Abstract
In Chinese aesthetics, tragic consciousness shows as the poetic experience of a subject's empathy with objects, and this experience covers the bereavement or life-long separation, which may also reflect in the melancholic sense for the passing of spring and the coming of autumn in Chinese ancient literary works. The tragic consciousnesses of the literati, the hero and the female have their particular characteristics and inherent spirit. In ancient Chinese tragedies is seen a general transition of spirit from the heroic to the common and secular. On the one hand, this tragic consciousness is deeply influenced and constrained by Chinese cultural tradition including Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. On the other hand, it has the potential to break through the boundaries of traditional culture, reflecting the profound senses of compassion, crisis and sympathy among the people. Tragedies in Chinese literary history usually end with a happy denouement, which, the paper concludes, is influenced by traditional Chinese culture, especially by the cultural psychology of the pursuit of goodness. Happy denouement can not only insert strong moral impact to balance the audience's psychology but also appeal to the entertain need for the mass.
First Page
169
Last Page
178
Recommended Citation
Zhu, Zhirong. 2013. "On the Tragic Consciousness of Chinese Aesthetics." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 33, (5): pp.169-178. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol33/iss5/14
