Keping Wang – författare

This book mainly delves into the practical moral poetics in Plato''s late masterpiece, the Laws, and applies a comparative approach to Plato''s philosophizing and the Chinese way of thinking in the domains of art-making, cultivating a good life, and music-poetry education.

Plato''s main concern is psychic and correct education as the foundation of character building, coupled with the development of ideal guardians or perfect citizens. Such education requires a suitable use of allegories, myths, and poems, because it involves not only youngsters but also non-philosophers. Saturated with poetic wisdom, it enhances philosophical learning and human becoming in effect and sheds light on how to live a worthwhile life in praxis.

What is discussed herein will interest students and scholars of ancient Greek philosophy, classical studies, art theory, Chinese thought and poetry education, among others.

This book mainly delves into the practical moral poetics in Plato''s late masterpiece, the Laws, and applies a comparative approach to Plato''s philosophizing and the Chinese way of thinking in the domains of art-making, cultivating a good life, and music-poetry education.

Plato''s main concern is psychic and correct education as the foundation of character building, coupled with the development of ideal guardians or perfect citizens. Such education requires a suitable use of allegories, myths, and poems, because it involves not only youngsters but also non-philosophers. Saturated with poetic wisdom, it enhances philosophical learning and human becoming in effect and sheds light on how to live a worthwhile life in praxis.

What is discussed herein will interest students and scholars of ancient Greek philosophy, classical studies, art theory, Chinese thought and poetry education, among others.

​With the rise of China in the 21st century, this book offers a trans-cultural and thematic study of key Chinese concepts which influence modern day Chinese thinking across the spheres of politics, economics and society. It reflects on the major schools of Chinese thought including Confucianism, Daoism and Zen Buddhism, providing a historical perspective on the ideological development of China in terms of the relationship between  man and nature, social ethics, political governance, poetry education, aesthetic criticism and art theory. It also explores primary aspects of Chinese poetics and aesthetics with reference to the interaction between the endogenous theories and their western counterparts. Written by a leader in Chinese Aesthetics against the background of both globalization and glocalization at home and abroad, this is a key read for all those interested in the cultural, philosophical and aesthetic underpinnings of contemporary China.

This Key Concepts pivot considers the fundamental Chinese cultural ideal of harmony (hé/和). Historically originating from Confucianism, the concept of harmony sits at the heart of Chinese traditional culture, which is characteristically morality-based and harmony-conscious due to the central role of pragmatic reason and wisdom nurtured through Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism, Legalism and other schools of thought. This pivot delineates the rationale of the Chinese philosophy of harmony and its implications for modern social practices worldwide. It notably reexamines the relevance of hé beyond the realm of philosophy, and how this concept can impact on modern day human relations, amongst individuals and families as well as on a wider societal scale. It explores how hé can affect perspectives on political interaction, international relations and human conflict, as well as the interaction between man and nature. Addressing the inevitable tension between theory and practice, this bookargues for the very real relevance of hé in 21st century cultural, social, political and economic spheres in China and beyond.

This book considers the Chinese conception of beauty from a historical perspective with regard to its significant relation to human personality and human existence. It examines the etymological implications of the pictographic character mei, the totemic symbolism of beauty, the ferocious beauty of the bronzeware. Further on, it proceeds to look into the conceptual progression of beauty in such main schools of thought as Confucianism, Daoism and Chan Buddhism. Then, it goes on to illustrate through art and literature the leading principles of equilibriumharmony, spontaneous naturalness, subtle void and synthetic possibilities. It also offers a discussion of modern change and transcultural creation conducted with particular reference to the theory of the poetic state par excellence (yi jing shuo) and that of art as sedimentation (ji dian shuo).