This study investigated the integration of Chan aesthetics into Chinese animation from the 1920s to the present, analysing its impact on national style and artistic expression. By exploring selected works from the Shanghai Animation Film Studio (SAFS: 1960s–1980s), the contemporary animated film Nezha: The Demon Child (2019), and the works of independent animation artist Ye Youtian (2013–2014), this research considers how Chan aesthetics manifest through traditional cultural elements, audiovisual techniques, narrative structures, and modern thematic explorations. The findings revealed that Chan aesthetics not only reinforce the national style of Chinese animation, consciously or unconsciously, but also serve as a philosophical framework that sustains the dynamic evolution of the national style. As Chinese animation continues to adapt to modernization and global influences, the enduring relevance of Chan aesthetics offers valuable insights into the interplay among tradition, innovation and national identity in the medium for artists and researchers.
AnderlC (2012) Chan rhetoric: An introduction. In: AnderlC (ed.) Zen Buddhist Rhetoric in China, Korea, and Japan. Brill, pp.1–94.
2.
AtchleyJH (2016) When the master is not master: The critique of enlightenment in Ang Lee’sCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Journal of Religion & Film7(2): 4.
3.
BaoL (1983) From Three Words to an Animated Film – The Three Monks (cong sanjuhua dao yibu donghua-sange heshang). China Film Press.
4.
CanárioT (2016) On the problem of defining manga: A study of the influence of Taoism and Zen Buddhism on manga aesthetics. Alternative Francophone1(10): 81–99.
5.
ChangCY (1967) Ch’an Buddhism: Logical and illogical. Philosophy East and West17(1/4): 37–49.
6.
ChenSWLauSW (2021) The new Chinese individual: Confronting the divided self in Ne Zha: Birth of the demon child. Asian Studies Review45(4): 674–689.
7.
ClearyT (2000) Zen Essence: The Science of Freedom. Shambhala Publications.
8.
CohenABWuMSMillerJ (2016) Religion and culture: Individualism and collectivism in the East and West. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology47(9): 1236–1249.
9.
DaiYWangJ (2022) Chan aesthetics and Chan expression in domestic animation (chanzong meixue yu guochan donghua de chanyi biaoda). Modern Communication (Journal of Communication University of China) 44(4): 110–117.
10.
DuDY (2019) Animated Encounters: Transnational Movements of Chinese Animation, 1940s–1970s. University of Hawaii Press.
11.
FarquharMA (2021) Monks and monkey: A study of ‘national style’ in Chinese animation. In: PallantC (ed.) Animation: Critical and Primary Sources. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
12.
FengP (2021) Arthur Danto as a Zen master: An interpretation of Danto’s philosophy of art from a Zen perspective. Asian Philosophy31(1): 33–47.
13.
FengYL (2017) A Brief History of Chinese Philosophy. Peking University Press, 295.
14.
GarfieldJLPriestG (2009) Mountains Are Just Mountains: Pointing at the Moon: Buddhism, Logic, Analytic Philosophy. Oxford University Press, pp.71–82.
15.
HofstedeG (1980) Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Value. SAGE.
16.
HuangJ (2022) A view of the definition, origination and development of the term ‘Chinese School of Animation’. Animation17(3): 318–333.
17.
HuangSC (1968) Chang Tsai’s concept of ch’i. Philosophy East and West18(4): 247–260.
18.
HuangYJ (2020) Beyond the image: The application of film and television shot language in poetic animation – Taking the poetic works of ‘Yi Ye Tang’ as examples (feizhiyuxiang: yingshi jingtou yuyan zai shiyi donghua zhong de yingyong – yi yiyetang xiangguan shiyi zuopin weili). Art Education Research (meishu jiaoyu yanjiu)11: 101–103.
19.
HuangYJYeYT (2020) From traditional narration to poetic narration: An interpretation of the narrative structure of ‘poetic animation’ (cong chuantong xueshi dao shixing xushi: ‘shiyi donghua’ xushi jiegou quanjie). Film Review (dianying pingjie)10: 65–70.
20.
JiangZW (2020) A study on the evolution of the Nezha story from the perspective of narratology: From traditional mythology to the film Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child(xushuixue shiyu xia nezha gushi zhi bianqian yanjiu: cong chuantong shenhua dao dianying Nezha zhi motong jiangshi). Dongnan Chuanbo (Southeast Communication)3: 57–60.
21.
JifengHBaochuanL (2023) The reconstructed history of the foundation of the Chinese School of Animation: A textual criticism on the ‘Crow Incident’. Animation18(3): 257–272.
22.
LaiWW (1979) Non-duality of the two truths in Sinitic Mādhyamika: Origin of the ‘third truth’. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies2(2): 45–65.
23.
LowYW (2014) Religion in Cinema: Buddhism and Taoism in Popular Films through a Jungian Lens. PhD thesis, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
24.
MacdonaldS (2015) Animation as intertextual cinema: Nezha naohai (Nezha Conquers the Dragon King). Animation10(3): 205–221.
25.
NieX (2014) The nationalization direction of Chinese animation should not be doubted: A discussion with ‘A critical examination of Chinese animation theory’ (zhongguo donghua de minzuhua fangxiang buying zhiyi – zhongguo donghua lilun pipan). China Television (zhongguo dianshi) 12: 76–81.
26.
PetersonW (2009) Ch’en Ch’üeh finds himself. Asia Major22(1): 183–200.
27.
ShengK (2013) The different faces of Nezha in modern Taiwanese culture. Oriental Archive81(3): 391–410.
28.
SuzukiDT (1951) The philosophy of Zen. Philosophy East and West1(2): 3–15.
29.
SuzukiDT (1989) The Way of Zen. Translated by GeZ. G. (Overseas Sinology Series). Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House.
30.
TangX, et al. (2022) Prevalence of social anxiety disorder and symptoms among Chinese children, adolescents and young adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology13.
31.
WalkerG (2012) Sociological theory and Jungian psychology. History of the Human Sciences25(1): 52–74.
32.
WangK (2022) A study of Chinese commentaries on the sutra of perfect enlightenment. Religions13(11): 1099.
WhykeTWMugicaJL (2022) Calling for a hero: The displacement of the Nezha archetypal image from Chinese animated film Nezha Naohai (1979) To New Gods: Nezha Reborn (2021). Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences15(3): 389–409.
35.
WhykeTWMugicaJLBrownMS (2021) Contemporizing the national style in Chinese animation: The case of Nezha (2019). Animation16(3): 157–174.
36.
WinfieldBHMizunoTBeaudoinCE (2000) Confucianism, collectivism and constitutions: Press systems in China and Japan. Communication Law and Policy5(3): 323–347.
37.
WongKK (2001) The Complete Book of Zen. Vermilion.
38.
WuH (2017) The translocalized McDull series: National identity and the politics of powerlessness. Animation12(1): 28–44.
39.
WuW (2009) In memory of Meishu Film: Catachresis and metaphor in theorizing Chinese animation. Animation4(1): 31–54.
40.
WuW (2017) Chinese Animation, Creative Industries, and Digital Culture. Routledge.
41.
WuW (2018) The ambivalent image factory: The genealogy and visual history of Chinese independent animation. Animation13(3): 221–237.
42.
YiJYTangXLiuST (2024) A study on the application of Chan aesthetics in domestic animated films (chanzong meixue zai guochan donghua dianying zhong de yingyong yanjiu). Daguan (Forum) 5: 54–56.
43.
YouC (2022) The demon child and his modern fate: Reconstructing the Nezha myth in animated fabulation. Animation17(3): 286–301.
44.
YuanY (2020) A Study on the Embodiment and Application of Chan Aesthetics in Animation (donghua zhong chanzong meixue de tixian ji yingyong yanjiu). PhD thesis, Nanjing University of the Arts (nanjing yishu xueyuan), China.
45.
ZhanF (2023) Animating the spirited: Journeys and transformation. In: Tze-yueG. HuMasaoYokotaGyongyiHorvath (eds) Mutual Images Journal11: 196–205.
46.
ZhangS (1985) The more national, the more international: On the formation and development of the national style of meishu films(yuyou minzuxing, yuyou guojixing: meishu dianying minzu fengge de xingcheng he fazhan). Contemporary Cinema (dangdai dianying)2: 101–105.
47.
ZhengF (2021) The value and application of the ‘emptiness aesthetics’ in Chan aesthetics: Taking the application of ink-painting animation as an example(chanyi meixuezhong ‘kongjing’sixiang de jiazhi yu yingyong: yi shuimo donghua de yingyong weili). Journal of Heihe University (heihe xueyuan xuebao)12(8): 182–184.
