Special Topics • Chinese Literature and Arts in 2023 (I)

■ Design in 2023: Cultural Pursuit in the Torrent of Technology（ PP. 4–16）Pan Lusheng & Yin Bo

Abstract: In 2023, China's economy continued to promote its quality and efficiency, AI (artificial intelligence) design-related tools and technologies were widely used, and the functional mechanism, thinking method, and value impact of design in the industrial field have further been expanded and deepened in the direction of systematization and digitization. The worrying reflection on the "human-machine relationship" has also prompted the irreplaceability of the "human" subject in design to become the focus of people's speculation and exploration. As a matter of fact, at the same time of iterative updating of technical tools, Chinese design is also constantly deepening its development in a cultural orientation, presenting a comprehensive observation and practice of traditional cultural design updating in a "field" style. At the same time, in the field of social livelihood, design, as a path to optimize the goodness and beauty of daily life, has shown a subtle, qualitative and profound significance. On the whole, Chinese design in 2023 has realized a new development from industrial planning and operation to the pursuit and construction of culture and spirit in the general trend of iterative evolution of technological tools.

Keywords: design in 2023, Artificial Intelligence, field, culture, life

■ Series in 2023: Sticking to Quality and Innovation in the New Framework of Industrial Development （PP. 17–31）Dai Qing

Abstract: In 2023, the production of TV and web series continued to decrease in quantity but increase in quality, and the production capacity of web series surpassed that of TV series. In the production, distribution and broadcast of series, the head station cooperated and closely connected with major video platforms, anchoring the market hot spots and the influence of series. The divergence of the audience's theme preferences between the network and the platforms is obvious, in which the influence of young viewers on the market hotspots and the word-of-mouth of the series is getting stronger and stronger, and the production capacity of excellent series from different video platforms and different regions has shown excellent performance and also tends to widen the gap. In 2023, the creations of series with various themes were diverse and innovative, like flower clusters and brocades, with thematic drama series such as major revolutionary and historical themes and major realistic themes taking the lead in the direction of creation and adhering to the people-centered creative orientation. And the excellent works among the creations of other themes, such as science fiction dramas, suspense dramas, urban emotional dramas, historical sagas and various kinds of costume dramas, displayed rich connotations, geo-aesthetic characteristics and their personalized stylistic pursuits.

Keywords: series in 2023, decrease in quantity but increase in quality, aesthetic preference, geo-aesthetics, personalized-style

■ Internet Literature and Art in 2023: Saluting the Future with Majestic Imagination（ PP. 32–44）Hu Jiangfeng & Zhao Shicheng

Abstract: The year 2023 is a year for China's internet literature and art to gather strength and strive forward. With Artificial Intelligence making a big splash, the singularity is approaching and the future is already here, therewith the internet literature and art leaping into the era of intelligent communication (the era of intelligent media), and net science fiction entering the main track, and the surging "national tide fever" becoming an important position for the living inheritance of "intangible cultural heritage", with the micro short plays accumulating into a masterpiece and demonstrating a magnificent imaginative power. Internet literature and art needs the promotion of institutional innovation and comprehensive governance which plays a due role in the construction of the human community of shared interests in cyberspace, so as to dissolve the digital loneliness of the internet generation with high-quality contents.

Keywords: internet literature and art, Artificial Intelligence, science fiction, imagination

■ Folk Literature in 2023: Ontological Research and Interdisciplinary Dialogue （PP. 45–57）Mao Qiaohui

Abstract: On the basis of the continuation of the previous research, folk literature in 2023 showed a more focal research topic, especially the discussion of the orality, collectivity, popularity, and genre and context of folk literature, highlighting the consciousness and academic vision of theoretical construction in the field of folk literature. In the study of disciplinary history and academic history, what we can see is the researchers' thinking based on the current problems and the re-interpretation of the past academic research combined with the context of the times. In the study of the social value of folk literature, we can see that the relevant research results not only continue the academic tradition, but also pay attention to the proposition of the times, and carry out theoretical expansion in multi-dimensions and three- dimensions. Of course, no matter in which field, we can always see that the folk literature research in 2023 needs to improve and embrace the new trends in the future.

Keywords: folk literature in 2023, special literary characteristic, history of discipline, social value

Figure Studies • Huang Yaomian and 20th Century Chinese Literature

■ The Historical and Practical Significance of Huang Yaomian's Aesthetic Thought:Centered on His Article "On the Aesthetics of Profiteers" （PP. 58–69）Gao Jianping

Abstract: Huang Yaomian's essay "On the Aesthetics of Profiteers", published at the outset of the "Great Discussion on Aesthetics", introduced a pivotal concept: the existence of beauty within the context of "social existence". His debate with Zhu Guangqian had a significant influence on subsequent disputes and advancements in the field of aesthetics. This article, therefore, deserves close attention. Furthermore, Huang's other writings on aesthetics have sparked meaningful discussions. His emphasis on the "theory of value" has opened up vast possibilities for the future of aesthetics.

Keywords: beauty and class opposition, social existence, beauty as evaluation

■ The Pioneer of Contemporary Chinese Aesthetic Theory of Value: Review of Huang Yaomian's Viewpoint of "Beauty Being the Evaluation" in the Perspective of Academic History （PP. 70–80）Tan Haozhe

Abstract: As an active participant and promoter of the "Great Discussion on Aesthetics" in the 1950s and 1960s, Huang Yaomian put forward the idea that "beauty is a person's aesthetic evaluation of objective things" in the critical dialogues and disputes on aesthetic issues with Zhu Guangqian, Cai Yi, and others. His viewpoint of "beauty being the evaluation" places the discussion of aesthetic issues on the standpoint and methodology of materialism, with the basic assertion that "beauty is a phenomenon of human social life" as the theoretical and logical premises, proposing and expounding three major theoretical propositions: beauty exists with the existence of human beings, " the roots of aesthetic phenomena should first be found in life and practice", and "beauty is a person's subjective grasp of the objective world," which under the epistemological aesthetic paradigm dominating at that time herald the study of aesthetic theory of value, and have the significance of theoretical reference and revelation to the academic innovation of contemporary aesthetic studies and the construction of China's autonomous knowledge system.

Keywords: Huang Yaomian, contemporary Chinese aesthetics, aesthetic theory of value, life practice, Beauty being the evaluation

■ From Huang Yaomian's Perspective on the Literary Existence of the Orange Creation Society （PP. 81–89）Zhu Shoutong

Abstract: The existence of the Orange Creation Society can be analyzed from Huang Yaomian's revolutionary literary practice and his poems such as "On the Yellow Flower Hill". The Orange Creation Society joined the revolutionary literary advocacy and practice of the Red Creation Society in the torrent of revolutionary literature, while also correcting some of the omissions and deficiencies of the Red Creation Society, which by its own contribution proved the richness and multi-layered connotations of the revolutionary literary movement. For the Creation Society, the Orange Creation Society was also an important link between the Red Creation Society and the Blue Creation Society. Even in the history of the left-wing literary movement, the role played by the Orange Creation Society and the value it demonstrated cannot be underestimated. The Orange Creation Society opened up a literary orientation of expressing revolutionary emotions in romantic, aesthetic and symbolic tones, which was in fact a commendable way of personalizing, artifying and aestheticizing revolutionary emotions from an artistic and aesthetic point of view, but of course its result would lead to the dilution and diffusion of red revolutionary emotions to orange ones.

Keywords: Huang Yaomian, "On the Yellow Flower Hill", Orange Creation Society

■ The Inner Logic of Huang Yaomian's Literary Thought （PP. 90–100）Zhou Xiaoyi

Abstract: Since the centennial celebration of Huang Yaomian's birth in 2003, Huang studies have made great progress in China's academia. However, compared with the studies of the aesthetes such as Zhu Guangqian and Li Zehou, the contemporary significance of Huang's theories is still underrated by the academic community. The deepening globalization over the decades has brought us new life experiences, cultural horizons and theoretical frameworks. Huang Yaomian's literary thought also continues to manifest new significance. This essay summarizes Huang's theories from three aspects, namely existence, subjectivity and class, with a view to understanding the logic of Huang's thought. His philosophy of praxis, subject in action and complex class theory still have a leading role to play in our literary theory today.

Keywords: literary theory, Huang Yaomian, globalization, subjectivity, class

■ Toward the Aesthetics of Social Subjectivity:The Significance of Huang Yaomian to the Construction of Contemporary Literary Theory （PP. 101–111）Wang Yichuan

Abstract: To understand Huang Yaomian's aesthetic thought, it is necessary to first grasp his dual identity as a revolutionary aesthetician and a revolutionary literary scholar, and secondly, to see that he faced the dual challenges of Zhu Guangqian's aesthetics and Hu Feng's aesthetics. From this premise of understanding, it can be seen that his aesthetic thought in the 1940s and 1950s presented components of materialism and the people, objectivity and subjectivity, politics and art, and society rather than individuals, with the distinctive characteristics of social subjectivity aesthetics. At present, it is necessary to derive new understandings from it in a new context.

Keywords: Huang Yaomian's aesthetic thought, dual revolutionary identities, dual aesthetic challenges, social subjectivity aesthetics

Interview with Renowned Experts

■ Innovating Chinese Performing Arts by Means of Inheritance and Reference:An Interview with Director and Artist Xu Xiaozhong （PP. 112–124）Interviewed by Chen Min

Inside Front Cover 

Chinese Literary Critics: Liang Hongying

Inside Back Cover 

Review of the Second Batch of bases of Chinese Literary and Art Criticism:The base of China Literary and Art Criticism (Capital Normal University)

Back Cover 

The Recommendation of Outstanding Literary and Art Criticism Works for the 8th Woodpecker Cup of China Literary and Art Criticism • A Study of Contemporary Kun Opera Creation (1949-2021)