Abstract
As a Chinese theory on the nature of thinking in artistic creation, “Shen Si” contains a component of imagination which has a clear feature of internal visualization that is characteristic of the creative products. Artistic imagination is internal to artists. It is not a visual image that external objects present to artists. That internal visualization is the feature of imagination, also known as inner images. An artist’s “Shen Si” does not merely copy external objects in his artistic conceptualization, but re-configure, process, transform the external objects, and create according to the artist’s own aesthetic ideals based on his emotions and thoughts. Therefore, this type of creation matters most in artistic imagination.
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Notes
- 1.
Jin, K. (1987). A Survey of the Psychology of Literature and Arts (p. 75). Beijing: People’s Literature Press.
- 2.
Liu, W. (1989). A History of Chinese Psychology of Literature and Arts (p. 127). Haikou, Hainan Province: Sanhuan Press.
- 3.
For this issue, please refer to Mr. Zhang Delin’s article “Authors’ Inner Visualizations and Artistic Creations” published in Literary Review (1991), Vol. II.
- 4.
Stanislavski. Actors’ Self Cultivation (Vol. I, p. 118).
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Hegel, G. W. F. (1979). Aesthetics (in Chinese translation), Vol. 1 (pp. 357–358). Beijing: Commerce Press.
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Kant, I. (1964). Critique of Judgment (Chinese translation by Zong Baihua) (p. 160). Beijing: Commerce Press.
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“Prajna Paramita Sutra” in Ren, J. (1985) (Ed.). Selections of the Buddhist Canons (p. 15). Beijing: Chinese Social Sciences Press.
- 8.
Kant, I. (1964). Critique of Judgment (Chinese translation by Zong Baihua) (p. 161). Beijing: Commerce Press.
- 9.
Hegel, G. W. F. (1979). Aesthetics (in Chinese translation), Vol. I (p. 356). Beijing: Commerce Press.
- 10.
Jin, K. (1987). A Survey of the Psychology of Literature and Arts (p. 82). Beijing: People’s Literature Press.
- 11.
Hegel, G. W. F. (1979). Aesthetics (in Chinese translation), Vol. I (p. 357). Beijing: Commerce Press.
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Zhang, J. (2021). “Shen Si” and Imagination in Thinking in Artistic Creation. In: The Soul of Creation (Shensi). Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture. Palgrave Pivot, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0496-6_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0496-6_3
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