Ecological Aesthetics of Chinese Culture
1 min readRelated to eco-ethics and eco-philosophy is the eco-aesthetics of traditional Chinese culture.
Ancient Chinese thinkers regarded nature, with human beings included in it, as the world of life. All living things in the world have their own life and state of being.
“Life and its state of being is most worthy of appreciation,”said Cheng Hao. From such appreciation, people could draw the greatest spiritual delight, according to such philosophers. Confucian scholars in the Song and Ming dynasties all enjoyed observing”the state of being of living things.”Zhou Dunyi, for example, allowed the grass to grow in front of his window without cutting it. When asked why, he explained that the natural growth of grass was in line with his idea of living things.
He”observed the creation of life and the state of being of living things in the world”through the grass.The state of being of the grass was similar to the state of being of people，and the experience of this resemblance gave him great pleasure.Cheng Hao”felt great joy from observing living things.”He would often appreciate the fish he kept，and enjoyed watching newly hatched chicks.To him，the lively and lovely chicks best represented the“state of being.”
