On the afternoon of April 20, Professor Peng Jixiang, President of the Chinese Art Theory Association and Doctoral Supervisor at Peking University, was invited by the School of Music to deliver an academic lecture titled “Traditional Chinese Culture and the Spirit of Chinese Art” in the conference hall on the third floor of the Science & Technology Building. The lecture was chaired by Ji Wei, Dean of the School of Music, and attended by over 200 faculty and student representatives.

Starting from the spiritual core of traditional Chinese culture, Professor Peng systematically elucidated the unique aesthetic pursuits of Chinese art by integrating Confucian and Taoist philosophies with classical Chinese aesthetic theories. He proposed that Chinese art emphasizes “the unity of heaven and humanity” and “the interplay of void and substance”, prioritizing the creation of artistic “意境” (yijing, or “artistic conception”) over mere formal beauty—a characteristic deeply rooted in China’s 5,000-year cultural heritage. Through analyses of classical art forms such as poetry, calligraphy, painting, and traditional opera, Professor Peng vividly demonstrated how traditional culture has shaped the expressive abstraction and humanistic spirit of Chinese art.

In his concluding remarks, Dean Ji Wei stated that the lecture not only broadened the academic horizons of attendees but also reinforced cultural confidence, injecting new momentum into the university’s efforts to promote the spirit of Chinese aesthetic education and advance innovative development in art pedagogy.

Written by: Dang Dai  

Photo by: Li Yuhang

Source: NYNU Academic Activities (Chinese)

https://www.nynu.edu.cn/info/1048/29665.htm