The article identifies the characteristics of the human essence through the analysis of the
aesthetic principles of Japanese Noh theater. It is shown that the aesthetics of Japanese
art reflects the ontological traditional spiritual foundations of Japanese culture and at
the same time the anthropological principles of the cultural specificity of human nature.
In the aesthetics of plastic Japanese art, one can find all the essential anthropological
principles that determine the uniqueness of an oriental person: wuwei (non-action),
mono no aware (the charm of things), yugen (hidden beauty, understatement), sabi (the
beauty of lonely sadness), satori (enlightenment). These beginnings of Japanese Noh
theater are reflected in the mask principle and make up the uniqueness of human nature
in Japanese culture.
Keywords: Japanese Noh theater, human nature, philosophical anthropology, yugen,
wuwei, aware, sabi.
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