In the 1940s, Hu Feng proposed a theory of “subjective fighting spirit” for the writing of realistic fiction. This article suggests that this theory implies a political agenda, which should be understood in the cultural politics of China in the 1940s. The divergence of his views towards contemporary Chinese society and its culture from that of the CCP accounts for his disagreement with Mao's vision of a new culture. It is a competition for cultural hegemony with the Party in the field of cultural production.

The tiger is an image that symbolizes desire in The Plum in the Golden Vase. The ballad edition begins with Wu Song fighting a tiger. By paralleling Wu Song's battle with the tiger and other plotlines in the novel, it serves as a warning to readers about the danger of “tigers” in the form of beautiful women, representing the peril of lust. In the Chongzhen edition's first chapter, it subtly depicts Wu Song fighting the tiger while explicitly describing the tiger at the Jade Emperor Temple. Through the juxtaposition of these two scenes, it reveals the dual nature of temptation and danger associated with wealth and lust. The view of tiger as a symbol of desire is informed by the Taoist theory of internal alchemy. The “Dragon and Tiger Battle” structure that runs throughout the novel challenges the rationality of indulging in desires, as it aligns with Taoist principles. The image of tiger embodies the richness and thematic complexity of The Plum in the Golden Vase, and its use serves the overarching theme of desire within the novel.

German art historian Max Imdahl suggests that Cézanne's artistic creation is not an activity of “imitating object”, but an activity of “producing object”. As early as the 1930s, German philosopher Martin Heidegger had already proposed in “The Origin of the Work of Art” that art was not an imitation of reality, but a production of reality. This paper takes the concept of “production” as an approach to understanding Heidegger's phenomenology of art, and focuses on his late thought on modern art, especially on the art of Paul Cézanne and Paul Klee. This paper intends to show a possible dialogue between Heideggers artistic thought and the modern art and art theory.

“The Orphan of the Zhao Family” is a well-known case in the historical stories depicted in Han Dynasty pictorial arts, with three known existing places housing the images. Two of them are in the Wu Clan Temple, Jiaxiang County, Shandong Province, with one bearing an inscription, both adopting the momentary narrative mode. The other is found in a Han tomb at Yangguan Village, Nanyang, Henan Province, where the image is divided into four layers, presenting ” The Orphan of the Zhao Family” along with “The Mastiff Biting Zhao Dun” in a layered sequential narrative. In this paper, the author verifies the existence of an unknown image of “The Orphan of the Zhao Family” on the north beam in the front chamber of the Han Tomb in Baiji, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. This image adopts a scroll-style continuous narrative, depicting four captivating moments in chronological order. The transition from a single scene to multiple scenes in the visual narrative of historical stodies in Han Dynasty pictorial arts is influenced by factors such as the earlier tradition of narrative in bronze pictorial arts, the inherent development patterns of Han Dynasty paintings, the transformation of image carriers, and regional differences.

Scattered perspective is a modern conceptualization of the spatial features of traditional Chinese painting that has had a significant impact in China. This essay investigates relevant concepts such as “perspective” and “scattered point” to delve into the evolutionary origins of the “scattered-point perspective.” Scattered perspective does not particularly involve a scientific foundation in terms of optics or geometry. Rather, it integrates two contradictory Western concepts to represent the compositional experience of Chinese painting, which is theoretically akin to the traditional Chinese concepts of “San Yuan,” “Small by Near and Big in the Distance,” and “You Guan.” The fundamental disparity between the Chinese and Western painting perspectives lies not in the explicit comparison between “scattered perspective” and “focal perspective.” Instead, their distinction is rooted in the respective aesthetic attitudes towards comparable non-perspective landscapes as well as the resulting disparities in the details of their paintings. A careful examination of the “scattered perspective” within the broader context of art history is a useful tool for fostering Sino-West dialogue and showcasing the distinctive aesthetic pursuit of Chinese painting.

As the birthplace of semiotics and the center of European semiotic research and development, France, particularly the Paris School of Semiotics led by Algirdas Julien Greimas, spearheaded the trajectory of literary theory in the second half of the twentieth century. The early research of this school centered on narrative semiotics, emphasizing figurative construction, logical semantics, and narrative grammar within complex textual forms. Following Greimas's passing, the research of the Paris School continued to evolve. Building on achievements of discourse analysis, cognitive science, and phenomenology, three distinctive research approaches emerged: the semiotics of passions, subjective semiotics, and tensive semiotics. While their research emphases differ, they all carry forward the legacy of Greimas's semiotics. Rooted in linguistics and drawing extensively from other disciplines such as phenomenology, they exhibit a high degree of complementarity and integration, establishing themselves as a crucial theoretical framework for the study of emotion, body, and tension.

Due to the influence of different cultural contexts, the process of foreign terms entering the Chinese context is often accompanied by “variation”. The semantic evolution of “inspiration” in the translation process serves as a typical example. The Japanese transliteration of romaji (innsubiresyo) follows the translation of ancient Greek-Latin languages. While Liang Qichao's Chinese transliteration of the word implies a potential contradiction between “availability to all” and “unique genius”, it allows for a broad scope of reinterpretation within the Chinese context. The translation as Linggan gradually establishes a connection and transformation with categories such as “sensation” in traditional Chinese culture, while dispelling the mystery of God or spirit. Furthermore, by delving into the psychological processes that generate “inspiration” and its real-life sources, a foundational knowledge model of “inspiration” as a technical term in literary and artistic theory has finally been constructed. It is worth emphasizing that the purpose of clarifying the concept in translation is not to alter its meaning, as such shifts inherently suggest numerous possibilities for new ideas and scholarship.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin posits that the complicated process of life' evolution embodies an inherent progression from subtlety to richness in the mentalization of the universe. According to him, human beings, equipped with self-awareness, self-reflection and self-examination, transcend other creatures and represent the pinnacle of universe evolution. As individuals transition from instinctual needs to ideological aspirations, a noosphere emerges alongside the biosphere. Love, encompassing refinement and kindness, serves as a cosmic energy that binds human beings into a community of life. This trajectory toward integration aligns with the natural law of evolution. De Chardin's cosmic mind, offering a compelling perspective on human ecology within the broader cosmos, resolves the epistemological divide between subject and object. It establishes a holistic framework for mutual growth and co-prosperity between humans and nature, thus fortifying the foundation of ecological aesthetics. His theory serves as a rich source of inspiration for understanding the relevance and interactivity of life, appreciating aesthetic beauty with affinity and harmony, fostering integrative abilities and creativity in artistic endeavors, and appreciating how symbolic consciousness cultivates a healthy and happy life for humans — the core tenets of ecological aesthetics.

In the camp of deconstruction, drawing is an important device of contemplation thanks to its explicit connection with the trace of writing. Both Jacques Derrida and Jean-Luc Nancy wrote about drawing. In their works, drawing is all about revealing the relation to the Other. However close these thoughts may seem to be, the two philosophers differ in their thinking about the Other. Derrida affirms the Other in a holistic manner and posits it as a quasi-transcendental being. In contrast, Nancy is more inclined to present a form of “being-with” the Other on the basis of affirming heterogeneity and distance. A close analysis of Derrida's and Nancy's thought on drawing offers us an approach to the inner core of their deconstructionist ideas as well as clarifying the continuity and difference between the two deconstructionist thinkers.

The intermeaving of philosophy into literature runs through Maurice Merleau-Ponty's thought. From his perspective, literature is the expression of existence rather than a tool for the conception of his phenomenological philosophy. In the course of Merleau-Ponty's thought, the interweaving of literature and philosophy presents a dual orientation and evolutional trajectory from philosophization of literature to literalization of philosophy, which corresponds to his creative opinion on the relationship between literature and philosophy in the dimension of concept and discourse, and reflects his approach to constructing metaphysical criticism and perceptual phenomenology. Expression and metaphor play significant roles in this interwoven relationship. Attempting to innovate on philosophical terms through metaphor in his later texts, Merleau-Ponty manages to ease the tension between philosophical concepts and discourses, providing an effective way to eliminate the idealistic remnants in the early perceptual theory and achieving self-consistency within his own theory.

Love stories of the southwestern Miao region is an important subject in Shen Congwen's fictional works, which also contribute to Xiangxi's reputation. The ways in which Shen Congwen's literary construction of the Miao region was informed by pre-modern literary texts, however, are often overlooked. An important connection can be observed between the portrayal of the Miao region in Shen Congwen's fiction and the similar discourse found in A Country Codger's Words of Exposure. Firstly, both works draw upon the knowledge system of the Ming and Qing dynasties regarding the Miao region. Secondly, they both explore the aesthetic construction of the literary space in this region from the perspective of the local people, emphasizing emotions and Chineseness. In Border Town, for instance, Shen Congwen redefines “what China is” during the country's semi-colonial period by delving into the emotions of the Miao region. This creative transformation of traditional literary heritage serves as a critique of imperialism and a call for alternative modernity.

Chen Zi'ang's collection of thirty-eight poems, titled “Emotional Impressions,” carries on the tradition of Han-dynasty scholars' verses on unrecognized talents. It offers a systematic and rational reflection on the relationship between time, talent and destiny through the lenses of nature, history and custom. These seemingly disparate topics converge under the motif of underappreciated scholars abilities, creating a highly cohesive and thematic whole. At the same time, concerns about tradition and governance lie at the core of his lamentations about unacknowledged talents. Even in his seclusion, Chen Zi'ang's heart remained tied to the imperial court, and he subtly conveyed his vision of governance through critiques of contemporary reality. This reflected the Confucian value of life that scholars should bear a responsibility for the state of the world. Consequently, Chen Zi'ang's vision of poetic antiquity is connected from his concept of political antiquity. The thirty-eight poems of “Emotional Impressions” not only resurrect the formal structure of ancient poetry of the Han and Wei dynasties, but also rekindle the spirit of scholars, solidify the fundamental content, and establish the creative purpose of poetic antiquity in the Tang dynasty. They stand as an important spiritual guide for the resurgence of ancient literature in the mid-Tang dynasty.

In Su Shi's historical assessment, the Ming dynasty was the most unique era, experiencing extremes from obscurity and silence to utmost brilliance. The turning point began with the great admiration of Su Shi by Yuan Hongdao (15681610), a key member of the Gong'an School. In the Ming dynasty, it was popular for various schools to establish their respective leaders. The argument between schools focused inevitably on the comparison and competition between their respective leaders. In response to the literary view of the Revivalist School, Gong'an School, on its path of literary innovation, chose Su Shi as their major representative to combat the revivalists. In addition to being a literary representative of the Song dynasty, Su Shi was found to have a deep resonance with the Gong’an School in terms of the literary environment they faced with and their preference for satire and the popular. The twin aspects of revering Su Shi and embracing the popular, intertwined as one, permeated the entire path of literary innovation pursued by the Gong'an School. The reverence that the Yuan brothers held for Su Shi gradually informed to the entire literary circle of the Ming dynasty, becoming the precursor to the later veneration of Su Shi and the Song dynasty, even extending into the early Qing dynasty. As a result, the literary trends underwent a complete transformation.

Bourdieu's theories and relevant conceptualizations in analyzing social and cultural phenomena and literary works were formulated based on his close attention to the transformation of the rural society. Such perspective distinguishes him from Zimmer, Benjamin and Adorno, whose aesthetics and literary theories were formed through their engagement with the transformation of modern urban society and industrial civilization. “Habitus” is the most important concept in Bourdieu's analysis of the characteristics of action in the literary and artistic fields, and is used to interpret how the revolutionary actions of Flaubert, Baudelaire, Manet and other pioneers of modernist artistic revolution took place. From a historical and generative perspective, the concept of “habitus” was first proposed in Bourdieu's early rural sociological studies of the social transformation in the 1950s and 1960s, which was concerned with the process of peasants' cultural adaptation to urban settlement in Algeria as well as the growing number of single men in rural areas affected by urbanization in Béarn, France. The term “system of dispositions,” which was used to explain the concept of “habitus” in rural social research in the 1960s, repeatedly appeared in Bourdieu's 19992000 lectures on Manet at the Collège de France. It was employed to emphasize the proactive nature of the actor and their transformative impact on the field.

The construction of sound theory is still in its initial stage, requiring exploration of existing intellectual resources. Agamben's insights into sound not only inform sound studies theoretically but also offer a new direction in connecting his early linguistic philosophy with later political philosophy. Agamben's awareness of the problematics lies in the fact that, despite Derrida's deconstruction of the present illusion of sound, a more covert transcendental illusion, the Voice, persists. The Voice, as sound and metaphysical grammar, resolves philosophical binary opposition through transformation. Nevertheless, achieving such unification requires that the Voice, endowed with an embedded function of “dividing and connecting,” inevitably establishes an unjust threshold between animal sound and human speech. This threshold lacks legitimacy but evolves into the absolute standard for creating naked phoné. Constrained by this anthropological apparatus, the human voice is endlessly commandeered, transformed and shaped by micropolitics, potentially reduced to a subject of governance. Agamben proposes a redemption strategy from the perspective that the threshold also serves as the resolution to distinctions, hindering the Voice from intersubjectivity. Therefore, Agamben's critique of sound politics aims to unveil the sound grammar concealed behind the subject's auditory experience, which is then subject to criticism and dispelling.

The aesthetics of existence is at the core of Foucault's later ethical genealogy, in which the superiority of the free subject in the self-construction over power can establish the superiority of the ethical subject over the moral subject and that of the governance of the self over the governance of others. Agamben's concept of the “form-of-life” in Part IV of the Homo Sacer is developed from his reflections upon Foucault, which suggests that Foucault's aesthetics of existence does not attain what he expects because of its association with tekhne or power. Therefore, Agamben critically inherits Foucault's thought from an ontological perspective and develops his existential aesthetics of the self of eros.

In traditional Chinese landscape painting, the “pavilion” serves a unique role as a spatial indicator and narrative element. The “grass pavilion” and the “empty pavilion”, both integral components of the classical pavilion imagery, encapsulate the aesthetic philosophies and perspectives of ancient scholars. These classic depictions of the pavilion not only convey the humanistic ideals of the scholars but also imbue traditional landscape painting with profound meaning. As a symbol of human presence and geographical location, the pavilion guides the viewers in their spatial imaginings and entrances them into a metaphorical realm cherished by scholars. It creates an excellent vantage point and viewing experience, offering painters and viewers alike the best platform for contemplation and visual anticipation. Simultaneously, the “pavilion” also unveils itself while capturing the essence of the world. In doing so, it transforms into a “holy land” within the mountains, shedding light on the solitary disposition of nature cherished by scholars. As a symbolic spatial element, the empty pavilion fortifies the echoes of the past and the illusion of memory. Gazing upon the pavilion hints at the cultural identity of the viewer, collectively contributing to the rich tapestry of meaning within landscape painting.

The literary and artistic institutions are one of the most important ways for the Communist Party of China (CPC) to build cultural leadership. As an important achievement in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, their construction has undergone a process from “taking the Soviet Union as a teacher” to independent exploration. During the periods of revolution, construction, reform and opening up, and the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the CPC has explored and built a series of literary and artistic institutions, including those of conference, organization and production, with the aim of building cultural leadership. The institution of literary and artistic conferences has laid down the basic principles and direction of the Party's ideological guidance on literary and art. The organizing institution has ensured the unity of the Party and the mobilization of the workers of literature and art, and strengthened the centripetal force of the circles of literature and art. The productive institution has cultivated and promoted the core socialist values under the leadership of the Party. Over the past century, based on its understanding of the nature and function of literature and art in different historical periods, the CPC has made timely adjustments to its leadership and management methods for literature and art, and has constantly promoted the modernization of its leadership capacity and system. Through a series of literary and artistic system-building activities, the Party has gradually established and consolidated its cultural leadership, enriched and developed Chinese Marxist literary theory, and perfected and deepened the system of socialist institutions with Chinese characteristics.

This article presents the genealogical continuation of the connotation of the “aesthetic of literature and art”, which began with the aesthetic of literature and art, and then expanded to include cultural aesthetics, natural/ecological aesthetics and finally became art aesthetics. It describes the historical manifestations of each node, highlighting the internal mechanisms of each point. The external forces propelling the continuation of the aesthetic of literature and art lineage are analyzed from various aspects such as the call of the spirit of the times, the enhancement of the education system, the needs of professional teaching and talent cultivation, the inspiration from the mutual exchange of Chinese and Western cultures, and the pursuit of localization. The intrinsic factors sustaining the continuation of the aesthetic of literature and art lineage are revealed through arguments on its origins, the forms of transformation, historical carriers, core forces, and internal essence. Finally, positive expectations are expressed for the broad prospects of the continuation of the aesthetic of literature and art lineage.

Phylogenetic analysis, as an important computational method in evolution research, has been extensively applied to the determination of genealogy of different species. Since the 1980s, phylogenetic analysis has been introduced into the research of language and cultural evolution, and later the research of folkloric literature. In the phylogenetic analysis of folkloric stories, a motif string is identified as the genome of each story. Phylogenetic analysis of the motif strings of homological folkloric stories yields a genealogical tree, which reveals the potential historical connections between the ethnic groups that the folkloric stories belong to. This article, based on an introduction and historical review of phylogenetics of literary texts, discusses several drawbacks and gaps in such research from both national and international perspectives. First, Chinese folklorists have made notable achievements in motif research, but most are limited to motif classification and these motifs have not been fully explored since then. Phylogenetics would introduce a new research path to the analysis of motifs. Second, the identification of homological motifs has become a focus of research during recent years but such identification remains subjective. In phylogenetics, a family of algorithms that are originally designed to evaluate phylogenetic signals can provide a more scientific way to measure the homological distance between different motifs. Last but not least, the application of phylogenetics in literary research is currently restricted to the study of folklore, but in light of the fact that motif analysis also applies to other genres of literary texts, it is reasonable to argue that phylogenetic analysis can also be used to analyze a variety of genres to reveal their internal developments as well as the sociocultural changes reflected therein.