Startseite Rhythmic Vitality: Traditional Aesthetics and the Theoretical Vision of Contemporary Chinese Film Aesthetics
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Rhythmic Vitality: Traditional Aesthetics and the Theoretical Vision of Contemporary Chinese Film Aesthetics

Ein Erratum zu diesem Artikel finden Sie hier: https://doi.org/10.1515/jcfs-2025-2001
  • Linxia Chen

    Linxia Chen is a professor in the Teaching and Research Office of Literature and Art of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Sun Yat-sen University. He once taught at the School of Art of Wuhan University. For many years, he has been committed to the study of cinema and culture.

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Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 15. Januar 2024
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Abstract

For Chinese films, the ideal of “rhythmic vitality” (气韵生动, Qiyun Shengdong) pursued by traditional aesthetics is of great significance. Traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy stress the pace of flowing (“similar sounds integrate”) and the rhythm of harmony (“different sounds correspond to each other”). Correspondingly, the aesthetic ideal of rhythmic vitality refers to the awareness of life produced by the cinematic medium during its evolution. However, compared with the aesthetic developments that characterize western cinema, Chinese films should not be content with its current approach, which largely disregards this particular aesthetic ideal. Rhythmic vitality originates from a unique national cosmology and methodology, beginning with the resemblances between appearances and spirit and resulting with the “primordial qi” (元气, Yuanqi) that constitutes all living creatures. It signifies the special aesthetic connection between humans and nature, whereby each are subjects of one another and in complete harmony. Arguably, this aesthetic ideal avoids the subject–object dichotomy of western thought that has prevailed since modern times. Additionally, the unique quality of cinema’s rhythmic vitality involves the use of special footage. Practically, through the use of large (small humans in wider landscape), full (the scene), far (the distance), and long-lens cameras for scenarios depicting intense emotion or conflict, cinema may render the holistic ideal of rhythmic vitality.


Corresponding author: Linxia Chen, Department of Chinese Language and Literature, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong, China, E-mail:
Translated by Wenjie Zhu, Communication University of China, Beijing, China, E-mail: stellazhu33@163.com.

About the author

Linxia Chen

Linxia Chen is a professor in the Teaching and Research Office of Literature and Art of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Sun Yat-sen University. He once taught at the School of Art of Wuhan University. For many years, he has been committed to the study of cinema and culture.

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Postscript

The originally article entitled 何为气韵,如何生动? was published in Renwen Zazhi 人文杂志 (The Journal of Humanities) 2022(8): 70–80.

Received: 2023-07-05
Accepted: 2023-11-07
Published Online: 2024-01-15
Published in Print: 2024-04-25

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Heruntergeladen am 28.10.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/jcfs-2023-0071/html
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