On Aesthetic Conception of the Ontological Foundation of Classical Chinese Literature

There are prolific and profound aesthetic thoughts concerning the ontological foundation of Chinese classical literature. The objective of this paper is to analyze its aesthetic conception and try to seek the approaches to its identification and implications. Three dimensions of the aesthetic conception will be articulated: (1) poetic expressions for sense perception are highlighted as the phenomenal aesthetic dimension of literary texts, reservation and ambiguity of which are taken as the aesthetic realm of its unique poetic wisdom and empiricism; (2) the reflective-spiritual aesthetic dimension of treatises originated from the literary texts guides the ideological molding of the deep and the hidden in terms of the great aesthetic power; (3) its moral-ethical aesthetic dimension is directed at issues of social-ritual activities and daily practice. Correspondingly, to respond to the challenges of approaching classical Chinese literature, this paper advocates a proposal of three levels of resolution: interpreting terms and expressions with language analysis, accomplishing the construction of systematic thoughts and notions with holistic epistemology and reverting its highest functions of ontological and aesthetic concerns to life form.