Abstract
Ancient Chinese characters were produced using two systems, one were produced according to man-made conventions to convey abstract meanings (oracle bone script), and another were generated by outlining the shape of object (pictograph). Whether these two kinds of ancient Chinese characters elicit different aesthetic appraisals of font structure depend on the referential meaning or object? And whether this aesthetic appraisal vary by color metaphors? In this present study, participants recruited from the Han, Bai, and Yi ethnic groups were unacquainted with the ancient Chinese characters. Experiment 1a, 1b, and 1c used abstract oracle bone scripts as materials, and Experiment 2a, 2b, and 2c used concrete pictographs as materials. Across three Chinese ethnic groups, the results showed the font structure of oracle bone script or pictograph was more likely to be judged as beautiful when its referential meaning was positive or its referential object was beautiful. Whereas, when its referential meaning was negative or its referential object was ugly, the font structure was more likely to be judged as ugly. Moreover, beauty judgment was facilitated when a positive oracle bone script was presented in the ethnic preferred color, and ugliness judgment was facilitated in the ethnic disliked color. However, this modulation effect was not obvious in the aesthetic appraisal of pictograph. The results indicated that aesthetic appraisal of ancient Chinese characters may depend on the referential meaning or object, and this sense of beauty or ugliness is also modulated by the color preference and metaphors in different Chinese ethnic cultures.
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This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 31671132 and 31900756).
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The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Zhang, W., Tao, Y., Lai, S. et al. Positive referential meaning and color metaphor bring beauty: Evidence on aesthetic appraisal of ancient Chinese character from Han, Bai, and Yi ethnic groups. Curr Psychol 42, 15336–15347 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02728-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02728-5