Abstract:
The close connection between appreciation of beauty and politics was one of the characteristics of aesthetics in the Song Dynasty, which was best expressed in Wang Anshi’s works.“Application-based”, “Tao-carrying literature”,“Tao expressed in political practice”,“responding actively to the situation”, Tao going first and literature second and Tao never restricting literature were Wang’s key issues of political aesthetics. Under the above-mentioned criteria, he attempted to correct the corrupted trend of beauty appreciation in the late Tang and early Song Dynasties by appreciating and commenting the former and contemporary literary works. His large quantity of literary works proved to be successful practice of his political aesthetics, setting a model of the politician's aesthetic writing. Thus, Wang’s political aesthetics was of double great significance to reversing the political mispractices in the Song Dynasty and promoting the formation of the “Songtuned” aesthetics.
