Dai Xun, in his article featured in “Academic Research” May 2024 issue, states that the integration of landscape into the artistic domain reflects a profound evolution in the aesthetic relationship between humanity and nature. The formation of landscape art is not just a pivotal shift in the realms of aesthetic subjects and artistic themes; rather, it symbolizes a new epoch in human aesthetic engagement, characterized by an aesthetic awakening towards nature. During the Wei and Jin dynasties in China and the Renaissance in Europe, a distinct culture of landscape flourished.
The aesthetics of landscape is the epitome of Chinese landscape culture, with the Chinese term "shanshui" (mountains and waters) offering a unique perspective compared to the European concept of landscape. The ethical dimension of natural aesthetics has been instrumental in shaping the Chinese landscape aesthetics, endowing it with a characteristic simplicity, sparsity, and expansiveness. This has become the foundational trajectory of Chinese shanshui aesthetics.
The development of Chinese shanshui aesthetics predates that of the Western world, marking it as a distinctively national aesthetic legacy. It holds a significant, era-spanning importance in the annals of global aesthetic history.