Issue131 求拍

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Arts can reveal ideas and impulses of the society. However, arts are not the only way of doing so.Also, arts are more than revealing hidden aspects of a society.

Art could reflect trends and preferences of its creator. With in-depth thinking about society of artists, arts could carry their creators' understandings , doubts and conclusions about the society, thus demontrating the world in the way that those emphasised by artists are sharpened. Considering the fact that many artists have independent souls and are profound thinkers, this could mean that arts usually reveals many truths never spoken of by mainstream classes about the society, including its ideas and impulses.

However, art is not the only way to explore the invisible side of the society. Insteead, those ideas and impulses can be revealed in many ways. In my university one of those things that impressed me most are the stone benches in campus. No matter winter or summer , morning or evening, or even during vacations and holidays, I always find  people sitting on those benches reading and studying.Without any form of arts I discovered that under the superstitious facades of the society there exist people who never give up pursuing their goals and dreams through efforts and hard working. Universities may not be able to represent the whole society yet the same principle could be applied to societies.Similarly , if streets in the morning or evening are full of people from all ages jogging, no art is need for us to realize how healthy the ideas of the society are, and how energized the impulses are.Even hidden ideas could be discovered through observation, as long as you know where to look.

Even artists works in this way. if someone want do demonstrate some aspects of the society he must find them first, and it is unlikely he can find them in works of other artists. The historical novel The Qin Empire told us about the story how a small and weak kingdom finally conquered all kingdoms and united the whole China for the first time in the history. The novel told us about the ideas and impulses of the society of that time, through describing decisions and  efforts, commitments and sacrifices and above all the heroism of not only kings but also commoners, in order to make the kingdom strong.The author of the novel spend almost a decade in solidute, collecting historical evidences, analyzing, writing,and through obervation and independent thinking, and finally uncovered the ideas and impulses, which are unprecedented in any form of art before.

What's more, arts are beyond representing the society of a specific time. Instead, great artists can see through all the phenomenons of the society and grasp its essence: humanity, which makes arts truly eternal. Heroism embodied in The Qin Empire cound always serve as inspiration to people because it is not only independent of time but  also independent of culture backgrounds, as on the other side of the planet heroism are even more accepted and welcomed.

To sum up, although arts could serve as the discoveror of ideas and impulses of the society, they are not the only way to do that. What's more, the  ever-lasting value of arts comes not from describing hidden aspects of a society but to uncover the nature of human hidden even deeper.