Welcome to Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art,

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art ›› 2017, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (1): 125-133.

• Modern and Contemporary Literary Theory and Criticism • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The Void as the Effect: the Constructive Precondition of Buddhist Aesthetics

Wang Yun   

  1. the School of Humanities, Soochow University.
  • Online:2017-01-25 Published:2017-11-11
  • About author:Wang Yun, Ph.D. of Literature, is a professor at the School of Humanities, Soochow University. Address: SIP, Suzhou (Jiangsu 215123, China). His research interests cover the history of Chinese aesthetics, religious aesthetics and so on.

Abstract: If the "void" is taken as an aesthetic concept, the idea of the "void as the effect" should be its indispensable condition. If "cause and effect" is understood as a kind of time sequence, then "effect" is undoubtedly the end of this process. This "sequence" indicates the pursuit for reason and emphasis on the end, and thus it establishes the aesthetic vision for the "void". The development of the idea of the void has revealed that it is getting increasingly result-oriented with more emphases on proving and tracing the result that one gets what the mind turns to. Thus the idea of the void is becoming an aesthetic concept.    

Key words: the void, effect, Buddhism, aesthetics