The Book of Songs displayed at the Imperial Academy in Beijing Photo: Yang Lanlan/CSST

On November 9–10, a seminar on the theme of “Aesthetics and Aesthetic Education in the New Era” was held in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province.

Historical accumulation

Aesthetics and aesthetic education are key topics in the philosophy of education. “During the New Culture Movement, scholars such as Cai Yuanpei, Wu Mengfei, Wang Tongzhao, and Liu Boming published papers on aesthetic education, articulating their views and elevating it into a major intellectual trend in modern Chinese education,” noted Chen Jianhua, a professor from the School of Education at Shanghai Normal University. This early exploration not only advanced the dissemination and development of aesthetic education theory but also deepened its practical applications.

Chi Yanjie, a professor from the School of Educational Science at Shenyang Normal University, affirmed the contributions of Fan Shoukang, who clarified the research object of aesthetics, traced its historical development through aesthetic methodologies, introduced the concept of “aesthetic experience,” and identified “empathy” as the foundation for “acquiring the meaning of beauty.”

“Aesthetic education pursues the harmony of life’s beauty, artistic beauty, and moral goodness,” stated Hao Wenwu, a professor from the Faculty of Education at Shaanxi Normal University. Hao emphasized that aesthetic education must adhere to educational principles and establish a scientific system encompassing its objectives, content, processes, and methods. At the same time, it should also embrace artistic principles to enhance teachers’ aesthetic literacy.

Gao Wei, a professor from the Faculty of Education at Qufu Normal University, described aesthetic activities as a form of spiritual engagement guided by an ideological system with regulatory and adjustive functions. This system serves as the intermediary between aesthetics and morality. The spirit of aesthetics imparts moral attributes to aesthetic activities, and the value of aesthetic education lies in its unique capacity for spiritual enlightenment.

“Traditional tragedies, whether from China or ancient Greece, serve an emotional educational function, allowing the audience’s feelings and emotions to be fully vented through watching the tragedy or reading its script,” said Anthony H. Hwang, a professor from the Department of Philosophy at Chinese Culture University. Compared to moral education grounded in ethics, tragedies are more effective in cultivating sympathy and empathy for unfamiliar others.

Jin Shenghong, a professor from the School of Education at Suzhou University of Science and Technology, observed that “The Injustice to Dou E” is a unique environmental tragedy, which needs to be understood through the experience of life and education.

Xingfa [inspiration and arousal] is an educational concept deeply rooted in Chinese culture, tracing its roots back to Confucius. While directly addressing contemporary education issues in China, the tradition experienced a rupture in modern times with the gradual rise of modern aesthetic education. In the study of contemporary pedagogy, three scholars—Liu Tiefang, a professor from the School of Educational Science at Hunan Normal University, and Liu Lianghua and Peng Zhengmei, both professors from the Faculty of Education at East China Normal University (ECNU)—have independently revisited and refocused on the concept of xingfa education.

“How to integrate the teaching of the Six Arts [rites, music, archery, chariot racing, calligraphy, and mathematics] into modern educational and cultural systems is a critical issue,” remarked Liu Tiefang. It is necessary to reaffirm the foundational role of aesthetic education in the modern educational framework, but general aesthetic education alone is insufficient—it must aim for the holistic development of individuals. Aesthetic education should transcend everyday beauty to embrace the grand beauty of the universe and nature. He further advocated for the integrated development of aesthetic education with moral, intellectual, physical, and labor education, serving the ultimate goal of achieving “unity between humanity and nature.” This vision entails constructing a modern educational and cultural system based on China’s poetry, rites, and music traditions.

Liu Lianghua highlighted the uniqueness and significance of The Book of Songs, asserting the equal importance of moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor education. He suggested separating emotional education from aesthetic and moral education to form “new Six Arts education,” encompassing moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, labor, and emotional education.

Ways forward

Aesthetic education varies in focus depending on the context, often emphasizing aspects such as sensibility, emotion, holistic personal development, or the arts. Ju Yucui, a professor from the Faculty of Education at the ECNU, suggested that teachers and students should collaboratively practice engaging in beautiful behaviors, proceeding from basic aesthetic sensitivity, respecting genuine perceptions and expressions, enhancing appreciation and expressive methods, and pursuing a life of happiness. This approach aims to cultivate physically and mentally healthy individuals who harmonize with nature, embodying the ideal of life as an art form—a central aim of aesthetic education and an effective pathway to its realization.

“The dilemma facing aesthetic education and its evaluation in the new era includes the rootlessness and narrowing of aesthetic education,” pointed out Su Qimin, a professor from the School of Education at Guangzhou University. He argued that aesthetic education is essentially an aesthetic process aimed at cultivating individuals’ aesthetic qualities.

Zhu Xiaohong, a professor from the College of Education at Capital Normal University, explored the reasons behind the lack of aesthetic education practices in schools. In his opinion, current educational orientations in schools prioritize utilitarian outcomes over aesthetics, with aesthetic education courses focusing more on technical rationality than aesthetic experience, and emphasize intellectual development over emotional engagement.

Yu Qingchen, a professor from the Faculty of Education at Beijing Normal University, cautioned against the vulgarization of aesthetic education and the “tyranny of modern rationality” that can arise during its implementation.

Participants also noted the challenges posed by generative artificial intelligence (AI) to aesthetic education, particularly in the cultivation of artistic education goals, creative literacy, and appreciation skills. Sun Ruiyu, an associate professor from the Faculty of Education at Shandong Normal University, advocated for cautious and restrained use of generative AI, noting that the goal should be to cultivate individuals’ artistic literacy, stimulating creative willingness through contextual design, process empowerment, and evaluative feedback, while leveraging AI’s advantages to enhance appreciation skills.

Guo Wenliang, an associate professor from the Faculty of Education at Tianjin Normal University, criticized the negative impacts of tech-centric teaching approaches, virtual reality teaching environments, rigid teaching models, and algorithm-based optimization of teaching evaluations on the aesthetic dimension of education.

The conference was hosted by the Branch of Educational Philosophy at the Chinese Society of Education and organized by the School of Teacher Education at Jiangsu University.