Cross-Cultural Reflections on Chinese Aesthetics, Gender, Embodiment and Learning (Chinese Contemporary Art Series)

This book gathers research and writings that reflect on traditional and current global issues related to art and aesthetics, gender perspectives, body theories, knowledge and learning. It illustrates these core dimensions, which are bringing together philosophy, tradition and cultural studies and laying the groundwork for comparative research and dialogues between aesthetics, Chinese philosophies, Western feminist studies and cross-cultural thought. Pursuing an interdisciplinary approach, the book also integrates philosophical enquiries with cultural anthropology and contextual studies. As implied in the title, the main methodologies are cross-cultural and comparative studies, which touch on performances in art and aesthetics, social existence and education, and show that philosophical enquiries, aesthetical representation and gender politics are simultaneously historical, living and contextual. The book gathers a wealth of cross-cultural reflections on philosophical aesthetics, gender existence and cultural traditions. The critical thinking within will benefit undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers in the area of comparative philosophies. It blends academic rigor with personal reflection, which is a critical practice in feminist philosophy itself. Acknowledgements Introduction Contents About the Author Comparative Aesthetics 1 Spiritual Rituals of Chinese Ink Painting: The Suggestions of Shitao 1.1 Ritual and Rituals in Art 1.2 Performance and Practice Approaches 1.3 Rituals in Shitao’s Artistic Practice 1.4 Contexts: Shitao’s Identity and Daoism’s Relevance 1.5 Conclusion References 2 Ideas of the Body in Zhu Guangqian's Aesthetics 2.1 Marx’s Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 2.2 Empathy, Body and Inner Imitation 2.3 Vico’s Bodily-Based Senses 2.4 Conclusion References 3 Confucian Aesthetics and the Recent Suggestion of Its Reference to Western Feminist Aesthetics 3.1 Feminist Critique of Kant’s Aesthetics 3.2 The Suggestion of a Matriarchal Aesthetics 3.3 The Aesthetic Experience in Traditional Chinese Philosophies and Matriarchal Art 3.4 Conclusion References 4 Contemporary Feminist Aesthetics in China: Paradigms and Practices 4.1 Background 4.2 Critique of Western Traditional Aesthetics Revisited 4.3 What Do Feminist Aestheticians Advocate? 4.4 Confucian Aesthetics and Its Feminist Modalities 4.5 Contemporary Feminist Aesthetics and Its Practice in China References Gender, Art and Knowledge 5 Transformation of Social Reality and Susanne Langer’s Illusory Space in Dance 5.1 Dance as Field of Virtual Powers 5.2 Philosophy of Dance and Its Layers 5.3 Hong Kong Dance Choreography (1980s–2010s): The Case of Helen Lai References 6 The Relation of “Self” and “Others” in the Confucian Traditions and Its Implications to Global Feminisms and Public Philosophies 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Global Feminism 6.3 Public Philosophy and the Dualism of the “Private” and “Public”, “Self” and “Others” 6.4 Confucianism as a Form of Religion 6.5 The Confucian’s Reading of the “Self” and “Others” 6.6 A Concluding Remark References 7 A Further Reflections on Some Feminist Perspectives in Epistemology 7.1 A Critique of Traditional Western Epistemologies: Main Objections and Arguments 7.1.1 Knowledge as Representation 7.1.2 The Neutrality of Knowledge 7.1.3 Reason and Masculinity 7.1.4 The Notion of Objectivity 7.2 Feminist Suggestions of Knowledge Formation and Epistemological Approaches 7.2.1 Feminist Empiricism 7.2.2 Feminist Standpoint Theory 7.2.3 On Objectivity and Truth 7.3 Further Reflections: Problems, Difficulties and Criticisms 7.4 Is a Feminist Epistemology Possible? References Embodiment 8 Judith Butler’s Reading of the Sartrian Bodies and the Cartesian Ghosts 8.1 Background 8.2 Sartrian Bodies and Cartesian Ghosts 8.3 Sartre’s Pitfalls? 8.4 Being-for-Others and the Problem of Gender 8.5 Gender as Choice 8.6 Embodiment and Autonomy 8.7 Concluding Remarks References 9 Beyond Ontology? Reflections on Robert Solomon’s Ideation of Emotion and Mencius’ Moral Cultivation of “Embodied Emotion” 9.1 Solomon’s Theory of the Ideation of Emotion 9.2 Reflections on Solomon’s Theory of the Ideation of Emotion and Its Implications 9.3 Mencius’s Moral Cultivation of “Embodied Emotion” References 10 A Cross-Cultural Reflection on Shusterman’s Suggestion of the “Transactional” Body 10.1 Shusterman’s Reading of Dewey’s “Interactional” and “Transactional” Body 10.2 The Transactional Whole of Body-Mind and Environment 10.3 The Meaning of the “Transactional” Body in Confucianism 10.4 On “Transactional Body”: Dewey, Mencius and Shusterman References 11 Chinese Bodies in Philosophy, Aesthetics, Gender and Politics: Methodologies and Practices 11.1 Feminist Aesthetics and Chinese Philosophy Traditions 11.2 Body Theories and Bodily Representations in Art References Learning 12 A Historical Review and Reflection on the Confucian “the Great Learning” and Its Contemporary Implications for Higher Education 12.1 A Brief Historical Review of the Controversies and the Meaning of Education in the Great Learning 12.2 The Three Principles and the Eight Items 12.2.1 The Investigation of Things (Ge-Wu) 12.2.2 The Extension of Knowledge (Zhi-Zhi) 12.2.3 Sincere Intention (Cheng-Yi) 12.2.4 The Rectification of Mind (Zheng-Xin 正心) 12.2.5 Self-cultivation 12.2.6 Regulating the Family 12.2.7 Governing the State Well 12.2.8 Harmony in the World 12.3 The Three Principles as the Ultimate Goals of Learning 12.3.1 Illustrating the Illustrious Virtue (Ming-Ming-de 明明德) 12.3.2 Loving and Renovating (or Renewing) People (Qin-Min) 12.3.3 Resting in the Supreme Good (Zhi-Yü-Zhi-Shan 止於至善) 12.4 Knowledge and Practice, the Sageness Within and the Kingliness Without 12.5 Postmodernism and Neo-Conservative Views on Education 12.6 Future Prospects of the Humanities Education: Contemporary Implications of the Great Learning References 13 Lao Sze-Kwang’s Discourse on Chinese Philosophy and Contemporary Popular Confucianism in China 13.1 Modernization in China and Its Problematics 13.2 Chinese Philosophy and Philosophy in China 13.3 “Orientative Philosophy” (引導性哲學) and “Cognitive Philosophy” (認知性哲學) 13.4 The Future Direction of Chinese Philosophy 13.5 The Confucian Revival in China: A Recent Study by French Anthropologists 13.6 Popular Confucianism 13.7 New Confucianism in China and Confucian Religiosity 13.8 Chinese Confucianism and Confucianism in Contemporary China References 14 What Does Comparative Philosophy Mean to a Female Chinese Scholar Like Me? 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