "feeling things and moving" in natural aesthetics, even if there is no laurel specially created for poets in the world, I will say that the world is full of poems and human beings have different talents, because people have been able to live a rich and exquisite spiritual life in natural aesthetics. As for these feelings, some people finally wrote poems and handed them down, and glory belongs to art, in addition, it is convenient for later researchers to textual research.

From Yue Ji and Poem Preface to Shi Pin and Wen Xin Diao Long, China's aesthetics has formed a theory-Ganxing Theory, which explains the history of human aesthetic consciousness with the isomorphism of natural phenomena and human psychology. Although aesthetics is a cultural behavior of human beings, China people are not pursuing this humanistic phenomenon on the basis of facts, and they are not satisfied with art and human beings themselves. But from the relationship between man and nature to find the internal root of human aesthetic psychology, mainly the influence of nature on human physiology and psychology. This is a kind of natural anthropology and an oriental theoretical model of the origin of human aesthetic psychology. Compared with western aesthetics, which only explains people's aesthetic consciousness by artistic behavior and psychological phenomena, it has a broader vision and deeper thinking. This is a very distinctive and relatively in place aesthetic theory.

Contemporary Cultural Significance of China's Natural Aesthetic Tradition

Looking back on tradition is not a feeling of nostalgia. All history is contemporary history. Based on the contemporary reality, what is the practical significance of China's ancient natural aesthetic tradition?

Since the 20th century, influenced by modern western scientific rationality, we have accepted a brand-new view of nature: understanding, conquering and transforming nature. Man and nature are antagonistic. Man is the master of this earth, and naturally he is the object of passive conquest and deprivation. The measure of social progress is towering chimneys and rumbling factories. As a result, land desertification, soil erosion, space pollution and resource shortage have caused a huge ecological crisis, and the survival of contemporary people has also fallen into crisis. It reminds us that people must be kind to nature in order to seek their own goodness, and must surpass themselves in order to save themselves. Thus, in the mid-20th century, as the master of the earth, human beings began to reflect on themselves, began to talk about the natural conditions for human survival, and began to seek the harmony between man and nature in order to realize the sustainable development of human beings.

The harmony between man and nature is the common cultural theme of contemporary mankind. It is not easy to realize this theme, which requires a new understanding of the relationship between man and nature and a new view of nature. This is especially true for westerners who insist on the dichotomy between man and nature and take the conquest and transformation of nature as their freedom, because they do not have enough traditional cultural soil to adapt to this new theme. Perhaps, China's classical philosophy and aesthetic tradition can provide useful reference for contemporary mankind in this respect.

In ancient China, both Confucianism and Taoism regarded man as the son of nature, and thought that heaven was greater than humanity and man was a part of nature. Laozi advocates "Taoism is natural", Confucianism holds that humanity is astronomical, and Zhuangzi takes "the inequality between man and nature" as a real person. These thoughts constitute the most important part of China's ancient view of nature, which makes China people regard nature as their most basic living environment, and is also the spiritual home for human beings to realize spiritual liberation. Returning to nature is understood as throwing yourself back into your mother's arms, and you can gain life wisdom and religious feelings from nature.

In the aesthetic life, nature is the main content of China people's aesthetics. The ancients in China regarded being able to indulge in mountains and rivers and stay in the countryside as a great victory in life. Even if this is not true, they have to repeatedly describe and praise the beauty of nature in various arts, and natural beauty has become the theme of China's classical art. Later, people with better economic conditions simply moved the natural landscape back to their homes and built flower and bird landscapes in their own courtyards, so there was a very special architectural art-gardens.

Today, this natural aesthetic tradition has special cultural significance. In his repeated appreciation and praise of nature, he constantly strengthened the spiritual connection between man and nature, advocated the religion with nature as the object of worship in the form of aesthetics, cast people's Oedipus complex with nature, and made nature an important object of human daily spiritual life. In the daily casual natural aesthetics, the intimate spiritual connection between man and nature is established. Not only touched by religion, but also picturesque poetry.

In today's highly developed natural science and material production, in order to realize the harmonious development between man and nature, we need a new view of nature, a loving mother of strict father, or at least a close friend's view of nature. It is not easy to establish such a view of nature, which requires efforts from all sides, political, economic and technical measures, and mass natural aesthetic behaviors such as spring breeze and rain. Let people rebuild their spiritual connection with nature through sincere appreciation, love and worship of the sun, moon, stars, green trees and safflower. Perhaps it is precisely because of the popularity, kindness, delicacy and emotionality of aesthetic activities that the establishment of a new view of nature is more natural and effective and more deeply rooted in people's hearts, and it can become a collective unconsciousness of contemporary human beings.

Giving full play to the contemporary humanistic value of natural aesthetics is a valuable inspiration of China's ancient natural aesthetic tradition, and attaching importance to the construction of ecological beauty is a realistic link to give full play to the cultural function of natural aesthetics.

Ecological problems are the problems of human natural living environment. Beautiful ecological environment is the minimum and necessary natural living condition for human beings, and creating ecological beauty is to create a good natural living environment necessary for human beings. Ecology is not beautiful and poetic, but it first means the crisis of human natural living conditions. To create ecological beauty is to establish a new view of nature: man and nature restrict each other, first of all, the natural environment restricts man. Man is the son of nature and cannot live in a closed human civilization. The natural environment is the main living environment for human beings. Man is not the master of nature, but a link in the natural life chain. People can't do whatever they want. In the most fundamental fact, people conform to nature, not the other way around. The Yellow River is cut off and sandstorms are the early warning signals of our survival crisis. Creating ecological beauty means shaking hands with nature, mending the old, and restoring the natural environment and ecological balance. From building green corridors, controlling water and air pollution to expanding urban green space, we are all creating ecological beauty, and we are also establishing a human natural environment security system. Advocating ecological beauty is to cultivate public awareness of ecological security, implement public education on ecological security, and regard ecological awareness as the basic element of contemporary citizens' cultural quality.

For a long time, we are used to dividing the world into two parts: human and nature. The beauty of life is related to the good spiritual atmosphere formed by harmonious coexistence between people in human society. Now we realize that the beauty of life is not only related to people's own ethical level, but also related to the ecological situation around people. If a person lives in an environment full of smoke and dust, sewage and frequent natural disasters, so his health is extremely poor, can he think that his quality of life is very high, and can he feel the happiness and beauty of life? I can't. Therefore, creating ecological beauty is to improve the quality of your life and beautify your life, which is a part of the beauty of life. More green in the living environment means more health, more blue sky and more protection for life. Ecological beauty is not a dispensable decoration in life, it is the real content in your life. For this reason, the creation and maintenance of ecological beauty is related to the attitude and behavior of every citizen in daily life. People not only appreciate the beautiful ecological environment created by others, but also need to create green for their own lives. In this way, ecological beauty has the widest social foundation.

Humans will never be satisfied with themselves, and highly developed human cultural creation will not eclipse nature, but will only rebound people's more affectionate examination and attachment to nature. Zhuangzi's carefree travel is by no means an irrelevant scholar's theory, but the words of a wise man with a great sense of reality. If a region attaches importance to the construction of ecological beauty, it will not only create a good living environment for local residents, but also attract people from other regions to yearn for it and become a tourist attraction. What is tourism? Is to temporarily escape from their most familiar social environment and give themselves a spiritual holiday. Among them, returning to nature and indulging in mountains and rivers is the first significance of tourism.

When it comes to cultural life, people think of sports and cultural activities, which is really a misunderstanding. "Wise people enjoy water, while benevolent people enjoy Leshan." [16] The beauty of natural ecological environment is also beneficial to people's spirit. Where does the spiritual life of mankind begin? It begins with appreciating nature. It is true that people can't leave human society to travel leisurely as Zhuangzi said, but people can invite natural beauty to the world by building a beautiful natural ecological environment, and create a realistic spiritual home close to nature for people living in urban civilization in contemporary society. Making the world green is to let people live a spiritual life close to nature.

The wandering scene is both poetic and religious, because it is full of warmth, attachment, worship and admiration for the miracle of natural life. Feeling and loving the natural life is a simple and elegant spiritual life, which does not need the training of special skills like artistic activities or the irrational consequences of religious activities in a narrow sense.

It used to be an important form of spiritual life of ancient people in China. The natural landscape once occupied the great spiritual space of the ancient people in China and gave them great spiritual comfort. Today, the construction of ecological beauty should arouse people's passion for nature again, so that people can cultivate their sentiments, stimulate their spirituality, increase their wisdom and comfort their hearts by enjoying flowers and grass. Let ecological aesthetics become a part of the spiritual life of the masses in contemporary society.

This is an era suffering from industrial civilization, that is, human beings ignore nature and are arrogant. It has become an urgent task to rebuild the harmonious relationship between man and nature and maintain the sustainable development of human civilization. The public feels the relationship between heaven and man not through philosophical language, but through aesthetic, the most popular spiritual and cultural activity. Let everyone feel the significance and spiritual value of natural life to human existence in simple and casual perceptual intuition, let people gain wide resonance in appreciating nature, let people attach to and protect nature because of appreciating nature, rebuild the spiritual connection between man and nature in natural aesthetics, and cultivate people's sense of belonging to nature. In the contemporary cultural theme of harmonious development between man and nature, natural aesthetics has its irreplaceable unique value. Giving full play to the contemporary cultural value of natural aesthetics is a cause with boundless merits.