Abstract
Natural aesthetics in the pre-Qin period (before 221-207 B.C.) is a blend of elements from religion, ethic, art and witchcraft. The idea of "God from lofty mountains" reflects the worship of nature underlined by natural moral law. Human beings feel the overpowering awe of lofty mountains, and the feeling of awe transforms into the sublimity of ethics and morality in the society. "God from lofty mountains" represents people‘s desire and belief in the West Zhou period in their efforts to discover the rules of social development in the nature, but human's value is obscured in the combination between the essence of natural law and rational knowledge. "God from shaman dance" shows advances in that it embodies the law of nature in the aesthetic forms of "artful ornaments" and "formalized craft" so that the human value is confirmed in people's efforts to understand and change the natual phenomena and its laws. The paper concludes that "God from lofty mountains" and "God from shaman dance" represent the developmental trend in the natural aesthetic in pre-Qin period.
First Page
15
Last Page
21
Recommended Citation
Zhong, Shilun. 2012. "From "God from Lofty Mountains" to "God from Shaman Dance": Natural Aesthetics in Pre-Qin Dynasty." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 32, (4): pp.15-21. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol32/iss4/7
