Chinese environmental aesthetics / by Wangheng Chen ; translated by Feng Su ; edited by Gerald Cipriani.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chen, Wangheng, author.

Contributor:

Su, Feng, translator.

Cipriani, Gerald, editor.

Series:

Routledge contemporary China series ; 126.

Routledge contemporary China series

Standardized Title:

Huan jing mei xue. English

Language:

Chinese

English

Subjects (All):

Environment (Aesthetics).

Aesthetics, Chinese.

Physical Description:

xx, 212 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2015.

Summary:

"China is currently afflicted by enormous environmental problems. This book, drawing on ancient and modern Chinese environmental thinking, considers what it is that makes an environment a desirable place for living. The book emphasises ideas of beauty, and discusses how these ideas can be applied in natural, agricultural and urban environments in order to produce desirable environments. The book argues that environment is both a product of nature and of human beings, and as such is potentially alterable by culture. The book explores the three aspects of environmental beauty whereby such alteration might be beneficially made: integrated and holistic; ecological and man-made; and authentic and everyday"-- Provided by publisher.

"China is currently afflicted by enormous environmental problems. This book, drawing on ancient and modern Chinese environmental thinking, considers what it is that makes an environment a desirable place for living. The book emphasises ideas of beauty, and discusses how these ideas can be applied in natural, agricultural and urban environments in order to produce desirable environments. The book argues that environment is both a product of nature and of human beings, and as such is potentially alterable by culture. The book explores the three aspects of environmental beauty whereby such alteration might be beneficially made: integrated and holistic; ecological and man-made; and authentic and everyday. This book addresses environmental issues by distinctively suggesting that an aesthetic approach inspired from ancient Chinese tradition could help us overcome the many problems that human beings have created at local and global levels. Although its main focus is the traditional and current contexts of the People's Republic of China, the book transcends national borders. A typical example is the ancient Chinese thought system and cultural practice of Feng Shui (

Contents:

1 Environmental aesthetics in ancient China 9

2 Traditional Chinese conceptions of environmental beauty 39

3 Gardens, palaces and agricultural landscapes 72

4 Beauty, nature and the environment 106

5 Beauty and the agricultural environment 123

6 Beauty and the urban environment 151.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780415540179

0415540178

OCLC:

870986278