Liu Gangji

Liu Gangji (; 17 January 1933 – 1 December 2019) was a Chinese aesthetician, calligrapher, historian, painter, and philosopher. He was considered a founder of the study of the history of Chinese aesthetics. He was a distinguished professor and Director of the Institute of Aesthetics of Wuhan University. He also served as Vice President of the China Aesthetics Society.
Biography.
Liu was born on 17 January 1933 in Haoying Village, Puding County, Guizhou, Republic of China. He graduated from the Department of Philosophy of Peking University in 1956, and then spent two more years there studying aesthetics.
He joined the faculty of Wuhan University on the invitation of President Li Da, and spent his entire career at the university. He was promoted to lecturer in 1963, to associate professor in 1978, and to professor in 1982. He was named a distinguished professor in 2006. He was a longtime director of the Institute of Aesthetics at Wuhan University, and also served as Vice President of the China Aesthetics Society.
Liu spent decades studying Marxist aesthetics, history of Chinese aesthetics, history of Chinese calligraphy and painting, and Chinese traditional thoughts and culture. He and Li Zehou co-edited the two-volume "History of Chinese Aesthetics" (), published in 1984 and 1987. Considered the foundational work in the field, the book is described as "monumental" despite being unfinished.
In "The Spreading and Influence of German Aesthetics in China", he argued that modern Chinese aesthetics have largely resulted from the propagation of German idealism, through the translated writings of thinkers such as Alexander Baumgarten, Immanuel Kant, and Karl Marx. In 1999, he was invited to teach as a visiting professor at the University of Trier and Heidelberg University in Germany, and the book was translated into German and published by the University of Trier Press.
Liu was also a painter and calligrapher. He published "Collected Paintings and Calligraphy of Liu Gangji" in 2012, which includes 269 of his works. The Hubei Institute of Fine Arts held his personal art exhibition in the same year with more than 150 works. He has been described as "an artist among philosophers, and a philosopher among artists".
Personal life.
Liu was married to Sun Jialan ().
He died on 1 December 2019 in Wuhan, aged 86.