广州元妙观审美文化特征探析

Aesthetic Cultural Characteristics of Guangzhou Yuanmiao Temple Garden

以已消失的广州元妙观道观园林为研究对象,聚焦于传统道观园林遗产在学术转型背景下的审美文化研究问题。梳理北宋至清初广州元妙观遗留的碑刻文本及相关文献,结合审美文化结构理论,从物质空间审美属性、社会教化审美需求、城市宗教景观审美活动三个层次的审美互动展开,以历代修缮活动为研究起点,总结元妙观空间演变的三个阶段特征;以道观命名、斋醮科仪和明贤祭祀为重要线索,揭示其社会教化功能;以文人诗词雅集描摹及城市景观集称塑造为蓝本,归纳广州城市宗教胜景审美意蕴的建构。认为已湮没典型园林所建构的审美文化是其遗产价值的重要表征,其研究为系统挖掘、整理和展示区域景观文化提供重要的理论依据和历史经验。

This paper investigated the aesthetic culture of traditional Taoist Temple gardens in the context of academic transformation using a case study based on the Yuanmiao Temple Garden in Guangzhou. According to past inscriptions and literature concerning the Yuanmiao Temple Garden in Guangzhou, the aesthetic culture of traditional Taoist Temple garden heritage was analyzed and summarized regarding the evolution of spatial aesthetics, the aesthetic needs of enlightenment, and the aesthetic activities of religion using the theory of aesthetic cultural structures. The Yuanmiao Temple Garden in Guangzhou has evolved from a religious sacrificial space for saints and sages with an aesthetic representation of a fairy cave in the Tang and Song Dynasties, to an urban public space for landscape appreciation and reflection. The aesthetic elements involve architecture, ceremony, poetry, and other artistic forms. For this research, the spatial evolution of the Yuanmiao Temple was divided into three stages: construction of religious space similar to the abode of fairies and immortals, stable spatial pattern of three halls, two corridors and two buildings, and secular space replacing the sacred space. The social education of religion is an aesthetic cultural phenomenon based on religious activities, artistic activities, and daily life. It reflects the world outlook, aesthetic emotion, and aesthetic value of the aesthetic subject. As official management organizations, Taoist temple gardens are an important medium that connects ritual concepts and local enlightenment. The Yuanmiao Temple Garden in Guangzhou educates the public as a response to the imperial power and Taoist annotations, integrates various social activities like ritual education of social governance and enlightenment of saints and sages, connects the daily life of citizens, spreads ritual concepts of the social order, highlights multi-level educational possibilities, and spreads the functions of official, local, and public groups. The gradual development of social education has promoted booming public tourism activities. The Yuanmiao Temple Garden is not only a very prosperous Taoist temple garden in Guangzhou, but also a scenic Taoist spot that is highly appreciated by scholars. As a representative organic part of the urban public space, the Yuanmiao Temple Garden highlights its unique aesthetic implications in the construction of urban public landscapes. Visitors to the Yuanmiao Temple Garden grew from literati to the public by constructing landscape collections and spreading literati poetry and paintings. Moreover, it developed gradually into a place for generalized collective aesthetic activity. The Yuanmiao Temple Garden witnessed the changes in aesthetic needs and diversification of aesthetic activities in the development of its material space, showing the distinctive aesthetic cultural characteristics of Taoist Temple Gardens in Guangzhou. Based on the typical spatial layout of Taoist temples in China, the Yuanmiao Temple Garden created an urban temple garden landscape similar to the abode of fairies and immortals and gradually formed the stable spatial layout of three halls, two corridors, and two buildings which provided material spaces for social education activities. The concentrated social education functions carried by the material space are reflected in aesthetic activities, such as naming of temples, religious rituals, and sacrificial activities. Multi-level education and spreading activities connect the aesthetic needs of subjects, the aesthetic attributes of objects, and the social cultural background. They also influence the generalization of aesthetic activities in urban religious spaces and form the aesthetic consensus on urban religious landscapes. Moreover, the aesthetic consensus influences selection and construction of the urban landscape, forming the aesthetic cultural characteristics of multi-element interaction. This study focuses on aesthetic cultural problems of typical Chinese garden heritage sites in academic research in the new century, and reviews the heritage value of disappeared gardens from the perspective of aesthetic culture. Results showed that studies on the aesthetics of traditional Chinese gardens not only involved cognition of the attributes of objects, but also involve deep exploration of the aesthetic needs of subjects and the historical culture carried in aesthetic activities.