Analysis of the Origins of the “Dao” in the Ontological Category of Art in Liu Xizai's Essentials of Art

As a famous scholar and outstanding literary theorist in the late Qing Dynasty, Liu Xizai’s aesthetic ideas occupy an important position in the history of classical Chinese aesthetics. The core category of Liu Xizai’s aesthetic ontology, “Dao” has sparked extensive discussions in the academic community due to its absorption of ideas from different schools of thought throughout history. Liu Xizai formed his unique aesthetic ontology through in-depth excavation and integration of the Confucian “benevolence and righteousness”, Taoist “nature” and Buddhist and Zen culture, and meanwhile absorbed the essence of the philosophy of the Book of Changes, realizing a profound insight and perfect summary of the category of “Tao”. Liu Xizai’s aesthetic ontology of the “Dao” category has enriched Chinese classical aesthetic thought with its profound cultural heritage, diverse ideological integration, and rigorous logical construction, and has also provided important inspiration for future theoretical research and artistic creation.