TERMBASES
This term originally refers to an attitude in reading classics, requiring one to become deeply absorbed in the work as if one were submerged in water, repeatedly ruminating on its meaning until one is able to fully digest its significance so that it informs one’s own feelings and insights. In time this becomes a way of learning, impelling one to mobilize one’s own experience and accumulated knowledge to think deeply about what he is reading so that knowledge is endlessly renewed and refreshed. As a method of understanding and interpreting literary works, it requires one to place one’s own thought in the particular world of the work so that one becomes deeply aware of why the work was so written and can master its subtle meanings and aesthetic conception. This method is premised on the understanding that literary works can be deeply inspiring and enlightening.
Qu is the aspirations, emotions, and interests expressed in the work of a writer or artist. His pursuit of qu determines his unique perception and comprehension of nature and life. It also determines what theme he chooses for his work and how he gives expression to it. Qu is invisible but manifests its value and appeal through aesthetic appreciation.
This term refers to an effect that allows lasting satisfaction and rewarding in poetry appreciation, which is a particular sense of beauty offered by poetry. In the Southern Dynasties, poetry critic Zhong Rong （？-518？）proposed in “The Critique of Poetry” that in writing five-character-per-line poems, one should pay special attention to the combination of form and content, so that readers could enjoy a poem with inexhaustible delight. Later, nuanced flavor also came to refer to a kind of taste in literary and artistic creation.
This term refers to the subtle elegance of literary and artistic works. It was originally used to depict a person’s mien and manner. During the Wei and Jin dynasties, the propriety inherent in a person was valued, whereas during the previous Han Dynasty, a person’s external appearance was stressed. Later on, this concept was incorporated into the theory of calligraphy and painting to refer to the elegant subtlety of a work. In the Ming Dynasty, the concept was extended to the theory of poetry, and elegant subtlety became a requirement for composing poetry. Later, Wang Shizhen（1634—1711） of the Qing Dynasty further developed the theory of elegant subtlety. In compiling The Elegant Subtlety of the Tang Poetry, he elaborated on his aesthetic views. In his writings on poetry theory, Wang Shizhen championed these views and created his own unique poetical aesthetics, enriching the theory of elegant subtlety, and making it a major school of the Qing-dynasty poetics.
The term refers to a state where the scene described in a literary or artistic work reflects the sense and sensibility intended. Jing (境) originally meant perimeter or boundary. With the introduction of Buddhism into China during the late Han, Wei and Jin dynasties, the idea gained popularity that the physical world was but an illusion, and that only the mind was real in existence. So jing came to be seen as a realm that could be attained by having sensibilities of the mind. As a literary and artistic term, jing has several meanings. The term yijing (意境) was originally put forward by renowned Tang poet Wang Changling (?- 756 ?). It describes an intense aesthetic experience in which one’s perception of an object reaches a realm of perfect union with the implication denoted by the object. Aesthetic appreciation in the mind is characterized by “projecting meaning into a scene” and “blending sentiment with scenery.” In contrast with the term yixiang (意象 image), yijing fully reveals the implication and the heightened aesthetic sense that an artistic work is intended to deliver. The concept is extended to include other notions such as sentiment and scene, actual and implied meanings, or mind and object. It also raises literary and artistic works to a new realm of aesthetic appreciation. After evolving through several dynasties, this concept developed into an important criterion to judge the quality of a literary or artistic work, representing an accomplishment drawing on classical writings through ages. It has also become a hallmark for all outstanding literary and artistic works. The term also represents a perfect union between foreign thoughts and culture and those typically Chinese.
Jingjie (境界) originally meant border or boundary. Later, it was used to translate the idea of a mental realm in Buddhist sutras, a state of spiritual cultivation achieved after having overcome bewilderment in the material world. As a literary and artistic term, jingjie is mainly used to indicate the aesthetic depth in a literary work so as to give full expression to the author’s creativity, comprehension, and aesthetic faculties. A work reaching a high level of jingjie manifests the author’s true personality, transcends the ordinary, strikes a responsive chord in the heart of the reader, stimulates the reader’s imagination, and thus enhances the reader’s appreciation of his work. The term yijing (意境 aesthetic conception) came into being earlier than jingjie, which was formed under the influence of Buddhism in the mid-Tang period. In his Poetic Remarks in the Human World, modern scholar Wang Guowei （1877-1927）wrote extensively about jingjie. He often used yijing in the same sense as he used jingjie or the other way round. He created the theory of jingjie, in which he blended classical Western and classical Chinese aesthetics. Generally speaking, yijing refers to a perfect combination of the message the author conveys with the images he uses in his works, and it gives full rein to reader’s imagination. The concept of jingjie, however, foregrounds the sublimation of artistic images through mental insight, and emphasizes the role of the mental world in elevating the work of art to a higher level.
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