On Aesthetic Consciousness in Naxi Folk Literature
This article examines the aesthetic consciousness embedded in Naxi folk literature, arguing that these works reveal both the ethnic group's spiritual history and its distinctive aesthetic sensibilities. Folk literature is chosen over Dongba religious literature or Naxi writers' literature because it remains closer to secular life and less influenced by Han cultural intrusion, while spanning nearly the entire developmental history of the Naxi people. The author analyzes this aesthetic consciousness from two perspectives: diachronic and synchronic. Diachronically, folk literature reflects evolving human-nature aesthetic relations shaped by the Naxi people's historical processes of migration, nomadism, and eventual settlement into agriculture, as well as shifts in aesthetic consciousness resulting from inter-ethnic contact. Synchronically, the article identifies shared aesthetic traits with strong ethnic and regional character, including celebration of local landscapes, reverence for the color white, totem worship, the intertwining of religious practice with everyday aesthetics, and ideals of personal moral-physical beauty—together constituting a case study in "local knowledge."
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