中国早期空间观的创构及其形式美意义

Early China’s Creation of the View of Space and Its Significance for Formal Beauty

在中国早期,除了老庄等先秦诸子所开启的哲学思辨型空间观,还存在一类呈现于天文、地理、礼仪等实践领域的应用型空间观。此类空间观以宇宙意识为源发点,以天人关系为核心问题,通过墓葬、建筑、器具、图画、文学等人文符号形成一个"小宇宙"符号体系,成为早期中国的集体精神意志与民族文化密码。该空间观不仅对同期艺术形式的凝定起到决定性作用,也为后世艺术留下清晰的形式观念印痕,对中国形式美学具有发轫开先之功。由于天人关系在传统文化中的重要意义,这种涵摄了早期空间观的艺术形式法则为后世艺术的审美实践及理论提升埋下了伏笔,成为影响中国艺术形式品格锻铸的重要因素。

In early China,in addition to the philosophical speculative view of space initiated by Lao Tzu,Chuang Tzu and other pre-Qin philosophers,there was a practical view of space that was applied in the fields of astronomy,geography,ritual,etc.With cosmic consciousness as the source and the relationship between Heaven and man as the center,this view of space constituted a symbolic system of a"small universe"through such humanistic symbols as tombs,architecture,utensils,paintings and literature.This system is a key to the collective spiritual will and national culture of early China.This view of space not only played a decisive role in the coherence of the art forms of the time,but also left a clear formal conceptual impression on later generations of art and assumed a pioneering role in formal Chinese aesthetics.Due to the significance of the relationship between Heaven and man in traditional culture,the rules of artistic form which embodied the early view of space foreshadowed the aesthetic practice and theoretical advancement of art in later times,becoming an important factor in the character of Chinese art forms.