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Abstract The Confucian institutional aesthetic thought developed from its vision of″external kings″ (wai wang) .It took the construction of the aesthetic institution as its core concern and aesthetic utilitarianism as its keynote .The positive influence of Confucian aesthetics on the construction of the Chinese literary and artistic aesthetic institution could be traced back to Han Dynasty .From then on,the institutional aesthetic thought gradually converted into the aesthetic ideology of the dynasty-state . However,during the Pre-Qin period,the ideas of Confucius,Mencius,and Tsunzi had constituted the basic framework of the institutional Confucian aesthetic thought . Confucius was enamored of the ritual(li)-musical(yue) civilization of Western Zhou Dynasty,and tried to base its new foundation on the origin of value,hence the sprout of Humaneness(ren) and imagination of an aesthetic utopia .From the perspective of Humaneness(ren),the ideal state of political practices is aesthetic,whereas the essence of the reconstruction of ritual(li)-musical(yue) civilization is an aesthetic utopia whose prospect and realization are both aesthetic .Literary and artistic aesthetic is thus given a sort of root .In this case,it is necessary to make constructive plans about its types,approaches and quality by setting up institutions of politics,society,and education . Mencius went further by describing an ideal society of″benevolent governance″(ren zheng),which is the argument for an aesthetic utopia of inherent human nature and external national politics .In Mencius'view,ideal politics should be in accord with the harmony of″heaven″(tian),″human nature″ (xing) and″human mind″(xin),and the ultimate purpose of building a state institution is to achieve moral perfection .In this aspect,literary and artistic aesthetic is the important constructive force in the realization of ideal politics .Intellectual elite,on the other hand,are the carriers and practitioners of Confucius institutional aesthetic thought . Integrating″rites″(li)and″law″(fa),Tsunzi paid more attention to the construction of literary and artistic aesthetics,as its reasonable appeal cannot be based on human consciousness,but on the standards of the institutions of politics,education and society .Tsunzi emphasized the positive impact of aesthetic construction on upholding state subjectivity,and the co-generative relationship between literary and artistic aesthetics and state order .However,to ensure the aesthetic life and state will,corresponding functional departments must be set up and operated by Confucius intellectual elite .The essence of Confucius aesthetic utopia is the cultural transformation of ritual(li)-musical(yue) civilization of Zhou Dynasty,while Confucius institutional aesthetic is the aesthetic life plan for ideal politics .The latter is cultural aesthetics as well as political aesthetics .Accordingly,aesthetic issues must be discussed and solved along with cultural and political ones .But the development of cultural aesthetics could be hampered by this thought,aesthetic utilitarianism and Saint-King ideology .Thus,the institutional construction of literary and artistic aesthetics becomes an ideological machine to filter ideology,and the Confucius aesthetic utopia is doomed to be an ideal model of politics,culture and aesthetics .
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