What is Art, and What Are Genres and Styles?

Art can be both a broad concept and an individual phenomenon. Through observation and exploration, perception and analysis, and the integration and balance of human elements such as technique, imagination, and experience, it creates objects, environments, images, movements, or sounds that embody aesthetic qualities, serving as a vital complement to language.

Art has three modes of presentation: either it presents the particular through the universal, along with the identity between the two; or it presents the universal through the particular, along with the identity between the two; or it presents the identity itself directly (in which case, the universal is directly the particular, and the particular is directly the universal).

Key Features

An image, or aesthetic image, broadly encompasses aesthetic contexts and artistic atmospheres. It primarily refers to the vivid, concrete, and tangible depictions of people and objects in artistic activities that evoke intellectual or emotional responses in viewers. The image is a mode of existence unique to artistic activity. As products of human spiritual creation, works of art depend on specific material media; they must be intuitive, concrete, and sensuous entities that can be directly perceived by the human senses. The image is a fundamental element of artistic works; therefore, every artistic image must appear in a specific, concrete, and sensuous form, authentically portraying the external forms and internal characteristics of people, events, scenes, and objects in life. It must be vivid and lifelike, evoking a sense of vivid realism in the viewer. Artistic images are also the result of the artist’s understanding and experience of life, the crystallization of the artist’s aesthetic consciousness. Consequently, they possess the vividness and concreteness that the artist captures while observing and experiencing life. Through human senses such as sight and hearing, one can perceive and grasp the colors, lines, sounds, and movements of these artistic images, evoking an aesthetic experience that allows one to “hear the sounds, see the people, and immerse oneself in the scene.”

An image, or aesthetic image, broadly encompasses aesthetic contexts and artistic atmospheres. It primarily refers to the vivid, concrete, and tangible representations of people and objects in artistic activities that evoke intellectual or emotional responses in viewers. The image is a mode of existence unique to artistic activity. As products of human spiritual creation, works of art depend on specific material media; they must be intuitive, concrete, and sensuous entities that can be directly perceived by the human senses. The image is a fundamental element of artistic works; therefore, every artistic image must appear in a specific, concrete, and sensuous form, authentically portraying the external forms and internal characteristics of people, events, scenes, and objects in life. It must be vivid and lifelike, evoking a sense of vivid realism in the viewer. Artistic images are also the result of the artist’s understanding and experience of life, the crystallization of the artist’s aesthetic consciousness. Consequently, they possess the vividness and concreteness that the artist captures while observing and experiencing life. Through human senses such as sight and hearing, one can perceive and grasp the colors, lines, sounds, and movements of these artistic images, evoking an aesthetic experience that allows one to “hear the sounds, see the people, and immerse oneself in the scene.”

Artistic imagery permeates the entire process of artistic creation. Artists can never separate themselves from concrete imagery during the creative process. Just as Zheng Banqiao painted bamboo, his observation and experience of the bamboo’s form began with “the bamboo in the garden” and “the bamboo in his eyes”; his artistic conception gave birth to “the bamboo in his heart”; and through grinding ink and unfolding paper, he swiftly transformed it into a new form, ultimately completing “the bamboo in his hand.” It is evident that the image of the bamboo accompanied the entire process of painting bamboo from start to finish. Not only do artists never stray from vivid, concrete imagery during the creative process, but the resulting works of art must also present tangible artistic imagery, using their powerful artistic appeal to move every viewer. Therefore, the process of art appreciation also relies on emotional engagement with artistic imagery to evoke a deeper appreciation of the work’s context and artistic atmosphere. This sufficiently demonstrates that imagery permeates every stage of artistic activity. Imagery has become the most fundamental characteristic distinguishing art from other forms of social ideology; it is also the unique form through which art reflects social life, representing the creator’s momentary, intuitive aesthetic creation of the object. It is sensuous, not deductive; experiential, not analytical.

At the same time, the creation of artistic imagery cannot be separated from reason. Artistic imagery is meaningful; it is imbued with the artist’s profound rational thought. It is not a mere reproduction of scenes from objective life, but rather the externalization and manifestation of the artist’s selection, refinement, and integration of their understanding of life, their attitude toward social phenomena, and their rational insights. As Lu Xun once said: “What a painter paints and what a sculptor sculpts—on the surface, it is a painting or a statue, but in reality, it is an expression of his thoughts and personality.” Furthermore, the rational thinking employed by artists in their creative activities plays a pivotal role in grasping the spirit of the times, selecting materials and subjects, conceiving themes and plots, and choosing forms of expression. Artistic activity is the organic unity of the grasp of imagery and the grasp of reason.

The Integration of Emotional Experience and Logical Cognition

Emotion in art—that is, aesthetic emotion—is a non-utilitarian emotion that is universal to humanity. Emotion is a key factor in the generation of motivation for artistic activity, as well as in the processes of creation and reception. At the same time, emotion is a fundamental element of artistic creation. Artistic activity is always accompanied by emotion; this is the concrete psychological manifestation of desire, interest, and personality, as well as a value judgment regarding whether an object can satisfy one’s own desires. The Russian writer Leo Tolstoy once pointed out in his *On Art*: Literary and artistic creation is the artist’s act of “evoking within oneself emotions once experienced, and after evoking these emotions, conveying them through images expressed in movement, line, color, sound, and words, so that others may experience the same emotions—this is artistic activity.” Emotion governs the entire process of artistic activity and runs through the entire psychological process of artistic creation. The “sensation” in artistic activity is governed by the desire for “enjoyment” and is always drawn to the colors and sounds of the object that evoke one’s own pleasure; “Perception” in artistic activity often selects and processes objects according to emotional needs, choosing and “judging” them based on emotional schemas; “Imagination” in artistic activity creates images that align with one’s emotions and objectives, following the direction dictated by the subject’s emotional demands. “Understanding” in artistic activity is often a personalized form of recognition and insight; through this insight, one gains a profound understanding of the meaning of life and existence, and it is undoubtedly an activity imbued with emotion.

An artist’s emotions are often fully expressed through artistic imagery. When artists reflect on life and depict artistic images, they are by no means indifferent or unmoved; rather, their work embodies their thoughts and emotions, their loves and hates, their praise and criticism, and is imbued with their aesthetic sensibilities and ideals. In April 1937, German fascists launched a massive bombing raid with over 40 aircraft on Guernica, a renowned cultural city in the Basque region of Spain. This act sparked intense indignation in the master painter Pablo Picasso, who, within just one month, completed his historic masterpiece *Guernica*, a work that champions justice and denounces war crimes.

In aesthetic, artistic creation, and artistic appreciation, emotion is linked not only to imagery but also to cognition; it is a unique psychological phenomenon that arises from aesthetic cognition, with aesthetic cognition serving as its foundation. It is through aesthetic cognition and the complex mental processes involved that beauty in life can be discovered and appreciated.

A person whose mind is empty and who lacks a profound understanding of society and life is unlikely to develop rich and intense aesthetic emotions; consequently, such a person cannot become an outstanding artist or a discerning appreciator. In artistic endeavors, emotion and intellectual understanding are inextricably intertwined. Preaching without emotion is not art, and emotion without thought cannot give rise to art. True artistic activity is the unity of emotional experience and logical understanding.

The Unity of Aesthetic Activity and Ideology

The aesthetic nature of art is the fundamental characteristic that distinguishes it from other social practices. This aesthetic nature refers to the aesthetic qualities and values inherent in works of art. A work of art is the crystallization of an artist’s aesthetic ideals and the result of the creation of beauty. It moves people not only through emotion but also through beauty, providing a source of spiritual pleasure and enjoyment. Because the imagery in works of art concentrates and condenses the beauty found in everyday life, it possesses a more metaphysical aesthetic quality than the imagery of actual objects in real life. In traditional Chinese painting, the image of the plum blossom is often depicted with gnarled, twisted branches that stretch out in wild, unconventional directions. Defying the cold and frost, it bursts into bloom to welcome spring, embodying an aesthetic connotation of “old trees bearing new blossoms” and the vitality of youth, evoking a richer sense of beauty than simply observing plum blossoms in real life. Artistic works portray the beautiful aspects of life, making them stand out more vividly and fluidly; similarly, when depicting the ugly aspects of life, they can transform the ugliness of life into artistic beauty. Through satire and condemnation of the ugly aspects of life in their works, artists fully expose their vile essence, provoking people’s aversion and contempt for them. This serves to eliminate and eradicate ugliness, thereby inspiring people’s yearning and aspiration for beautiful things. In this context, the ugliness of life acquires a certain aesthetic significance and value. For example, artistic works on the theme of anti-corruption and integrity, by exposing and criticizing corrupt practices, fully reveal the harm that social decay inflicts on socialist construction and serve as a warning to the world. They similarly achieve the震撼ing power of transforming the rotten into the miraculous, allowing the viewer to experience a unique aesthetic sensation.

Art is not only an aesthetic activity with aesthetic characteristics; it also belongs to the ideology within the superstructure and possesses ideological qualities. Ultimately, art is a way for humans to spiritually grasp the world; through art, people come to understand the world, which also encompasses their understanding of themselves. Moreover, the aesthetic nature of art is its most fundamental essential attribute, while its ideological characteristics are embedded within these aesthetic qualities. This endows the aesthetic world of art with a broader and more profound significance; therefore, we say that artistic activity is the unity of aesthetic activity and ideology.

Art form

Art embodies and materializes certain aesthetic concepts, tastes, and ideals held by people. Whether in the creation or reception of art, the subject must rely on their senses to perceive, convey, and evoke corresponding aesthetic experiences. The aesthetic classification of art should primarily be based on the subject’s aesthetic perceptions and modes of perception. According to this principle, art can be divided into four major categories: visual arts, performing arts, interdisciplinary arts, and literary arts.

Visual Arts

Visual art, also known as fine art, refers to the art of conveying and receiving aesthetic experiences through the human visual sense (the eyes) and corresponding aesthetic methods.  Among the human senses, vision is the most complex, refined, and sensitive; it is also the primary source of information for humans. The richness and diversity of the external world are often perceived through visual activity. Consequently, visual art boasts the greatest variety of forms and styles, and even other art forms frequently rely on visual perception as a foundation for constructing artistic imagery.

Humans have been exploring visual expression since ancient times, leaving behind the earliest paintings and sculptures. As human civilization has progressed, the range of art forms and techniques that rely on the visual sense as an aesthetic medium has continued to expand; painting, sculpture, architecture, decorative arts, calligraphy, and photography are among the most representative forms of visual art.

Intuitiveness is the most fundamental aesthetic characteristic of visual art. What the eye directly perceives are intuitive shapes, colors (or tones), and textures (texture or volume), as well as their compositional relationships. Therefore, in visual art, whether in two-dimensional forms (painting, calligraphy, and photography) or three-dimensional forms (sculpture and architecture), great emphasis is placed on the application of the principles of formal beauty. Diversity and unity, symmetry, balance, contrast, harmony, and the relationship between figure and ground are all crucial factors in shaping the aesthetic characteristics of visual art. In visual art, form and content, as well as imagery and meaning, are expressed in various ways, collectively constituting the art’s incomparably rich aesthetic appeal. For example, based on the ability to highly generalize the movement and changes of life as well as different textures or volumes, lines can generate a direct aesthetic impact; different lines evoke different aesthetic sensations. Consequently, lines have become not only a primary linguistic element in painting but also an important language in other visual arts. Color possesses the ability to influence human emotions and is a primary aesthetic element in visual art; different color arrangements or tones can evoke distinct emotional responses, providing visual pleasure and enabling the appreciation of their expressive meaning.

(1) Painting and Sculpture

Both painting and sculpture primarily employ form, color, texture, and artistic elements such as points, lines, planes, and volumes to create specific artistic images. The former is expressed on a two-dimensional plane, while the latter is shaped in three-dimensional space; their formal qualities are their most important aesthetic characteristics.

Due to differences in artistic expression, there is a vast array of painting genres, with realism and expressionism being the two primary approaches. Realistic painting directly imitates the forms of nature and real-world objects, often employing lifelike techniques to achieve specific figurative effects; expressionist painting, on the other hand, emphasizes subjective spirit, frequently utilizing techniques such as exaggeration, distortion, symbolism, and abstraction to directly express the artist’s emotional experiences and aesthetic needs, thereby creating artistic imagery. For example, the distinctive features of Chinese painting lie not only in the unique nature of its tools and materials (brushes, Xuan paper, and ink), but more importantly, in its strong emphasis on expressing the artist’s inner spirit. It stresses “capturing the spirit through form” and “the unity of spirit and form,” pursuing vitality, expressiveness, and artistic conception. It does not aim to study the material properties of forms in the objective world, but rather seeks to engage with the imagery of painting to fulfill spiritual needs, subtly and profoundly expressing the artist’s spiritual qualities, thereby forming the unique aesthetic significance of Chinese painting.

(2) Architecture

Architecture is a symbolic visual art form that “can generally only use elements from the external environment to suggest the meanings embedded within it,” creating “works whose external forms can only symbolically hint at their meaning.”

Architecture fully embodies the organic integration of function and aesthetics, as well as technology and art. Although architectural forms and purposes vary widely, they generally reflect the principles of “utility, strength, and beauty” emphasized by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius, always striving to express the forms of fundamental natural forces, as well as human spirit and wisdom. In other words, while architecture serves practical functions (such as providing shelter for people), it also possesses certain aesthetic characteristics. Through its structural forms, spatial arrangements, and decorative techniques, architecture creates a rhythmic, abstract beauty that stimulates aesthetic associations during the act of observation, thereby evoking specific aesthetic experiences. For instance, the square, austere layout and central axis symmetry of ancient Chinese palaces convey a sense of order and solemnity; the tiered spires and soaring towers of Gothic cathedrals, rising higher with each level, evoke a sensation of soaring upward. The Temple of Heaven in Beijing, the pyramids of Egypt, Notre-Dame de Paris in France, and the Sydney Opera House in Australia, among others, all offer unique aesthetic experiences and inspiration through their distinctive abstract forms.

As
contemporary society becomes increasingly aware of the importance of the ecological environment, the harmony between architecture and the environment has become an urgent need. Blue skies, green spaces, bodies of water, and tree-lined avenues have broadened people’s visual appreciation of architecture.

Architecture is also a mirror reflecting the cultural spirit of an era, much like history written in stone. When discussing the cathedral in *The Hunchback of Notre-Dame*, Victor Hugo once remarked: “It is a chronological system. Every wave of time adds a layer of sand, and every generation deposits these sediments upon this edifice.” Faced with a variety of architectural styles, people can not only appreciate their aesthetic beauty but also recognize and experience the historical landscape, the vicissitudes of time, the spirit of a nation, and cultural creativity. The solemnity and elegance of ancient Greek architecture, the soaring grandeur of Gothic architecture, the opulent style of Rococo architecture, the smooth, flat facades of modern architecture, and the metaphor-laden distortions, fragmentation, and exaggerated ornamentation of postmodern architecture all accurately reflect the cultural spirit of their respective historical eras and the aesthetic tastes of people across different periods.

(3) Calligraphy

Calligraphy, as a unique Chinese art form, has evolved from practical origins. By leveraging the distinctive properties of the brush and Xuan paper, and through the dots, strokes, and lines of Chinese characters, it establishes an aesthetic relationship of structural correspondence between the compositional movement of the characters and human emotions. This imbues each character with a sense of life, embodying the calligrapher’s spiritual temperament and aesthetic pursuits. “Chinese calligraphy is nature rendered in rhythm; it expresses a deeper conception of the image of life, becoming a reflection of the art of life.”

(4) Photography

Photography is a visual art form with a distinctly modern character. Since the Frenchman Daguerre invented photography in 1839, the medium has undergone rapid and comprehensive development in both technical and aesthetic terms. In particular, as photographic technology has advanced, humanity’s aesthetic horizons have expanded to encompass a vast world—from outer space to the depths of the ocean, and from the microscopic to the macroscopic. Photography has become one of the primary tools for expressing visual aesthetics in today’s world, serving as humanity’s “third eye.”

The unique aesthetic characteristics of photographic art stem from its fundamental nature of capturing the actual appearance of objects on-site using a camera and photographic materials, and are primarily manifested in the unity of documentary realism and artistic expression.

On the one hand, photography engages directly with the actual subjects being captured, extracting vivid and moving moments from the complex, ever-changing movements of these subjects. Through the high degree of realism in the works, it creates artistic images of aesthetic value, evoking a unique aesthetic visual experience of life’s phenomena. This is the fundamental aesthetic characteristic that distinguishes the art of photography from other art forms. On the other hand, since the creation of a photographic image is always accomplished within the fleeting moment when the camera shutter is released, it requires not only the artist’s conscious aesthetic choices but also the application of photographic techniques (including composition and control of light and shadow). It is formed through the organic integration of lines, light and shadow, and color. Consequently, the aesthetic expressiveness, power of generalization, and emotional impact of photographic art possess their own unique characteristics. For example, when compared to painting—which also emphasizes formal aesthetics—although both involve the selection and representation of visual images, photography, and especially modern photographic art, possesses unique strengths of objectivity, authenticity, speed, and simplicity that painting cannot match.

Performing Arts

(1) Music

Music is an art form that conveys and receives aesthetic experiences through the sense of hearing (the ears) and corresponding aesthetic means.

Music expresses the emotional state of the artist through organized sounds. Its fundamental elements—rhythm, melody, timbre, harmony, pitch, and dynamics—combine to form an incredibly rich musical landscape. Beethoven once proclaimed that “music is a revelation more sublime than all wisdom and philosophy,” while Heine asserted that “music may be the ultimate language of art.”

The aesthetic characteristics of music are primarily manifested as follows: First, music is the art of sound. Sound—including human voices and the sounds of various musical instruments—is the material substance upon which music is based; it not only directly expresses the individual’s own feelings but also evokes strong emotions in others. Music utilizes sound to shape imagery and express thoughts and emotions. In music, sounds—whether high-pitched or low, rapid or lingering, intense or gentle—possess an aesthetic power to evoke corresponding feelings and emotions.

Second, music is the art of time. Through the presentation and passage of time, music expresses the continuity, change, and flow of life’s emotions or phenomena, evoking the listener’s aesthetic experience within a specific temporal process. Since the human psychological world, mental activities, and emotional experiences unfold within a dynamic temporal flow, music—with its inherent dynamism and sequential nature—is uniquely capable of fully expressing the complex psychological processes of the listener. Consequently, appreciating music requires the listener to possess a certain degree of perceptual agility and insight; those with sluggish reactions will find it difficult to grasp musical imagery within this temporal flow.

Third, music is the art of emotion. The renowned Russian composer Igor Stravinsky once said, “Music is emotion; without emotion, there is no music.” Music itself is a form of materialized emotion and a medium for its transmission, possessing the aesthetic charm of “moving people through emotion.” Unlike other art forms, music does not require an intermediary; instead, it acts directly on the listener’s mind through the sense of hearing, conveying the artist’s inner thoughts and emotions directly. In expressing and articulating the rich, nuanced, and complex emotions of humanity, it achieves an effect that other art forms find difficult to match. Consequently, it is well-suited to expressing the fluctuations and changes in the listener’s emotions, evoking specific emotional and psychological experiences, and even triggering physiological changes and reactions in the human body.

Fourth, music is characterized by uncertainty. The language of music is not a fixed, unambiguous vocabulary; its expression of emotion is not as explicit or conceptual as that of written language, but rather carries a certain degree of ambiguity and breadth. This characteristic not only provides both creators and listeners with ample room for imagination and reinterpretation, but also places specific demands on them—namely, a keen sense of music, a certain level of musical aesthetic experience, and imagination. For example, the effectiveness of music appreciation depends not only on the skill and quality of the composer and performer, as well as the sound equipment, but also on the listener’s personal experience, comprehension, and psychological state. Similarly, because of this indeterminacy in music’s expression of emotion, it can be directly experienced by diverse peoples around the world, serving as a unique bridge for the exchange of spiritual culture, ideas, and emotions among nations.

(2) Dance

As an art form that expresses the beauty of the human body, dance uses refined, organized, and aestheticized movements and postures as its means of expression to convey human aesthetic emotions and reveal the aesthetic qualities of life. In dance, the human body’s movements, accompanied by music, continuously unfold and evolve over time. This not only stirs the emotions of the audience and provides aesthetic pleasure but also creates an atmosphere that allows for the direct expression of emotions, inspiring the dancers and enabling them to derive a sense of entertainment and spiritual fulfillment from rhythm and movement. The aesthetic characteristics of dance are primarily manifested in its lyricism and expressiveness. The language of dance is a virtual and symbolic one. Since dance can only be expressed through the dancer’s physical postures, it must employ exaggerated and symbolic movements to shape artistic images and convey inner thoughts and emotions. Through rhythmic movements, postures, facial expressions, and constantly changing physical forms, dance constructs a unique artistic image. The depiction of the movement of life is the most fundamental aesthetic quality of the art of dance. In the Eastern Han dynasty, Fu Yi’s *Rhapsody on Dance* described the exquisite artistry and spiritual presence of “Zheng Nu,” a dancer of the Han dynasty’s *Pan Gu Dance*: “Her gauze robe flutters in the breeze, her long sleeves crisscross and intertwine, flowing and scattering in succession, then sweeping together in a rush. Like birds nesting in the sky, like swans startled by a sudden gust, her movements are graceful and unhurried, her body light and agile. Her posture is of unparalleled beauty, her heart pure and serene; through refined demeanor and posture she reveals her aspirations, her thoughts soaring alone into the vast unknown. Amidst towering mountains, amidst rushing waters, she transforms with her spirit—her existence is never in vain.” In this description, it is not difficult to discern, through the dancers’ gentle, flowing, and gracefully alluring movements, a quality of strength within softness and power within grace. Their vigorous spirit and swift beauty—moving like a gale, leaping like a startled swan, still as a maiden, and swift as a hare—seamlessly express the dancers’ inner sentiments of “a spirit as ethereal as floating clouds, and a resolve as firm as autumn frost.”

Second, since dance uses the human body to express emotions and convey meaning, it places great emphasis on form. However, this form is a combination of movement and stillness, as well as visual and auditory elements, and exists only during the performance—it is fleeting. Compared to sculpture, dance creates form primarily through movement; compared to music, dance is better able to express the external manifestation of the performer’s aesthetic emotions.

Furthermore, while the movements and postures that constitute dance forms originate from the imitation of real-world objects, in dance performance they have been abstracted and generalized. They are no longer natural forms found in daily life, but have become a relatively stable and independent dance language that expresses human thoughts and emotions, possessing specific aesthetic value. For example, the “orchid hand” gestures in traditional Chinese opera may have originally been derived from the hand movements used in spinning yarn or embroidery, but through the artistic transformation of performers, they have come to convey meanings such as “budding,” “hanging threads,” and “blooming.”

Generally speaking, dance is divided into two major categories: social dance and artistic dance. The former refers to dance activities performed in everyday life. The most popular form of social dance originated in Europe and later spread to countries around the world; it includes the elegant waltz, the rhythmically vibrant tango and rumba, and the high-energy disco. Artistic dance refers to works performed by dancers on stage that have been created through artistic conception. It requires a high level of technical skill to execute, such as ballet, modern dance, folk dance, and dance dramas.

(3) Traditional Performing Arts

QuYi is a general term for the various forms of narrative and vocal arts of the Chinese nation. It evolved over a long period from folk oral literature and vocal arts, and is a performing art genre that uses "spoken recitation and singing" to narrate stories, portray characters, express thoughts and emotions, and reflect social life. Most forms focus primarily on storytelling with character impersonation as a secondary element, characterized by “one performer playing multiple roles” (i.e., a single performer portraying various characters), alternating between spoken narration and singing; a few forms emphasize character impersonation with storytelling as a secondary element, featuring separate singing parts for different characters. Different varieties of Quyi are closely tied to the regional dialects of their places of origin, and Quyi music constitutes an important component of China’s ethnic music. Performances typically involve a small number of performers—usually just one to three people—using simple props. Performance styles include seated narration, standing narration, seated singing, standing singing, walking singing, divided singing, and colorful singing. The genres of the art form include those that combine prose and verse, those composed entirely of prose, and those composed entirely of verse. Musical forms include the “linked-melody style” (singing specific musical modes), the “main-melody style” (singing seven-character or ten-character lines), or a combination of both.

The folk arts encompass a wide variety of specific art forms. According to surveys and statistics, excluding those that once existed but have since disappeared, there are still approximately 400 folk art forms that remain active in Chinese folk culture. These include crosstalk, storytelling, Errenzhuan, single-string storytelling, drum storytelling, and double-reed storytelling, as well as the Uyghur Ruwap Keshak of Xinjiang, the Pingxian of Qinghai, Inner Mongolia’s Uliger and Haolaibao, Tibet’s “King Gesar” narrative singing, the Bai people of Yunnan’s Dabenqu, as well as Beijing Qinshu, Tianjin Shidiao, Shandong Kuaisu, Henan Zhuizi, Suzhou Tanci, Yangzhou Pinghua, Hubei Dagou, Guangdong Yuequ, Sichuan Qingyin, Shaanxi Kuai Ban, Changde Sixian, and many others. Across different regions and ethnic groups, these genres share commonalities and differences. From as large as a dozen provinces to as small as a single county or district, they are all popular and widespread to varying degrees. Although each genre has its own unique development history, they all possess distinct folk and popular characteristics and share common artistic features. This makes Chinese folk art not only the art form with the greatest number of genres but also the one most deeply rooted in the people and possessing the broadest popular foundation.

As a collection of China’s most distinctive and folk-oriented performing arts, Quyi possesses several key artistic characteristics: First, Quyi performances rely primarily on “narration” and “singing” as their main modes of expression; therefore, the language used must be suitable for speaking or singing, and must be lively, concise, incisive, and easy to remember. Second, unlike theater, where actors portray fixed roles, Quyi performers take on multiple characters, using a “one-person-multiple-roles” approach to present various characters and stories to the audience through narration and song. Consequently, compared to theater, folk art performances are characterized by their simplicity and accessibility. Third, this simplicity and accessibility allow folk art to reflect life quickly; the content of its repertoires and scripts is typically short and concise, enabling performers to often create and perform their own works. Fourth, folk art relies primarily on narration and singing as its artistic means of expression; thus, it is an art form that appeals to the audience’s sense of hearing. By stimulating the audience’s auditory senses through narration and singing, it drives their visual imagination, enabling the audience to collaborate with the performer in the creative process within their own minds. Fifth, performers of traditional storytelling and singing must possess solid skills in narration, singing, and physical performance, as well as exceptional mimicry. Only by mastering these techniques can they portray characters with striking realism, make the narration of events captivating, and thereby win the appreciation of the audience. The above points highlight the commonalities—though to varying degrees—among the artistic characteristics of different folk art genres. At the same time, these genres exist independently and possess their own distinct identities. Moreover, within a single genre, different artistic schools emerge due to the unique strengths of individual performers. Even within the same school, performances take on distinct characteristics based on the performer’s style, creating a vibrant and flourishing landscape of diverse artistic expressions in the folk art world.

The history of Chinese folk performing arts stretches back a long way. As early as ancient times, folk storytelling and joke-telling in China, as well as the singing, dancing, and comic performances of the “paiyou” (folk artists who performed exclusively for the imperial court) in the palace, already contained elements of folk performing arts. By the Tang Dynasty (618–904 AD), the emergence of “secular storytelling” (sukang)—which involved narrating fictional tales and Buddhist scriptures—along with the popularity of folk melodies, led to the gradual flourishing of storytelling and singing arts, marking the beginning of folk performing arts as an independent art form. During the Song Dynasty (960–1278 AD), social prosperity led to the growth of the urban middle class. Storytelling and singing performances gained dedicated venues, professional performers emerged, and various forms of narrative and musical performance flourished. From the Ming and Qing dynasties through the early Republic of China (14th–20th centuries), accompanied by the emergence of a capitalist economy and a rapid increase in the number of cities, narrative and musical arts experienced tremendous development, gradually forming the system of folk performing arts we see today.

Interdisciplinary Arts

The term "interdisciplinary arts" refers to art forms that convey and evoke aesthetic experiences through the combined engagement of the visual and auditory senses, along with corresponding aesthetic techniques. It primarily includes film, television, and theater.

Film and Television

Both film and television are arts that combine and integrate visual and auditory elements. Since the birth of cinema in 1895, in just over a century, the artistic techniques and aesthetic expressive capabilities of film have rapidly developed and expanded. This has not only greatly enhanced the aesthetic impact of cinematic art but also established its unique aesthetic characteristics, making it the most expressive art form of the 20th century. Television, as a modern medium of communication and a relatively young form of audiovisual art, has permeated every aspect of human life and exerted a profound influence on contemporary society.

The immense appeal of film and television art is inextricably linked to their aesthetic characteristics of realism, dynamism, and comprehensiveness. First, the use of photography and cinematography as tools determines the visual realism of film and television art. The interdependence of images and sound in film and television allows artistic representations to enter the viewer’s audiovisual psychological space more directly, thereby facilitating an aesthetic experience and constituting the unique aesthetic approach and artistic charm of these art forms. For example, the artistic language employed in film production consists primarily of visuals, sound, and montage. “Montage” refers to the process in filmmaking where separately shot scenes, sequences, and segments are edited and assembled according to a specific creative vision to form a coherent narrative and achieve a particular effect. Since montage recreates the inner process by which a person sequentially encounters visual images as their attention shifts within an environment, the use of montage in film allows for the formation of compositional relationships between images, as well as between images and sound, and between images and color. This creates artistic rhythms and atmospheres—such as pacing, tension, and relaxation—while also lending a convincing sense of realism to the shifts in time and space within the film.

Second, the sense of movement in the frame is a unique aesthetic feature of film and television. Since film and television unfold their narratives over time, camera movement plays a prominent role in this process. For example, in action-packed films and TV series, scenes featuring horseback or car chases are common. Such shots not only form an integral part of the plot but also fully leverage the aesthetic strengths of cinematic movement, providing viewers with a unique visual thrill.

Third, film and television are characterized by their interdisciplinary nature. These art forms draw narrative techniques and structure from literature, acting methods from theater, composition and color schemes from painting, and rhythm from music, thereby possessing immense aesthetic expressiveness. Films such as *The Sound of Music* and *La Traviata* primarily incorporate musical structures and are thus referred to as “musicals”; films like *One Night Stand* and *Hamlet* primarily integrate dramatic structural elements and are heavily influenced by theater, hence they are called “dramatic films”; whereas in Chinese films such as *Yellow Earth* and *One and Eight*, sculptural elements and their influence are clearly evident. As Abel Gance, a figure of the European avant-garde film movement, once said: Film “should be music—music formed by the crystallization of many elements that collide and seek one another, as well as by visual harmony and the very essence of silence; in its composition, it should be painting and sculpture; in its structure and editing, it should be architecture; it should be poetry, composed of the dreamlike whirlwinds that sweep toward the souls of people and objects; it should be dance, formed by that inner rhythm that communicates with the soul, drawing your spirit out to merge with the actors on screen.”

Drama

Drama is a comprehensive art form that organically integrates various artistic disciplines, including literature, painting, sculpture, music, and dance. It is an art form in which actors portray characters and perform the conflicts, developments, and transformations of life before an audience.

In summary, the aesthetic characteristics of the art of drama are primarily manifested as follows: First, as a comprehensive art form, drama is not a simple combination of various artistic elements, but rather a holistic stage presentation that emerges from the organic synthesis of these elements. The visual elements of drama—such as the script, the actors’ performances, and stage design—as well as its auditory elements—such as music and sound effects—may each possess unique aesthetic value on their own. However, not only are they not interchangeable, but they also do not constitute the aesthetic value of drama itself. All artistic elements must conform to and be unified under the aesthetic principles of theater itself. Only through the collective creative efforts of playwrights, directors, actors, stage designers, musicians, and others can the unique aesthetic value of theater be realized. In other words, theater “is a collective creation; for playwrights, actors, stage designers, costume designers, and technicians responsible for props and lighting all contribute, and even the audience members who come to the theater to watch the play contribute.”

Second, drama unfolds its plot and shapes its characters by depicting conflicts. Without conflict, there is no drama. At the core of dramatic conflict lies the socially significant clash of character and will between archetypal characters. Characters with differing personalities and wills create diverse conflicts within specific dramatic plots. These conflicts drive the plot forward, and through the dramatic twists and turns, they evoke emotions such as shock, pity, or fear in the audience (the recipients), thereby providing them with a profound aesthetic experience and aesthetic education.

Third, theater possesses the immediacy of live performance. Through actors portraying other people or objects, it presents events with complete plots and dramatic conflicts before the audience (the recipients), creating vivid characters that evoke an aesthetic experience in which the audience feels “a desire to sing and dance in joy, to weep and lament in sorrow, and to strike and cut in anger—a experience brimming with vitality and excitement.”

Fourth, since drama, in terms of sensory perception, is closer to real life than other art forms—serving as a reflection of human activity—and since “human beings” exist within “life” and are the creators of life, our understanding and grasp of drama are always rooted in our own lived experience. If we say that understanding drama is a form of “audiovisual reflection,” then this abstract “reflection” develops from the foundation of living, breathing life.

Traditional Chinese Opera

Chinese opera is a traditional art form of the Chinese nation and a timeless gem of traditional culture. It is a synthesis of music, dance, literature, fine arts, martial arts, acrobatics, and various other performing arts. With a long and rich history in China, Chinese opera has undergone continuous enrichment, innovation, and development over the course of more than 800 years. Emphasizing singing, acting, recitation, and martial arts, it is rich in dance elements and highly technical, forming a complete system of opera art distinct from other theatrical forms.

The Art of Language

The term "verbal arts" primarily refers to literature. Unlike other art forms, which directly appeal to the senses of sight and hearing, literature uses written language (words) as its medium. Both the communication and reception of literature rely on the reader’s imagination to perceive, experience, and construct aesthetic imagery.

As a vast artistic genre, literature typically encompasses various forms such as poetry, prose, and fiction. Among these, poetry is the earliest literary form to emerge. Through language rich in rhythm and meter, it directly touches the human emotions, creating an emotional world that transcends reality and exists solely within the human heart. Prose, on the other hand, is a literary genre that expresses the author’s ideas and emotions and reveals social significance through the relatively free description of events. It is characterized by a broad range of themes and unrestricted language, and its aesthetic features lie in the freedom and flexibility of artistic expression, as well as stylistic diversity. The novel, meanwhile, focuses primarily on storytelling and character development, using a complete plot to portray characters from multiple perspectives.

Simply put, the aesthetic characteristics of literature are primarily manifested in four aspects: imagery, holistic nature, indirectness, and profundity.

First, literature is an art form that uses written language (words) to create vivid imagery. Without written language as a means of expression, literature would not be literature; this is why Gorky referred to language as “the primary element of literature.” Of course, the mere use of language does not constitute literature; literary language is an artistic language that is vivid and elegant, capable of naturally expressing specific aesthetic imagery and drawing the reader (the recipient of literature) into the aesthetic realm of the literary work. “Withered vines, ancient trees, and crows at dusk; a small bridge, flowing water, and a thatched cottage; an old road, a west wind, and a gaunt horse; the sun setting in the west; a heartbroken traveler at the edge of the world”—this is an example of artistic literary (poetic) language. It blends scenery and emotion in a beautiful and moving way, leaving readers with an endless aftertaste and evoking a deep resonance.

Second, literature can comprehensively and broadly reflect the various aspects and essence of human life. On the one hand, written language (words) has the most extensive connection to the real world; it is, in fact, the primary vehicle of a nation’s cultural traditions. Consequently, literature, which uses written language (words) as its medium of expression, is capable of depicting the vast external world and the complex inner world, possessing a more comprehensive and expansive cognitive and expressive function than other art forms. On the other hand, literature can deeply and comprehensively reflect human social relationships; what it reveals is the overall relationship between humanity and the world.

Third, literature uses written language (words) to create artistic images, but the images formed by written language must be completed through the reader’s imaginative activity; they cannot be perceived directly, as in painting or music. Therefore, literature possesses the aesthetic characteristic of indirectness. This means that the images described by writers using written language can only be images represented by specific combinations of linguistic symbols, rather than images of physical entities. They must rely on the reader’s visual perception to evoke reconstructive imagination and, with the participation of the reader’s psychological experience, be transformed into concrete images in the mind. The literary expressions “as if one were there” and “as if one could hear the sounds” refer precisely to what the reader sees and hears in their mind.

Fourth, language is the outward expression of thought and the direct embodiment of ideas. Literature, in its reflection and expression of human life and the thoughts and emotions of artists, possesses a certain rational depth and constitutes a spiritual entity. At the same time, because the meanings conveyed by the words in literary works are governed by the certainty of thought, literature is often better suited than other art forms to clearly express the creator’s ideas. It possesses a more pronounced rational force, enabling readers to move directly from aesthetic experience toward cognitive and reflective activities, thereby achieving a clear and profound level of understanding. It can be said that it is precisely because literature possesses this characteristic of expressing the creator’s ideas in a profound and nuanced manner that it has become the art form with the deepest rational content among all the arts.

Artistic movement

Primitive Art and Modern Art
Primitive art is characterized by its roughness, innocence, vitality, and wildness. This is due not only to the fact that primitive value systems are typically rudimentary, superficial, simple, direct, and instinctive, but also because people at that time had very limited cognitive abilities and could only use rudimentary, simple, direct, and mechanical artistic forms to reflect and depict the objective world around them.

Modern art is characterized by sophistication, subtlety, complexity, and rationality. This is due not only to the fact that modern value systems are typically sophisticated, profound, and complex, but also to the continuous advancement of human cognitive abilities, which enables the use of sophisticated, profound, complex, and dialectical artistic forms to reflect and depict the objective realities of the world around us.

Realism and Romanticism
Realism takes the actual state of things as its fundamental perspective from which to observe and analyze the laws governing their movement and development; Romanticism takes the interconnected state of things as its fundamental perspective from which to analyze, observe, and understand the laws governing their movement and development. These two approaches have different emphases: the former emphasizes the actual state, while the latter emphasizes the interconnected state.

Realism typically focuses on the concreteness and particularity of things; it can only grasp concrete, individual phenomena, but cannot comprehend abstract, universal concepts. Romanticism typically focuses on the abstract and universal aspects of things, treating them through abstraction and generalization. Romantic artistic images possess a certain degree of autonomy and spontaneity; they set aside the concrete forms and specific content of real life, are unconstrained by specific logical conditions, and disregard vulgar or base elements to reveal the deepest and most suggestive aspects of the human psyche, transforming artistic creation into a creative journey of adventure.

In primitive society, human survival depended entirely on the natural environment; people could only passively adapt to the world. Value relationships were simple and stable, and could be reflected through intuitive perception alone. At this stage, the most effective artistic approach was realism, which took the existing state of things as its fundamental perspective. With the development of social productive forces, humanity’s direct dependence on the natural environment gradually diminished. People were not only able to actively adapt to the world but also to actively transform it. Human value relationships evolved into complex and ever-changing ones, requiring logical thinking to be accurately reflected. At this stage, the most effective artistic approach was Romanticism, which took the interconnectedness of things as its fundamental perspective.

When society is undergoing rapid development, human value systems also evolve rapidly, and romantic art tends to be popular during such times; when society is in a relatively stable state, human value systems are also relatively stable, and realist art tends to be popular during such times. However, the development of art is often out of sync with the development of the value systems it reflects, typically lagging behind for a period of time; consequently, artistic movements and schools generally lag behind the pace of development of the value systems they reflect.

Mannerism
Artists of the Early and High Renaissance developed their characteristic styles through careful observation of nature and the study of the science of design. By the time Mannerism had matured in 1520 (the year Raphael died), all issues concerning figurative art had been resolved. A new body of knowledge was acquired. Mannerist artists viewed art itself as their teacher rather than nature. Whereas Renaissance artists sought their style in nature, Mannerists, for the first time, sought a specific style and method.

In Mannerist painting, compositions may lack a focal point, and space may be ambiguous. Figures are characterized by dynamic curves, distorted and exaggerated twists, and elastically elongated limbs; one hand may adopt a bizarre posture while the other assumes an elegant pose; heads are consistently small and oval. This composition is filled with clashing colors, unlike the balanced, natural, and rich hues seen in the High Renaissance. Mannerist artworks aim to evoke instability and turmoil, and there is also a preference for allegories that tend to be provocative in nature.

Origins and Development

Any discussion of the origins of art must address the question of its defining characteristics.

It can be said that the technical, formal, and aesthetic aspects of art constitute the various stages of its origins.

The Paleolithic Era

First, the technical aspects of art are manifested in material objects through human craftsmanship. The emergence of primitive tools and the products they produced marks the beginning or the earliest stage of the origins of art, dating back to the Early Paleolithic Era. Through labor aimed at fulfilling their own purposes and through practical activities to transform nature, humans created art. The primary purpose of such material production was to meet human needs for survival and production.

The New Era

Cave Paintings
At the same time, works of art are always presented to people in a specific form. Based on current archaeological and anthropological findings, the forms of primitive tools and their products tended toward abstraction (stone balls, stone axes), realism (cave paintings), or a combination of both—what might be called “abstract realism”—with all three forms having emerged during the Neolithic era. In the process of material production guided by human needs, people gradually discovered that artifacts with a strong sense of form better met their requirements than those with a weak sense of form. Consequently, the comfort and practicality derived from form further reinforced people’s appreciation and pursuit of form. For example, flaked stone tools from the Paleolithic era were rougher and more irregular in form, whereas by the Neolithic era, polished stone tools had become more refined, regular, and sharp. It is important to note that technological production aimed at meeting basic survival needs can sometimes conflict with the pursuit of form, with the result that crude practicality often overrides refined form.

Late Neolithic Period

Karl Heinrich Marx, 1818–1883
By the late Neolithic Period, with the development of productive forces and the evolution of social and cultural life, early human civilizations began to take shape and emerge, and the aesthetic nature of art gradually evolved from primitive thinking. This primitive thinking emphasized synthesis, connections, and sensibility, and was imbued with a strong sense of mystery; its logic differed from linear causality. Traces of this primitive mode of thinking can be found in the early myths of various cultures and in the sympathetic magic of primitive tribes. Through the process of labor, human thought became increasingly focused on analysis, judgment, and reason, and the mysticism of primitive thinking was gradually dissolved and diluted, while its characteristics of synthesis, interconnectedness, and sensibility were preserved and manifested in aesthetics.

Theories regarding the origins of art are represented by the play theory, the magic theory, and the labor theory. Prominent proponents of the play theory include Kant, Schiller, and Spencer; the magic theory is represented by Renard and Frazer; and the labor theory is championed by Marx.

Art Categories

The Nature and Purpose of Classification
To understand classification within the system of art, one must first understand the act of classification itself.
Classification expressed through linguistic networks represents the objectification of human consciousness’s grasp of the empirical world, manifesting specifically in the way humans use language to name things or concepts. Classification is both necessary and effective; it aids in understanding objects and highlights the differences and commonalities between different things. Classification is an artificial construct; the network systems of experience that humans assign for various purposes are not attributes inherent to the objective world. Classifications can be adjusted according to new objectives; they are both knowledge and power, possessing the characteristic of reproducing the division of labor. Classification is restrictive and linked to the division of labor; once the division of labor arising from practical activities becomes a social convention, it limits the crossing of boundaries between different divisions. Classification is finite; as an artificial division, it reflects human understanding of the world, yet there is always permeation, boundary-crossing, and mutual transformation between various categories.

The Diversity of Art Forms

Art forms have never been monolithic, and as they have evolved, they have increasingly exhibited a trend toward diversity.

A painted pottery basin with dance motifs
Based on current archaeological findings, primitive artistic activities began in the Paleolithic era. These activities were characterized by their direct connection to the acquisition of material resources and had not yet evolved into independent art forms. Primitive art can be broadly categorized into two types: plastic arts and performing arts. Examples of the former include cave paintings, sculptures, and decorative crafts, while the latter can be glimpsed through early textual records and the patterns on painted pottery depicting song and dance from that era.

Subsequently, with the development of productive forces and the evolution of social and cultural life, the performing arts gradually branched out into independent categories such as music, dance, literature, and theater; the visual arts, meanwhile, branched out into categories such as architecture, sculpture, various applied arts, painting, calligraphy, photography, and film and television.

Classification of Art Forms

The modern logic behind the classification of art largely follows the framework established for “fine arts” since the 18th century, and includes the following categories:

1. Based on the mode of existence of the art form, art can be divided into three types:
① Spatial arts, including painting, sculpture, applied arts, photography, architecture, and landscape architecture; ② Temporal arts, including music, literature, and performing arts; ③ Spatio-temporal arts, including theater, film, television, dance, and acrobatics.

2. Based on the mode of perception, the arts can be classified into four categories:
① Visual arts, including painting, sculpture, applied arts, photography, dance, acrobatics, architecture, and landscape architecture; ② Auditory arts, including music and traditional performing arts; ③ Audiovisual arts, including theater, film, and television; ④ Imaginative arts, primarily referring to literature.

3. Based on the nature of their creative forms, the arts can be divided into four categories:
① Visual arts, including painting, sculpture, applied arts, photography, architecture, and landscape architecture; ② Performing arts, including music, dance, theater, folk arts, and acrobatics; ③ Literary arts, encompassing various forms of literature; ④ Interdisciplinary arts, including film and television.

4. Based on the function of artistic works, they can be divided into two categories:
① Aesthetic art, which refers to art with exceptionally high aesthetic value intended solely for appreciation; this includes most art forms such as fine arts, music, dance, theater, film, television, photography, folk arts, and acrobatics;
② Applied art, which refers to art that prioritizes practical functions while incorporating aesthetic elements; this includes architectural art, landscape art, and applied arts and crafts.

4. Based on the function of artistic works, they can be divided into two categories:
① Aesthetic art, which refers to art with exceptionally high aesthetic value intended solely for appreciation; this includes most art forms such as fine arts, music, dance, theater, film, television, photography, folk arts, and acrobatics;
② Applied art, which refers to art that prioritizes practical functions while incorporating aesthetic elements; this includes architectural art, landscape art, and applied arts and crafts.

6. Based on the materials and techniques used to create artistic forms, the arts can be classified into: visual arts, music, dance, literature, theater, film and television, photography, folk arts, acrobatics, architecture, and landscape architecture. This has long been the most commonly used and practically significant classification method.

7. Using sociological classification criteria, the arts can be further divided into four types: (1) popular art; (2) elite art; (3) academic art; and (4) official art.