ABSTRACT
In traditional Chinese art, there are two central terms: shen 神 (spirit) and xing 形 (form/body). The importance of shen (spirit) in Chinese art can be traced back to Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi 莊子 (ca. fourth/third century bce), who held the view that dao 道 (way) is everlasting because it is the source and essence of all things in the cosmos. In contrast to this, wu 物 (matter) is limited to its temporary appearance. Analogously, xing (form/body) is considered ephemeral and shen (spirit) eternal, which implies that in the same way that Zhuangzi attributed real beauty only to dao, it can only exist in shen. Based on Zhuangzi’s philosophy, these two binary dialectical terms—that is, shen/xing as well as shensi 神似 (likeness in spirit) and xingsi 形似 (likeness in form)—were developed into a complex theory in Chinese literary and art criticism. In this way, the aesthetic preconception of xing shen jianbei 形神兼備 (likeness in both form and spirit)—with emphasis on the latter—emerged first in painting and poetry and was later (in the twentieth century) adopted by the performing arts as well, such as theatre and dance.
