The Soul of Creation (Shensi): The Soul of Creation (Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture)

This Key Concepts pivot explores the aesthetic concept of ‘imaginative contemplation.’ Drawing on key literature to provide a comprehensive and systematic study of the term, the book offers a unique analysis and definition of the connotations of the term, describing its aesthetic mentality and examining the issue of imaginative contemplation versus imagination in artistic creative thinking, especially as regards the characteristics of contingent thinking in aesthetics. It focuses on drawing parallels between imaginative contemplation and aesthetic emotions, aesthetic rationality, and artistic expression as well as aesthetic form. Examining the relationship between imaginative contemplation and the aesthetic configuration, the book provides a valuable introduction to aesthetic theory in Chinese philosophy and art.Jing Zhang is a Senior Professor at the Communication University of China. He holds a number of academic positions, including President of the China Society for Liao and Jin Literature, Vice President of the China Society for Ancient Literary Theories and the China Wenxin Diaolong Society, Executive Director of the China and Foreign Literary Theory Society, and Director of the China Aesthetics Society. His publications include Extension of Aesthetics; On Art Aesthetics; Imaginative Contemplation: The Elves of Art; Zen and Tang and Song Poetics; History of Liao and Jin Poetry and other monographs, as well as over 400 papers in Literature Review, Philosophical Research, Literary Heritage, Literature and Art Studies, Academic Monthly, Journal of Peking University and other journals.Liqing Tao is a Professor at College of Staten Island, City University of New York, USA. Publisher’s Note to “Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture Series” (English Edition) Introduction Contents 1 “Shen Si:” An Innovation as a Significant Aesthetic Category 1.1 “Shen Si” is Proposed in the Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons as a Construct of Thinking in Artistic Creation 1.2 The Connotations of “Shen Si” as a Category of Thinking in Artistic Creation 2 The Generative Mechanism of Artistic Stimulation and Associations in “Shen Si” 2.1 Differences in Genesis Between “Shen Si” and the Western Theory of “Inspiration” 2.2 “Being Stimulated to Have Artistic Associations” in An Aesthetic Sense 3 “Shen Si” and Imagination in Thinking in Artistic Creation 3.1 The Feature of Internal Visualization in “Shen Si” 3.2 The Creative Function of Artistic Imagination in “Shen Si” 4 Characteristics of Fortuitous Thinking in “Shen Si” 4.1 “Shen Si” and “Fortuity” 4.2 The Aesthetic Effect of “Fortuity” as a Creative Moment 5 “Aesthetics” and “Aesthetic Emotions” 5.1 Aesthetic Emotions in Artistic Creation 5.2 Emotions Expressed as Gifts to the Scenery in Sight, and Associations Evoked as Its Responses in Kind 5.3 Co-Generation of Emotions and Sceneries: Moment of “Shen Si” 6 “Shen Si” and Artistic Medium 6.1 “Shen Si” and the Internalization of Artistic Medium 6.2 Medium and the Image Created by “Shen Si” 6.3 Conclusion Bibliography