Aesthetic connotation of “huanzhong” in Zhuangzi

The concept of “huanzhong” in Zhuangzi embodies five levels of aesthetic connotation, i.e. non-opposite, beyond time and space, unity of emptiness and solidness, unity of motion and motionlessness, and super-utility. It bears more aesthetic flavors than the concept of “zhongyong” of Confucianism and “zhongdao” of Buddhism. Its value in practice is embodied in caring for one’s life and conducting him in society aesthetically. It agrees with the aesthetic mentality of the subject in aesthetics, reveals the dialectical relationship between aesthetic mentality and aesthetic imagination, and influences the handling of the relationship between emptiness and solidness in Chinese art.