Cultivating a poetic heart-mind: Yu Ji’s vision of self-cultivation, aesthetic education, and its contemporary implications

In this dissertation, I asked the question of the path and inner journey in cultivating the poetic heart-mind in traditional Chinese aesthetic education. Through exploring the works and life of Yu Ji (虞集 1272-1348), a leading literati, educator, poet, and art critic in the Yuan Dynasty, I sketch a map that consists of two parts: cultivating the heart-mind, and realizing the true nature of the heart-mind through art and poetry. Then, I combined these two parts and discussed Yu Ji’s vision of aesthetic education. Cultivating the heart-mind begins with recognizing the unconditional basic goodness in each human being endowed by heaven, a fundamental assumption of human nature in Confucianism. By connecting learning with one’s heart-mind, a learner gradually arrives at inner tranquility and becomes one’s master in daily life by reducing excessive fluctuating desires, being conscientious in daily activities, and practicing sitting meditation. Facing suffering and fragility, one returns to the root of being for a way out, no longer seeking externally. By nourishing the root, one uncovers the innate vastness, vitality, and brilliance in one’s heart-mind. From self-compassion to extending benevolence in one’s living environment, one transforms the inner realm and perception of the world into the Garden of Dao, full of freshness like the spring season. Even the most lifeless and hopeless moment becomes an opportunity to see the heart-mind of heaven and earth, which is no other than ever generative vitality. Thus, one conquers fear and embraces endless possibility and unconditional freedom in one’s heart-mind, leading to deeper care and compassion for the common welfare. For such a heart-mind, art bears profound meanings: balancing the emotions into centrality and harmony, emancipating the heart-mind so that one is no longer bounded by time, and realizing the inherent true nature through engaging with the phenomenal world. It unleashes creativity, as one abandons egoism, becomes natural, and joins the cosmic generativity, depicting the true sense of an individual being inseparable from heaven and earth, beyond conceptualization and appearances. In this sense, art transforms an individual in its deepest sense and creates an atmosphere that invites others to return to their genuine nature. Combining self-cultivation and the poetic heart-mind, we conclude with Yu Ji’s vision of aesthetic education, which consists of three layers of cultivation: comprehensive observation (a vision about arts and being between heaven and earth), learning (how to learn from the ancient people and contemporary reality as a confirmation of the worthiness of individual value), and practice (skillfulness free from deliberation). Through this map of aesthetic cultivation, this dissertation contributed to the philosophy and pedagogy in Chinese aesthetic education. The principles, methods, and milestone experiences may be transferred into aesthetic education in general. Moreover, it enriches our exploration of the existential self. When looking for a settling place for our transient lives in impermanence and suffering, Yu Ji’s vision transforms the phenomenal world into the Garden of Dao, empowers individuals to shed their superimpositions, live out their true nature, and settle in unconditional goodness and freedom, the vastness and brilliance of the heart-mind that never leaves us for an instant.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Luo, Xueqing

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dhillon, Pradeep
• PENG, Feng
• Davila, Liv
• Moodie, Ellen

• Chinese aesthetic education
• Yu Ji
• Chinese poetry education
• Chinese painting
• Comparative Education
• Neo-Confucianist educaion

Statement dc:rights

• © 2025 Xueqing Luo

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129672

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F129672