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Qi (vital force) has a material existence independent of subjective consciousness and is the basic element of all physical beings. It is also the basis for the birth and existence of life and spirit. In addition, some thinkers have given a moral attribute to qi. Qi is in constant motion and change, and has no specific shape. Its concentration gives birth to a thing and its evaporation signals the end of that thing. Qi permeates all physical beings and their surroundings. Qi, as a philosophical concept, is different from what is commonly understood by the word qi (气), namely, air. Although things in liquid or solid form are different from things in air form, from the perspective of the ancient Chinese philosophy, their formation and existence are the results of the concentration of qi.
Qixiang (气象), originally a term about the general state of scenery and physical objects in nature, also refers to the prevailing features of a society in a given period of time. This description carries the meaning of great appeal and impact as well as scenery and objects. When applied to art, it refers to the overall style and appeal in a piece of artistic work. It connotes grandeur and magnificence, and is often used in conjunction with such words as “heroic,” “immense,” and “sublime.” Literary critics of the Tang Dynasty began using the term to comment on the style and features of a poem or an essay. Since the Song Dynasty, the term has become an important concept in literary criticism, used to critique the style and artistic flair of poems, essays, calligraphy, and paintings. It is often thought to reflect the prevailing features in literature and art of a particular period. For instance, during the prime of the Tang Dynasty, the term referred to the appeal of both poems and the poets who wrote them.
This term refers to the emotional strength and the vitality of a literary work. It was first used during the Southern Dynasties, resonating with the social practice of making comment on people. The term was used to describe the emotional vigor and forcefulness of artistic works such as poetry, essays, calligraphy, and paintings. It is similar in meaning to fenggu (风骨), but contrary to fengzi (风姿), a term meaning external elegance of an artistic work.
This refers to the momentum, charm, and vitality in paintings as well as in calligraphic and literary works which together create artistic appeals. The term was first used to refer only to painting, meaning that the proper use of ink and the painting brush could vividly present natural landscape, make the painting flow with vitality, and enable viewers to appreciate its underlying allure. Later, the term was extended to cover poetry, essay, calligraphy and other literary creations. Artistic appeal, which is similar in meaning to such terms as artistic charm and literary charm, is an aesthetic appreciation gained through experiences and feelings. Expressed in a work of art, artistic appeal reflects an author’s unique approach to art and inspiration, something that he is born with rather than acquired.
Wenqi (文气) is the personality an author demonstrates in his works, and is a fusion of his innate temperament and the vitality seen in his works. Originally, qi (气) referred to the basic element in the initial birth and formation of all things, as well as heaven and earth. In literary criticism, it refers to an author’s distinctive individuality and its manifestation in his writings. Humans are believed to develop different characters and traits endowed by the qi of heaven and earth. Reflected in literary creation, such different characters and traits naturally find expression in distinctive styles and varying degrees of vigor as well as rhythm and cadence.
The term refers to vitality which is needed for the human or animal body to sustain its life and which reflects the state of life. It is something one is born with, representing the body’s needs of material things. A person exhibits different levels of vitality at different stages of life, reflecting changes in the strength of life. Vitality is unstable in youth； it reaches its peak in the prime of life, and in old age it wanes. Furthermore, different people have different levels of vitality, some overflowing with vigor, while others are subdued. People’s vitality can be changed by means of rites, music and through education； it is the basis for shaping a person’s moral and emotional trait.
Vital energy refers to the finest and most subtle energy. The earliest detailed explanation of vital energy is found in Guanzi. According to the book, the finest and most subtle energy is a concrete manifestation of dao. All things with shapes and all human beings are made up of vital energy; one’s life, sense, and intelligence are also believed to derive from vital energy.
This term suggests cultivating one’s moral spirit and improving one’s physical and mental well-being to achieve the best state of mind in order to write excellent works. “Cultivating qi (气)” has three implications: 1) in the pre-Qin period Mencius (372?-289 BC) emphasized that the virtuous and the capable should foster a “noble spirit” conducive to moral cultivation; 2) A Comparative Study of Different Schools of Learning by Wang Chong (27-97?) of the Eastern Han Dynasty has a chapter entitled “Treatise on Cultivating Qi,” which emphasizes qi cultivation primarily in regards to maintaining good health; 3) Liu Xie (465?-520) of the Southern Dynasties, in The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, drew upon the foregoing ideas and suggested maintaining good physical condition and a free, composed mental state in the initial phase of literary creation, while opposing excessive mental exertion. “Cultivating qi” subsequently became an important term in the lexicon of literary psychology.
Noble spirit is a powerful source of cultivating integrity in one’s life. In Mencius’ （372？-289 BC） view, it goes hand in hand with morality and justice and originates from within rather than from without. If one lives an ethical life and regularly conducts soul searching, he will be imbued with noble spirit and will willingly stand up for what is right.
This term refers to the act of depicting the outward features of an object to convey its innate character in literary writing. It stresses the need not only to reproduce in words whatever appears before one’s eyes but also to capture it with one’s soul, thus achieving a close communion with the object depicted. The point is to bring out the hidden impact and spirit of things, or to express a profound feeling toward them. Only thus can an excellent work of art be produced.
In its original meaning, dao (道) is the way or path taken by people. It has three extended meanings: 1) the general laws followed by things in different spheres, e.g. the natural order by which the sun, moon and stars move is called the way of heaven; the rules that govern human activities are the way of man; 2) the universal patterns followed by all things and beings; and 3) the original source or ontological existence of things, which transcends form and constitutes the basis for the birth and existence of all things, and for the activities of human beings. In their respective discussions of Dao, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism imbue it with very different connotations. While benevolence, righteousness, social norms, and music education form the basic content of the Confucian Dao, the Buddhist and Daoist Dao tends to emphasize kong (空 emptiness) and wu (无 void).
The term has three meanings. First, it indicates the original essence of all things. It is another name for dao (way). It is also referred to as taiyi (the supreme one). Second, it refers to the state of chaos before the separation of heaven and earth. The one was divided and transformed into heaven and earth. All things in heaven and on earth were produced from this Chaotic entity. Third, it indicates the unity of things, as opposed to “many” or “two.” The idea is to emphasize the unity among things which are different or opposite.
The original meaning of li (理) was the texture of jade; later it was extended to contain three meanings: (1) the physical forms or proprieties of things, such as length, size, shape, tensile strength, weight, and color; (2) the universal laws followed by all things and beings; and (3) the original source or ontological existence of things. The last two meanings are similar to those of dao. Scholars of the Song and Ming dynasties were particularly interested in describing and explaining the philosophy known as li (理), and considered it as the highest realm, giving rise to the School of Principle which dominated academic thought in the period from the Song to the Ming dynasties.
The term means the primal source from which all things originate, both animate and inanimate, including human beings. Yuan (元) manifests itself in different forms. In the Han Dynasty, it was considered a kind of primal physical material that both produced and made up the myriad things of the world. The Book of Changes divides yuan into two primal sources: the heavenly source which gives birth to the sun, moon, and stars, and the earthly source which creates all other things on earth. In The Spring and Autumn Annals, the term refers to the first year in its chronologies, symbolizing the start of a new historical period, and serving as the manifestation in the human world of the natural process in which things begin, end, and are replaced.
Taiji (the supreme ultimate) has three different meanings. First, it refers to the origin of the world. The ancient Chinese saw it either as qi (vital force) or yuanqi (primordial vital force) that permeates the chaotic world, or as a universal principle, i.e. dao or li (理), or as wu (无). Second, it is used as a term of divination, referring to the initial state before divinatory numbers, the odd number one (written as —) and the even number two (written as – –), are applied or before the yarrow stems are divided. Divination is conducted on the basis of taiji. Third, it stands for the highest point or boundary of space.
The original meaning of the term is the eave and beam of a house, while its extended meaning is time and space as well as the whole world composed of limitless time and space. The first character yu (宇) means heaven and earth as well as all the directions of north, south, east, west, the above, and the below. The second character zhou（宙）means all of time, the past, present, and future. Together, the term means infinite space and endless time. In Chinese philosophy, “theories of the universe” are concerned with the existence of the world in an ontological sense, and with its process of evolution.
The primary meaning of yin and yang is the orientation of things in relation to the sun, with yang meaning the sunny side and yin the shady side. There are two extended meanings: 1) two opposite kinds of qi (气) in nature; and 2) two basic contrary forces or qualities that coexist, thus the active, hot, upward, outward, bright, forward, and strong are yang, while the passive, cold, downward, inward, dark, backward, and weak are yin. The interaction between yin and yang, or yin qi and yang qi, determines the formation and existence of all things. The theory of yin and yang later became the basis for ancient Chinese to explain and understand the universe and everything in it, social order, and human relations. For example, heaven is yang and earth is yin, ruler is yang and subordinates are yin, husband is yang and wife is yin, noble is yang and ignoble is yin, leading is yang and following is yin.
There are three meanings to the term. (1) The five fundamental things or elements that make up all things. The Book of History was the first to define the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Each of these has its own properties and they interact in a generative or destructive relationship. (2) On a more abstract level, the term refers to the basic framework to understand the world. All things can be included in the realm of wuxing (五行) and their properties are explained or understood accordingly. (3) It refers to five kinds of moral behavior. Xunzi (313?-238 BC) once criticized Zisi (483-402 BC) and Mencius (372?-289 BC) for “creating wuxing on the basis of old theories.” Ancient bamboo slips unearthed from a grave at Guodian dating back to the State of Chu as well as inscribed silk texts from the Mawangdui Tomb of the Western Han Dynasty, all describe this wuxing as benevolence, righteousness, li (礼), wisdom, and the wisdom and character of a sage.
The term has two meanings. First, it refers to the state of one whole mass that existed before the universe took shape, often said to exist before qi (vital force) emerged. The multitude of organisms on earth all emanated from this state. Second, it refers to Chaos, king of the Central Region in a fable in Zhuangzi. According to the fable, Chaos had no eyes, nose, mouth or ears. Shu, king of the South Sea, and Hu, king of the North Sea, drilled seven apertures into Chaos and killed him. Zhuangzi （369？-286 BC）used this story to show the state of chaos of the world in which there is neither knowledge or wisdom, nor distinction between good and evil.
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