Preface: Characteristics of Chinese Literature and Literary Criticism

Chinese literature is the soul of Chinese literati centered on emotion. It experiences nature and society through a comprehensive way that is based on sensibility yet not mired in it; it creates aesthetic idea-images of the fusion between subject and object and is conveyed through written language; it forms a cultural mode of communication between authors and readers, reflecting the aesthetic ideals and creative consciousness of the subject. Literature is formed by emotions being stirred and, in turn, literature touches the emotions of readers. Chinese literature reflects the unique aesthetic perceptions of the Chinese people, a way of understanding based on sensibility without being bogged down in it, including synesthesia. Idea-image possesses a core significance in Chinese literature. In thousands of years of literary practice in ancient China, countless writers and scholars have accumulated a vast amount of experience in creation, appreciation, and criticism, along with thoughts on aesthetic tastes, such as literary criticism centered around Confucian educational thoughts, as well as criticism thoughts which were influenced by Taoism and Zen and reflecting literary aesthetic characteristics, such as writing styles.