"Since the Tang Dynasty, the people have deeply loved peony." Most people's definition of beauty refers to splendid and voluptuous imagery, like a prosperous landscape that shows the most pleasing side of nature. Emotions and experiences associated with the changing of seasons, and alternating cycles of decay and renewal, have inspired the author to focus on a different aspects of beauty for the theme of this thesis: "desolation. " The Chinese term for "desolate", is an onomatopoeia to describe the rustling of leaves as they fall to the ground, and is not viewed in an entirely negative light.
This dissertation examines Eastern aesthetics, with a focus on Chinese classical poetry, Chinese painting theory, and Japanese aesthetics. The composition is centered on analyzing the connotations of classical ink wash paintings and how they make use of a "desolate" atmosphere. The analysis of the works’ creative techniques is divided into three series: "The Sound of Desolation", "A message to the deolate cold", and "Abyss", which are the author's cognition and embodiment of the Aesthetics of Deserted Cold.