Winning the hearts of the people with artistic masterpieces: An artistic aesthetic tradition of Chinese Marxism

Abstract

Just as classic Marxist writers are included among the world’s top-class artists, Chinese Marxism has gradually nurtured a new tradition of modern aesthetics. This tradition serves to enlighten the people, cultivate their appreciation of artistic masterpieces, and thus establish a complete set of artistic systems that has been inspiring people to constantly reflect on and improve themselves. Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and Xi Jinping, among other leaders, acquired a deep understanding of Marxist aesthetics and incorporated it in their policy making. At present, while reviewing the artistic achievements in the past hundred years, we must be fully aware of the deficiencies caused by reductionism and shortsightedness in literature and art. In order to overcome those problems, there are some useful lessons for artists and writers: getting in touch with people’s concerns, depicting the lives they are familiar with, paying attention to national styles, deciphering the patterns of geographical aesthetics, and pursuing artistic individuality.

Keywords:

• Chinese Marxism
• winning the hearts of the people
• artistic masterpieces
• artistic aesthetic tradition
• Mao Zedong

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This article is based on the research supported by the Major Program of the 2018 National Social Science Fund of China: ‘Research on the History of Literature and Art and the Peak of Literature and Art’ [grant number 18ZD02].

Notes on contributors

Wang Yichuan

Wang Yichuan received his Ph.D. degree from Beijing Normal University in 1987. In 2016, he was rewarded as a master teacher under the ‘Thousand Talents Project’; and he was awarded the title of ‘Changjiang Scholar’ by Ministry of Education in 2005. He served as the dean of School of Arts at Peking University. Currently, he is a professor and the director of the Center for Studies of Literary Theory at Beijing Normal University. He also serves as one of the deputy chairs of Chinese Literary Critics Institute, a vice president of the China Aesthetics Association, a vice president of Chinese Literary and Artistic Theory Society, and a vice president of Chinese Film Critics Society. His research interests lie in literary theory, art theory, aesthetics, film and television criticism. His major publications include Becoming of the Meaningful; Rhetorical Aesthetics; The Emergence of Chinese Experiences of Modernity; The Second Text; Public Appreciation of Art; The Intercultural Art and Aesthetics; The Chinese Artistic Mind, etc.