林语堂论东西方艺术

Lin Yutang's Outlook on Eastern and Western Art

林语堂不仅是一位影响世界的作家,还是一位博学的学者,这最突出地表现在他对东西方艺术的浓厚兴趣和深入理解,也表现在他独特的艺术观和审美观。林语堂倡导以自由、快乐和优雅为主旨的“游戏的艺术观”,对东西方艺术的优劣长短也给予了细致的比较分析,并试图对二者进行有效的融合,以期达到一种更加健全和完美的世界性艺术。当然,对于如何达成这一融会的途径,林语堂并没有给出具体的设计和方法。

Lin Yutang was not only a writer exerting a significant influence on the world, but also a learned scholar, for he had a great interest and deep understanding on the eastern and western art. And he had a unique artistic and aesthetic outlook. Lin Yutang promoted ＂a concept of playful art＂ and the essential points of this concept were freedom, happiness and elegance. He also compared the advantage and disadvantage of two arts, and tried to mix them together to reach a healthy and perfect worldwide art. But he didn＇ t provide the exact method to start the mixing.