Specific features of traditional Japanese medieval aesthetics
ENThe present article is devoted to the critical analysis of Japanese Aesthetics of the Middle Ages. The influence of Shinto and Zen Buddhism on the formation of Aesthetics of Heian and Kamakura age is traced. The main attention is devoted to the investigation of the conceptions of the Ki-no Tsurayuki, Sei Shonagon, Murosaki Shikibu, Fujiwara Teika, Zeami Motokyo, Sesshu. When analyzing the evolution of Japanese aesthetic thought and art, we notice a characteristic feature: the development of different conceptions, schools, and artistic styles seems to obey a law of undulating change which manifests itself not only by constantly adopting pre-existing traditions, canons, symbols, and means of expression but also by periodically repeating them. No significant school with its own distinctive theory or artistic style has ever disappeared without a trace from the cultural horizon of Japan. After flourishing it may temporarily withdraw from the foreground of cultural life, but later it is inevitably reborn by transmitting its vital ideas and achievements to other spiritually allied schools.
