Abstract

This chapter presents three specific Daoist approaches to aesthetics tidao 體道 (embodiment of Dao), hedao 合道 (alignment with Dao), and dedao 得道 (obtaining Dao) to illustrate that beauty is not a judgment on life but actually life itself, where living is aesthetification for its own sake. The central concerns and practices for Dao aesthetics are about generating and designing conditions for making life and livelihood delightful, meaningful, and significant. Taken as a whole, they manifest the quality of human existence and the meaning of aesthetic life, and also offer a conceptual framework through which Dao aesthetics can be apprehended and appreciated. When human life flows with Dao as the paramount way to become beautiful and sublime at all levels, a 造化 zaohua (creative transformation) of an aesthetic existence will take place.

Keywords: tidao, hedao, dedao, Dao aesthetics, zaohua

Chapter 22 of the classical Daoist text, the Zhuangzi (third century B.C), claims that “great beauty does not refer/speak.” (大美不言damei buyan). This statement captures the basic approach to and inspiration for Dao aesthetics. The “great beauty” here refers to Dao, the source of all beings and the core of heaven, earth, and the myriad things. Because of Dao, the modes of all existences consist of dynamic situations, tendencies, and patterns rather than static essentials. Daodejing 42 explains, “The myriad things carry Yin and embrace Yang, blending Qi to create harmony.” The origin of the myriad things, the universe's structure, the source of change, the beginning of life, and all fundamental questions about existence, can be explained through this framework of yinyang-based interaction. The great beauty is beautiful as a result of yinyang transformations.

Nevertheless, cognitive perceptions and concepts can often re-shape the multiple dimensions of natural life into a limited vision and force the diversity of living phenomena into a set of propositions or narrow mental and linguistic structures based on affirmation and negation (shi-fei 是 非). But beauty cannot be truly experienced through only the inspective outlook of shi-fei. Dao aesthetics goes far beyond this since it situates art in the very core of life.