Last Days Prophecy - Unification Thought

Culture refers to the totality of the various kinds of human activity, including economy, education, religion, science, and art, among which the most central is art. In other words, art is the essence of culture. And yet, art today shows a tendency toward decadence on a global scale, whether in democratic or Communist nations, or whether in more developed or in less developed nations. Decadent art generates decadent culture. In such circumstances, culture cannot but decline in the whole world. Clearly, then, in order to create a new culture in the world, the restoration of art must be undertaken. And to do that, we must establish what true art is. It is for this purpose that we need a new theory of art.

The dawn new eras in the past has always been preceded by a new spirit in art. During the Renaissance period, for instance, artists had a leading role. In Communist revolutions as well, great was the contribution by artists. It is well known that Maxim Gorky's works in the Russian Revolution and Lu Xun's works in the Chinese Proletarian Revolution greatly contributed to those revolutionary movements. Therefore, in creating a new culture, new art must be created.

Consider, for example, the role that art played in the establishment of Communism. Communist art is called "socialist realism," which seeks to expose the contradictions of capitalist society and to drive people toward the revolution. With the fall of Communism, however, socialist realism is fading away. Nevertheless, socialist realism which is based on the theories of materialist dialectic and historical materialism, can easily overpower the theories of art of free societies, whose philosophical grounds are weak. Thus, again, a new theory of art becomes necessary in order to overcome socialist realism.

In such a context, I will present the theory of art of Unification Thought, or the Unification Theory of Art, as a new theory of art. The Unification Theory of Art aims to reverse today's trend toward decadence in art.

Also, it is presented as a critique of Socialist Realism and as a counterproposal based on sound philosophical and theological principles. This theory is for the purpose of contributing to the creation and establishment of a new culture in the world.

I. The Divine Principle Foundation for the New Theory of Art

The Divine Principle foundation for the new theory of art includes three important elements: (1) God's purpose of creation and creativity, (2) joy and creation in resemblance, and (3) give-and-receive action.

1. God's Purpose of Creation and Creativity:

The purpose for which God created the universe was to actualize joy through love. This means that God created the universe as His object of joy. Accordingly, God can be regarded as a great artist, and the universe as God's work of art. God created the universe for His joy, and at the same time, to give joy to human beings. Cod sought to obtain joy by pleasing human beings.

For humans, God's purpose of creation refers to the purpose for the whole and the purpose for the individual. The purpose for the whole is to give joy to the whole (namely, humankind, nation, tribe, and so on, whereas the purpose for the individual is to obtain joy for oneself. Therefore, people are supposed to have their own joy while pleasing God and the whole. Artistic activity is derived from God's creation of the universe. The activity of creation starts with the purpose for the whole, that is, it starts with an intention to please others. The activity of appreciation, on the other hand, starts with the purpose for the individual, that is, it starts with the intention of obtaining joy for oneself.

God's creativity is the ability to form a two-stage structure consisting of an inner four-position base and an outer four position base (see The Theory of the Original Image, IV).

Forming an inner four-position base means to form a Logos (or the plan); and forming an outer four-position base means creating external things through the Logos and the Hyungsang (or material). This is manifested as the two-stage structure of creation in human artistic activity. First, there is the stage of making a plan; and second, there is the stage of making an art work by substantializing the plan through the use of materials. The differences between the methods of creation and the differences between the styles of creation are explained on the basis of the differences in the characteristics in this two-stage structure of creation.

2. Joy And Creation

In Resemblance In the hope of actualizing joy, God created humankind and all things as His object of joy. joy for the subject is obtained through the stimulation coming from an object whose Sungsang and Hyungsang resemble those of the subject. 1 Accordingly, God created people in such a way that they resemble in image the dual characteristics of God, 2 and created all things in such a way that they resemble Him symbolically.

Applied to the theory of art, this means that an artist produces works of art in resemblance to his or her own Sungsang and Hyungsang. Also, it means that the appreciator feels joy by sensing his or her own Sungsang and Hyungsang through the art work.

3. Give-And-Receive Action:

In God, Sungsang and Hyungsang engage in give-and-receive action and either form a union or produce a multiplied body. 3 Here, to produce a multiplied body means to create created beings. When give-and-receive action is applied to the theory of art, it follows that the artistic activity of creation is per-formed through give-and-receive action between the subject (the artist) and the object (materials), and that the appreciation of artistic works is performed through give-and-receive action between the subject (the appreciator) and the object (art work). Accordingly, both in artistic creation and in appreciation there are certain requisites that subject and object must have.

II. Art and Beauty

A. What is Art?

Art is the activity of creating or appreciating beauty. The human mind has the three faculties of intellect, emotion, and will, corresponding to which there are different areas of cultural activity. As intellectual activities, there are philosophy, science, etc.; as volitional activities, there are moral conduct, ethical conduct, etc.; and as emotional activity, there is art. Thus, art can be defined as "the emotional activity of creating or appreciating beauty." Then, what is the purpose of art? The purpose for which God created human beings and the universe was to obtain joy through loving an object. Likewise, it is for the purpose of obtaining joy that human beings create or appreciate works of art as their objects. Therefore, art can also be described as "activity of creating joy through creation or appreciation." The British art critic Herbert Read (1892-1968) said, "All artists have ... the desire to please; and art is ...

defined as an attempt to create pleasing forms." This is in agreement with the definition of art in Unification Thought.

B. What is Beauty?

According to Divine Principle, love is the "emotional force given by the subject to the object," and beauty is the "emotional force returned to the subject by the object." 5 In cases where the object is a mineral or a plant, what comes from the object is a material stimulus, but the subject (human being) can receive it as emotional stimulation. However, there are cases where, even though the object gives stimulation to the subject, the subject does not receive it emotionally. In such cases, the stimulus cannot become an emotional stimulation. The question, therefore, is whether the subject receives the stimulus coming from the object emotionally or not. If the subject receives the stimulus emotionally, then that stimulus becomes an emotional stimulation. Therefore, beauty can be described as "an emotional stimulation that the object gives to the subject." Since beauty is one of the values-along with trueness and goodness-beauty can be expressed in another way as well, namely, as "the value of an object felt as an emotional stimulation." I have described the emotional force given by the subject to the object as love, and the emotional force given by the object to the subject as beauty. Yet in reality, in the case of human relations, both subject and object mutually give and receive love and beauty. In other words, the object also gives love to the subject, and the subject also gives beauty to the object. The reason is that, when the subject and object become united, there comes into being a love that is latent even in beauty and a beauty latent even in love. (When an emotional force is sent either from the subject to the object or from the object to the subject, it is sent as love, and received as an emotional stimulation, namely, beauty).

In the discussion above, I have given the definition of beauty from the Unification Thought position. In the past, beauty was defined by philosophers in various ways. Plato, for instance, explained the essence of beauty in terms of beauty itself, namely, the Idea of beauty existing in an object; lie also said, "Fineness is auditory and visual pleasure." 7 Kant explained beauty as the "subjective purposiveness of an object," or the "form of purposiveness of an object.". Here, subjective purposiveness means purposiveness without any purpose. This means that, even if an object has no intentional purpose (either objective or subjective), the form of the object is considered as having purposiveness when we feel unity and harmony from it, and this purposiveness is judged as beauty.

C. The Determination of Beauty

How is the flow of beauty determined? About this point, the following explanation is found in Divine Principle.

The original value of an individual body is not latent in itself as an absolute. It is determined by the reciprocal relationship between the purpose of the individual body (as a particular kind of object centered on God's ideal of creation) and the desire of man (as the subject) to pursue the original value of the object...

For example, how is the beauty of a flower determined? Its original beauty is determined when God's purpose in creating the flower and man's spontaneous desire to pursue the flower's beauty are in accord with each other-when man's God centered desire to find its beauty is fulfilled by the emotional stimulation he receives from the flower. This brings him perfect joy [at that moment, original beauty is determined]. 9 Beauty does not exist objectively, but is determined through give-and-receive action between the subject, which has the desire to seek value, and the object. In other words, beauty is determined when the subject feels joy through the stimulation received from the object and judges that stimulation as such to be emotional.

D. The Elements of Beauty

Beauty is not something that "exists" objectively but something that "is felt." Some element existing in the object gives the subject an emotional stimulation that is felt by the subject as beauty. Then, what is this element that stimulates the subject emotionally, in other words, what is the element of beauty? It is the combination of the purpose for which the object was created (the purpose of creation) and the harmony of the physical elements within the object. That is to say, when the physical elements, such as lines, shapes, sounds, colors, space are well harmonized centering on the purpose of creation, they give to the subject an emotional stimulation that is felt as beauty. When beauty is recognized as such by the subject, it becomes actual beauty.

Harmony refers to both spatial harmony and temporal harmony. Spatial harmony refers to the harmony in spatial arrangement, and temporal harmony refers to the harmony that is produced over the passage of time.

Art forms with spatial harmony include painting, architecture, sculpture, handicraft, and so on. Art forms with temporal harmony include literature, and music, and so on. These two kinds of art are called spatial art and temporal art. Drama, dancing, and the like are regarded as art that is both spatial and temporal. In either case, it is harmony that gives rise to the feeling of beauty.

Aristotle said in Metaphysics, "The chief forms of beauty are order and symmetry and definiteness." 10 Read said, "The work of art has an imaginary point of reference (analogous to a center of gravity) and around this point the lines, surfaces and masses are distributed in such a way that they rest in perfect equilibrium. The structural aim of all these modes is harmony, and harmony is the satisfaction of our sense of beauty." 11 Both agree that the element of beauty is harmony.

III. The Dual Purpose of Artistic Activity: Creation and Appreciation

Artistic activity consists of two aspects, namely, creation and appreciation. These are not separate activities; rather they are united activities. This means that, while engaging in creation, one engages in appreciation as well, and while engaging in appreciation, one creatively adds to the work of art one's own subjective perspective (called "subjective action," which will be explained below).

Why must creation and appreciation exist side by side? From the viewpoint of Unification Thought, creation and appreciation are practical activities carried out on the basis of the dual desires to realize value and to seek value. Specifically, creation is performed on the basis of the desire to realize value, and appreciation is performed on the basis of the desire to seek value. And where do these desires come from?

They come from the dual purposes-that is, the desire to realize value comes from the purpose for the whole, and the desire to seek value comes from the purpose for the individual.

The purpose for the whole, even when not conscious, is latent in a person's subconsciousness. For that reason, everyone, consciously or subconsciously, seeks to serve a larger whole-the country, humankind, God-and strives to live a life of trueness, to do good deeds, and to create beauty. Accordingly, creation is an act to fulfill the purpose for the whole. But people live for their own sake as well. This means that everyone seeks to obtain joy by finding value in an object. This is where appreciation is manifested. Accordingly, appreciation in art is an act to fulfill the purpose for the individual.

The purpose for the whole and the purpose for the individual come from God's purpose of creation. God created human beings in order to obtain joy; this is the purpose of creation from the standpoint of God.

From the standpoint of human beings, however, it is the purpose of being created, which is both to please God and to find joy for themselves. Together, these are the purpose for the whole and the purpose for the individual.

In this way, creation in art is the act whereby an artist, in the position of object, manifests value for the sake of God and humankind, whereas appreciation is the act whereby an appreciator, in the position of subject, finds value in a work of art. Both actions are derived from God's purpose of creation. Today, however, it is often the case that artists have deviated from the original proper position and have fallen into self-centered art. This has become a deplorable situation. If the true meaning of creation and appreciation becomes clear, artists will come to see their activity with a sense of mission, and will pursue artistic activities as in the original ideal.

IV. Requisites for Creation

In creation, there are requisites for the subject (artist) and requisites for the object (work of art). Also, techniques, materials, and styles of creation are important requisites in creation. Each of these points will be discussed in this section.

A. Requisites for the Subject in Creation

1. Motif, Theme, Conception

In creating a work of art, first there is a motivation for creation, or a motif, and based on that motif, a purpose for creating a specific work is established. Next, the theme, and then the conception, are established. The theme is the central content to be developed in the work, and the conception is a plan for the content and form of the art work that is to be created under the theme.

For example, suppose a painter, upon seeing an autumn landscape, is moved by its beauty and decides to paint it. The emotion aroused becomes the motif, and the purpose to create a painting of an autumn scene is established. Next, if, for instance, there are especially strong feelings evoked by maple trees, the artist may decide to express the motif centering on maple trees, and a theme such as "Maple Trees in Autumn" may be chosen. Once the theme is chosen, the artist forms a concrete conception of how mountains, trees, rivers, sky, clouds, etc. will be arranged, what colors will be used, and so on.

The creation of the universe by God can be described in a similar way. First of all, there was a motif, which was the emotional impulse to be joyful through love," namely, God's Heart. Next, God established die purpose of creation, that is, the purpose of creating an object of love resembling Him. Based on that purpose, the theme of human beings, "Adam and Eve," was determined. Then, a concrete conception of human beings and all things, namely, Logos, was established. That is how we can explain the creation of the universe by God.

In God's creative act, His Inner Sung-sang (intellect, emotion, and will) and Inner Hyungsang (ideas, concepts, and laws) engaged in give-and-receive action, within God's Sungsang, centering on Heart (Purpose), and the conception (Logos) was formed. The formation of this four-position base can be applied directly to artistic activity. To explain, the artist creates the conception by applying his or her intellect, emotion, and will in the direction of actualizing the theme. In other words, the artist creates the conception through a give-and-receive action between the inner Sungsang and the inner Hyungsang, centering on the purpose to create an art work. That can be understood as the formation of the inner four-position base in artistic activity (Fig. 7-1).

Let us consider the example of The Thinker, by Auguste Rodin (1841-1917), which is a statue of a poet sitting in the center of the tipper level of the Gale of Hell, and was conceptualized on the basis of the first part of "Hell" of Dante's Divine Comedy. The statue portrays a poet engaged in meditation while watching the people in hell, who are groaning in fear, anxiety, and pain. Rodin's motif in creating The Thinker must have been the impulse to find the truth about human life. The theme was none other than The Thinker, and the conception was the design for expressing a man sitting and engaged in meditation.

Rodin's statue The Thinker and the statue of the thinking Maitreya-Bodhisattva from the Shilla dynasty in Korea, are quite different works of art, even though both have the same theme, a namely, a man engaged in thinking. The latter has as its motif the heart of the people waiting for the Maitreya, who was said to have been the most excellent disciple of Buddha and is to come again in order to save all humankind. As regards expression of Inner Sungsang, Rodin's statue displays a strong intellectual aspect, whereas the statue of Maitreya is centered on purified emotions, and, as a result, has become a very noble and holy statue.

2. Object Consciousness

Creation is an activity whereby an artist, in the position of object, gives joy to the subject, namely, God and the whole (humankind, the nation, tribe, etc.), by manifesting the value of beauty. For that, the artist must establish a sense of object consciousness. The attitude of wanting to give joy to God, the highest Subject, and to manifest the glory of God, is the culmination of object consciousness. The content of object consciousness will be discussed next.

First, the artist should seek to comfort God, who has been grieving with sorrow throughout human history.

God created human beings and the universe to obtain joy, and even endowed humans with creativity.

Therefore, the original purpose of human life is, above all, to give joy to God. Accordingly, people's creative activity should have been carried out, first of all, as a means to please God. However, people separated themselves from God and lost the consciousness of wanting to give joy to God. That has been the sorrow of God, even until today. Therefore, the artist should, above all, comfort God for His historical sorrow.

Second, the artist should have the attitude of wanting to comfort the many sages and righteous people, especially Jesus, who walked the path of restoration with God. To comfort them is to comfort God, who shared pain and sorrow with them.

Third, the artist should have the attitude of wanting to express the deeds of the good and righteous people of the past and present. That is, the artist should have the attitude of cooperating with God's providence by portraying the deeds of those people who were, and those who still are, persecuted by the sinful world.

Fourth, the artist should herald the coming of the ideal world, Therefore, the artist should create works expressing hope for, and confidence about the future. Through such works, God's glory is manifested.

Fifth, the artist should have the attitude of wanting to praise God, the Creator, by expressing the beauty and mystery of nature. God created nature for humankind's joy. Due to the Human Fall, however, people came to obtain little joy from the beauty of nature. Therefore, while having a feeling of awe toward nature, which is the manifestation of God's attributes, the artist should discover the beauty of nature, praise God and give joy to others.

Artists who have object consciousness and dedicate all their energy in their creative work, can receive blessings from God and assistance from the spirit world. That is how true works of art are produced. Such works. may be considered the fruit of co-creative work between God and the artist.

Among the artists of' the Renaissance, there were many who created their works of art with object consciousness. For example, Leonardo da Vinci (1432-1519), Raphael (1483-1520) and Michelangelo (1475-1564) were such artists. Beethoven (1770-1827), who perfected classical music, composed music with object consciousness. 12 That is why the works of those artists have become immortal masterpieces.

3. Individuality

Each person is a being with individuality, created in the resemblance to one of the Individual Images in God. Accordingly, in artistic creation, the artist's individuality is expressed as art work.

The reason is that artistic creation is an expression of the artist's individuality, which is an individual image of divine origin. The artist gives joy to God and to others by manifesting individuality. Individuality is fully manifested in great masterpieces. That is why the artist's name is usually attached to the work of art (e.g., Beethoven's Sixth Symphony and Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony).

B. Requisites for the Object in Creation

The work of art must reflect the artist's Sungsang conditions, such as motif (purpose), the theme, and conception (plan). For that purpose, the artist must use materials that are most appropriate to manifest those Sungsang conditions. Moreover, the physical elements (components) should be arranged in a way that expresses complete harmony. Those are the Hyungsang conditions. The harmony of the physical elements refers to rhythm of lines, harmony of shapes, harmony of spaces, harmony of light and dark, harmony of colors, harmony of tones, harmony of masses in painting, harmony of movement in dancing, harmony of segments in a line segment, and so on.

As for the harmony of segments in a line, there is the so-called golden section, which has been known since ancient times. The golden section is reached by cutting a line in such a way that the ratio of the shorter segment to the longer segment is equal to the ratio of the longer segment to the total length of the line. This is achieved by dividing the total segment in proportions of approximately 5 to 8. When this proportion is employed, the end result is felt as stable in shape and beautiful. For example, it is said that, if the relationship between the space above and the space below the horizon in a painting is made according to this proportion, harmony can be obtained. This golden section is said to be found in pyramids and in Gothic cathedrals.

C. Technique and Materials

The Two-stage Structure in the Original Image refers to the two-stage structure in which, first, the Inner Sungsang and Inner Hyungsang engage in give-and-receive action, centering on purpose, to form Logos, and next, the Logos and Hyungsang engage in give-and-receive action, centering on purpose, to form a created being.

All human creative activities are performed through this process. For example, activities such as manufacturing, farming, scholarly research, and industrial research, are performed according to this two-stage structure of creation.

This holds true in the creation of artistic works. As for the formation of the inner four-position base, I have already explained it in terms of requisites for the subject. To repeat, centering on the motif (purpose), the Inner Sungsang (intellect, emotion, and will) and Inner Hyungsang (theme) engage in give-and-receive action and produce a conception. That is the formation of the inner four-position base. Next, an outer four-position base is formed through give-and-receive action, centering on the motif (purpose), between the Sungsang (conception) and the Hyungsang (materials). In the formation of the outer four-position base, special techniques or abilities may be required. This is called the technique of creation.

The materials required to create a work of art consist of Sungsang materials (i.e., the object of the expression) and Hyungsang materials (i.e., the means of expression). The Sungsang materials are called the "subject-matter." In writing, the events, actions, and objects described are the subject-matter. In painting, the people, landscape, and other images are the subject-matter. The subject-matter is the same as the theme in the formation of the inner four-position base in artistic creation.

The Hyungsang materials (i.e., physical materials) are called the "medium." In a sculpture, such materials as chisels, marble, wood, and bronze are necessary. In painting, paints, canvasses, and so on are necessary.

In producing a work, the artist determines the quality and quantity of these physical materials and uses them in concrete creation.

In this way, first the artist produces a conception, and then completes the work by using specific materials.

This process is called "the two-stage structure of creation", which is illustrated in Fig. 7-2.

1. Styles and Schools of Artistic Creation

Style of creation refers to the method of artistic expression, which is the particular way the two-stage structure of creation is formed. Of importance here is the manner in which the inner four-position base is formed, or the style of conception.

The inner four position base is formed through the give-and-receive action between the inner Sungsang (intellect, emotion, and will) and inner Hyungsang (theme), centering on the motif (purpose). Therefore, when there are differences in the motif, there will be differences in the finished works as well. With the same motif and with differences in the inner Sungsang, works will differ as well. Also, with differences in inner Hyungsang, works will likewise differ. With differences in any of these three elements, the conceptions will differ, and the works, also, will differ. This is the origin of the various styles of creation. Based on these various styles, different schools of art have appeared. Below, a few of the schools of art in the West will be briefly described.

Idealism is a style that seeks to express ideal beauty by idealizing human beings and the world. Many of the 16th century Renaissance artists were idealists. Raphael is a representative painter of this school.

Classicism refers to the artistic tendency in the 17th and 18th centuries to follow the examples of the forms of expression of Greco-Roman art. It attached importance primarily to form, seeking to achieve unity and balance. A representative literary work is Faust by Johann W. von Goethe (1749-1832). Among the painters, we can mention Jacques L. David (1748-1825) and Jean AD Ingres (1780-1867).

As a reaction to classicism's focus on form, romanticism (18th and 19th centuries) sought to give expression to passions. Among romanticists, we can mention the writer Victor Hugo (1802-1885), the poet Lord Byron (1788-1824), and the painter Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863).

Realism is a tendency to depict reality as it is. This style emerged as a reaction to romanticism, during the period from mid to late 19th century. Representatives of this school are the painters Jean B. C. Corot (1796-1875), Jean F. Millet (1814-1875), and Gustave Courbet (1819-1877), and the writer Gustave Flaubert (18211880). The style of realism developed a tendency toward positivism and scientism which led it to naturalism. A representative writer of the school of naturalism is Emile Zola (1841-1920). In the area of fine arts, there was no distinction between realism and naturalism.

Symbolism arose from the late 19th Century to early 20th Century as a reaction to real ism/naturalism. As a school of literature, it sought to express feelings with symbols, abandoning the traditions and forms of the past. A representative of this school is the poet Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) f) Impressionism The school of impressionism considered the image caught at one instant to be the true image of things, and sought to express momentary impressions of shapes and colors. This movement developed centering on France in the late 19th Century. Edouard Manet (1832-1883) and Claude Monet (1834-1917) are representative painters of this school.

Contrary to impressionism, which depicted impressions coming born the outside, expressionism sought to express the internal side. It arose as a reaction to impressionism in the early 20th Century. The painters Vasily Kandinsky (1866-1944) and Franz Marc (18801916) and the writer Franz Werfel (1890-1945) are representative artists of this school.

Cubism, a fine-art movement of the early 20th Century, sought mentally to disassemble objects into simple shapes and then recompose them according to the artist's subjectivity. The representative painter of this school is Pablo Picasso (1881-1973).

The artistic style of the Unification Theory of Art is Unificationism, in which idealism and realism are united, centering on the Purpose of Creation. (Fig. 7-3)

Since Unificationism aims to realize the kingdom of heaven on earth, it must regard reality as important.

Accordingly, Unificationism becomes realism. At the same time, however, it has the ideal of returning to the original world, while living in reality. So, the style is idealism as well. Therefore, the unification of reality and ideal becomes the Principled attitude of creation. For example, Unificationism. would depict the image of the human being filled with hope, seeking to overcome hardships in the actual sinful world, while longing for the original ideal world. Unificationism is Heartism, that is, a theory centered on God's Heart.

Thus, Unificationism expresses ideal love centered on God, which naturally contains romantic elements as well. However, it is not romanticism as in the past. When dealing with love between man and woman, it will depict the ideal and realistic love between man and woman centered on God's love.

The various styles and schools of art mentioned above can be divided, in a broad sense, into realism and idealism, whereby realism is understood not in the sense of "a style that depicts reality as it is," but in the sense of "a style that is considered currently fashionable in a specific period," and idealism is understood not in the sense of "a style that depicts ideal human beings and ideal reality," but in the sense of "a style that attempts to give rise to something new, and is oriented toward the future, in opposition to what is currently fashionable in a specific period." In this sense, each of the past styles started out as "idealism," but later became "realism." Then, it can be said that Unificationism as a style of art is the "unity of realism and idealism" in this sense as well.

In Unificationism, which is a style patterned after God's creative act centered on Heart and the purpose of creation, the basic style is unchangeable and eternal, even though there may be stylistic differences based on individualities.

V. Requisites for Appreciation

The appreciation of an artistic work is a form of give-and-receive action; accordingly, in appreciation as well, there are certain requisites for the subject and for the object. Those requisites will now be specified.

A. Requisites for the Subject in Appreciation

First, as a Sungsang requisite, an appreciator must assume the correct attitude with which to enjoy the beauty in the art work, which is an attitude of intuition and contemplation. In other words, the appreciator must view the work of art with a clear state of mind, freeing himself from worldly, or dirty thoughts. To do this, it is necessary to harmonize the spirit mind and physical mind, such that the spirit mind and physical mind are in the relationship of subject and object centering on Heart. This means that the appreciator makes the pursuit of the values of trueness, goodness, and beauty primary, and the pursuit of the physical values secondary.

Next, the appreciator must have a certain level of culture, taste, philosophy, individuality, etc. It is also necessary to understand the Sungsang aspect of the artist who created the work, namely, the motif (purpose), theme, conception, philosophy, historical and social environment, and so on. Understanding an art work is a process of matching the appreciator's Sungsang with the Sungsang of the work of art. This enhances the appreciator's resemblance to the art work, which is what results in the joy of appreciation.

For example, while appreciating the works by Millet, one needs to understand Millet's way of thinking as well. At the time of the February Revolution of 1847, a heavy atmosphere of socialist reforms was hanging over France. It is said that Millet disliked that atmosphere and was attracted to the simple life of the countryside. While living among farmers, he was inspired to portray their life style. 14 If one understands Millet's, frame of mind, one can more easily feel the beauty of his paintings.

In order to enhance resemblance to the work of art, the appreciator simultaneously engages in creative activity through subjective action. Subjective action means that the appreciator adds subjective elements to the object, thus adding new value to the value already created by the artist. The appreciator then enjoys the enhanced value as the value of the object. Subjective action corresponds to "empathy" as defined by Theodore Lipps. 15 For example, in a play or a movie, an actor may break down in tears, and the audience may then weep with the actor, thinking that the actor is really feeling sad. They project their own feelings on to the actor, judging the object subjectively. This is an example of subjective action, or empathy.

Through subjective action, the appreciator becomes more closely united with the work of art and obtains more joy.

Furthermore, the appreciator synthesizes the various physical elements discovered through contemplation and combines their overall unified harmony with the Sungsang (conception) of the artist, contained in the work. In other words, the appreciator finds the harmony of Sungsang and Hyungsang in the work.

The Hyungsang requisites for the appreciator refer to the appreciator's physical condition. The appreciator must have tile organs for sight and hearing in good condition and the nerves and brain in good health. Since the human being is a being of united Sungsang and Hyungsang, a healthy condition of the physical body is required for the appreciation of beauty, which is an activity of the Sungsang.

B. Requisites for the Object in Appreciation

With regard to the requisites for the object (work of art), first, the physical elements of the work of art must be harmonized, centering on the purpose of creation. Second, the Sungsang (motive, purpose, theme, conception) and the Hyungsang (physical elements) of the work of art must be harmonized.

In appreciation, since a work of art is a completed piece placed in front of the appreciator, those conditions which the art work already has cannot be changed at will by the appreciator. Yet, as pointed out earlier, the appreciator's resemblance to the work of art can be enhanced through adding the appreciator's subjectivity to it (i.e., through subjective action).

In displaying the works of art, it is also important to prepare the environment such as location, background and lighting, in order to create an appropriate atmosphere for appreciation.

C. Judgments of Beauty

Based on the principle that "value is determined through the correlative relationship between subject and object" (the relationship of give-and-receive action), beauty is determined through the give-and-receive action between the appreciator (a subject with the above-mentioned requisites for the subject) and a work of art (an object with the above-mentioned requisites for the object). This means that a-judgment concerning beauty is made when the appreciator's desire to seek beauty is fulfilled by the emotional stimulation coming from the work of art. The emotional stimulation coming from the work of art refers to the element-, of beauty that stimulate the emotion of the subject. In this way, beauty itself does not exist objectively, but the elements of beauty that exist in tile work of art turn into actual beauty when the appreciator judges that they are beautiful.

Let us now consider the difference between a judgment of beauty and a judgment of cognition. A judgment of cognition (cognitive judgment) is made through collation between the subject (internal elements-prototypes) and the object (external elements -- sensory content). A judgment of beauty (aesthetic judgment), also, is made through the collation between subject and object. What is the difference between the two?

If during collation the faculty of intellect is more active than tile other faculties, then it becomes a cognitive judgment; but if tile faculty of emotion is more active, then it becomes an aesthetic judgement. In other words, when the physical elements of an object are perceived intellectually, it is a cognitive judgment, but when they are perceived emotionally, it is an aesthetic judgment. (Fig. 7-4)

However, since the intellectual and emotional faculties cannot be totally separated from each other, an aesthetic judgment is always accompanied by cognition. For example, the aesthetic judgment that "this flower is beautiful" is accompanied by the cognition that "this is a flower," or, for instance, "this flower is a rose."

VI. Unity In Art

There are several pairs of correlative aspects (elements) involved in artistic activities, such as creation and appreciation, content and form, universality and individuality, eternity and temporality. Originally, these correlative aspects (elements) were not separated but united. In artistic activities up to the present, however, there has been a tendency to separate these correlative elements, or to emphasize only one element or the other. Thus, the Unification Theory of Art clarifies the nature of unity of these correlative aspects.

A. The Unity of Creation and Appreciation

Usually it is considered that creation is undertaken by the artist, while appreciation is undertaken by the general public. In the view of Unification Thought, however, the two are merely two moments in the activity of dominion. In order to exercise dominion over something, the correlative aspects of cognition and practice are necessary, and the cognition and practice that Like place centering on emotion are precisely appreciation and creation in the field of art. Cognition and practice form the two reciprocal circuits of give-and-receive action between the subject (human being) and the object (all things). Thus there can be no practice without cognition nor any cognition without practice. Therefore, in the relationship between creation and appreciation in art, there can be no appreciation without creation nor any creation without appreciation.

While engaging in creation, artists appreciate their own work; while appreciating a work of art, appreciators, engage in creation. Creation in appreciation refers to subjective action as additional creation, as mentioned above.

B. The Unity of Content and Form

Certain schools of art, such as classicism, attach importance to form, and other schools disregard form and attach importance to content. But, since content and form in art are in the relationship of sung-sang and Hyungsang, originally they should be united. That is to say, the Sungsang content (such as motif, theme, and conception) and the form in which they are expressed with materials (Hyungsang) should be in accord with each other. The Japanese aesthetician Tsutomu Jima said, "Form is actually the form of content, and content is none other than the content of form." 16 This means that content and form should be united.

C. The Unity of Universality and Individuality

Just as, in all created beings, the universal image and individual image are united, likewise, in art, universality and individuality are united. First, there is the unity of universality and individuality in the artist. Artists have their own unique individualities, and at tile same time they belong to a certain school or have a certain method of creation in common with their specific region or period of time. The former is individuality, the latter, universality.

Since artists have universality and individuality in this way, their works necessarily come to manifest the unity of universality and individuality. Thus, in a work of art, individual beauty and universal beauty are manifested in a united manner.

In culture as well, there is unity between universality and individuality. That is, while the culture of a certain region has tile special characteristics of that region, it also has characteristics common to the culture of an even wider region to which it belongs. For example, the statue of Buddha in the Seoggul-am grotto in Korea is a representative work of Shilla culture. It is also known that this work was influenced by the international fine art of Gandhara, which fused Greek art and Buddhist culture. Hence in the Buddha statue of Seoggul-arn grotto, both national elements (Shilla culture) and international elements (Gandhara fine art) are united.

Here a question arises concerning national culture and the Unification culture. What will become of the traditional national culture of each nation when the Unification culture is formed in the future? Concerning this, let us think about the position of Communism. According to the basis-superstructure theory in historical materialism of communism, art is part of the superstructure; therefore, as the economy (the basis) develops, art (superstructure) must also change. Accordingly, in principle, traditional cultures do not need to be preserved. When there is a need for them to be preserved, it cannot but be seen that communists only try to preserve them from the viewpoint of their tactics because they are useful for their communist propaganda. But that will not be the case with Unificationism.

Unificationism seeks to form a unified culture while preserving national cultures. This means that Unification culture will be formed through gathering the essences of the different national cultures, each with its own individuality, and then raising them to a higher dimension.

D. The Unity of Eternity and Temporality

Every created being is a being uniting the identity-maintaining (static) four-position base and a developmental (dynamic) four-position base; therefore each created being exists as the unity of immutability and mutability-hence, as the unity of eternity and temporality. Likewise, in a work of art, the eternal element and the temporal elements are united.

For example, the Angelus by Millet pictures a church, a farmer and his wife in prayer, and a countryside landscape, which we can regard as the unity of-eternity and temporality. The church and the image of people in prayer transcend the ages and are eternal, but the countryside landscape and the clothes worn by tile husband and wife are temporary, unique to that particular period of time.

For another example, we can cite flowers arranged in a vase. The flowers themselves represent something eternal, which has existed from a long time ago, but the way of arranging the flowers and the vase itself are characteristic to a given period. Accordingly, tile unity of eternity and temporality is expressed there. The beauty of a work of art will become even more striking if we grasp and appreciate a "moment in eternity," or "eternity in a moment," as described above.

VII. Art and Ethics

Art is a form of dominion over the creation. Dominion over the creation, from the original standpoint, is intended to be carried out only by those who have reached perfection after passing through the growth process, which includes the three stages of Formation, Growth, and Completion. Perfection means the perfection of love and the perfection of personality. Therefore, one is meant, first, to become an ethical person, and upon that foundation, to have dominion over all things. This means that an artist should also be an ethical person.

Let us think about the relationship between ethics and art from the perspective of the relationship between love and beauty. Love is an emotional force that the subject gives to the object, and beauty is an emotional stimulation that the subject receives from the object. Thus, love and beauty are so closely related that they are like the two sides of a coin. Hence, we can understand that ethics, which deals with love, and art, which deals with beauty, are inseparably related. When we look at art and ethics in this way, we come to the conclusion that true beauty is established on the basis of true love.

Up to the present, however, such has not been the case with artists. It is because there was no firm philosophical statement that artists must also be ethical. Accordingly, even though many artists, especially writers, have dealt with love as their theme, in most cases the love they dealt with was the non-principled love of the fallen world.

History is filled with such examples. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), who advocated aestheticism (art-for-art's sake), was imprisoned on charges of homosexuality and died in disappointment and poverty. The romanticist poet Lord Byron (1788-1824) engaged in creative activity while carrying on licentious affairs with many women, and led a dissipate life. The works of such artists were expressions of their fallen love and their agony.

On the other hand, there were writers who expressed true love. Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was one of them.

While exposing fallen life in the upper class of Russian society of his time, he expressed true love. That is to say, while employing realism to express reality, he employed the style of idealism, pursuing the ideal.

However, there have been few artists, like Tolstoy, who engaged in creative activity while pursuing true love.

VIII. Types of Beauty

A. Types of Love and Beauty from the Perspective of Unification Thought

When subject and object engage in give-and-receive action centering on purpose, beauty is determined.

Accordingly, beauty varies depending on the observer (subject), and also depending on the type of the object (a work of art, a natural thing). Thus, there is infinite diversity in beauty; however, the types of beauty can be established by grouping similar kinds of' beauty. So, scholars have tried to present what they regard as the basic types of beauty and to characterize the special qualities of each type.

From the Unification Thought viewpoint, as I have already mentioned, love and beauty are inseparable, and beauty cannot exist apart from love. The more the parents love their children, the more beautiful the children appear. In the same way, as love increases in quantity, beauty is also felt to increase in quantity.

Love and beauty form a reciprocal circuit in the give-and-receive action between subject and object. That is to say, the subject gives love to the object, and the object returns beauty to the subject. In this way love and beauty form the two sides of a coin. Accordingly, in thinking about the types of beauty, the first thing to do is to think about the types of love.

God's love is manifested divisionally through the family, in which the basic patterns of love are the three forms of divisional love: parental love, conjugal love, and children's love. These basic types of love can further be divided into

Here, fatherly love and motherly love, or husband's love and wife's love, are in a correlative relationship; each can be called "one-sided love" with respect to the other.

Fatherly love has the qualities of strictness, magnanimity, broadness, solemnity, profoundness, awe, and so on. Accordingly, fatherly love is manifested in the forms of strict love, magnanimous love, broad love, solemn love, profound love, awesome love, and So on. On the other hand, motherly love is mild and peaceful, and is manifested as graceful love, noble love, warm love, delicate love, gentle love, passionate love, and so on.

Next is conjugal love. Husband's love is masculine love, and so it is manifested to the wife as active love, trustworthy love, courageous love, resolute love, and so on. Wife's love is feminine love, and appears to her husband as passive love, supportive love, obedient love, reserved love, and so on.

Children's love appears to their parents as filial love, obedient love, depending love, youthful love, comical love, cute love, and So on. In addition, an elder brother's love for his younger brothers and sisters, an elder sister's love for her younger brothers and sisters, a younger brother's love for his elder brothers and sisters, and a younger sister's love for her elder brothers and sisters-each of these types of love has its own special characteristics. The three basic forms of love are diversified in this way, and come to appear as love of innumerable colors.

In correspondence to the three basic forms of love, three basic forms of beauty are established, namely, parental beauty, conjugal beauty, and children's beauty. These can be further diversified as

These can be further subdivided into the beauties of the accompanying diverse characteristics. They are as follows: Fatherly beauty: strict beauty, magnanimous beauty, broad beauty, solemn beauty, profound beauty, awesome beauty Motherly beauty: graceful beauty, noble beauty, warm-hearted beauty, delicate beauty, gentle beauty, passionate beauty Husband's beauty: masculine beauty, active beauty, trustworthy beauty, courageous beauty, resolute beauty, brave beauty.

Wife's beauty: feminine beauty, passive beauty, supportive beauty, obedient beauty, reserved beauty, tender beauty.

Children's beauty: filial beauty, obedient beauty, depending beauty, youthful beauty, comical beauty, cute beauty.

The love a father gives to his children is not always quiet and warm. When children do not obey his instructions, he scolds them severely. On such occasions, the children may feel bad, but later they feel grateful. Not only spring-like, warm love but also winter-like, strict love is a form of love. Such strict love can be felt by children as beauty, which can be called strict beauty.

Or suppose a child has made a mistake and comes back home seriously expecting to be scolded severely by the father. Then, suppose the father unexpectedly forgives the child saying, "That's all right." That child would feel an ocean-like, broad beauty from the father on such an occasion. This is magnanimous beauty.

Thus, when children receive various kinds of love from their father, they feel beauties with various nuances accordingly. Mother's love is different from father's love. Mother's love is always mild and peaceful.

A husband's love is felt by the wife as masculine and sturdy. That is masculine beauty. In return, a wife's love is felt by the husband as femininity and tenderness. That is feminine beauty.

It is the original nature of children to try to please their parents. Children try to somehow please their parents by, for example, drawing pictures, dancing around, or doing other things. That is children's love, and parents perceive their actions as cute beauty. Or sometimes parents may feel it as very comical. This is called "comical beauty." Moreover, as children grow up, beauty corresponding to their age comes to be felt by their parents. Unique kinds of beauty are manifested among children, namely, among brothers and sisters, corresponding to fraternal love.

The above-mentioned types of beauty are further compounded and transformed, and innumerable kinds of beauty are manifested. When these are extended and transformed to the realm of the natural world or to works of art, the beauty of nature and the beauty of art works come to be manifested. Various forms of beauty formed in human relationships based on the family are transformed to the relationships between the human being and nature and between the human being and works of art.

For example, when watching a towering mountain or a waterfall dropping from a high cliff, a person feels a solemn beauty, which is an extension and transformation of fatherly beauty. When admiring a quiet lake or a calm meadow, the beauty we feel is an extension and transformation of motherly beauty. The loveliness of the offspring of animals or sprouting plants is the extension or transformation of children's beauty. The same can be said about works of art. Paintings and statues of die Holy Mother Mary are die expression of motherly beauty, and Gothic architecture can be seen as the extension or transformation of fatherly beauty.

B. Traditional Types of Beauty

In the history of aesthetics, the basic types of beauty were regarded to be grace (Grazie) and the sublime (Erhabenheil). Grace is the type of beauty that gives pleasure quite affirmatively and directly; it is a well-balanced beauty of harmony. On the other hand, the sublime is the type of beauty that gives a sense of wonder, or a feeling of awe-as the feeling one has from looking at a tall mountain or surging wave.

Kant, for example, held that in beauty (grace) there are the components of free beauty (Coreie Sclidnheit) and dependent beauty (anhangende Schinheit). Free beauty refers to the beauty felt in common by anybody, and not restricted by any particular concept. Dependent beauty refers to the beauty that depends on a certain purpose (or concept), and which is felt beautiful because of its appropriateness, such as appropriate for wearing or appropriate as a place in which to live.

In addition, pure beauty (Reinsemne), tragic beauty (Tragische), comical beauty (Kimische), and other types are generally mentioned in theories of art.

These traditional types of beauty, however, have been specified through human experience, and the criteria for their classification are ambiguous. By contrast, the types of beauty in the Unification Theory of Art are based on clear principles.

IX. A Critique of Socialist Realism

A. Socialist Realism

Among the Communist revolutionary activities, one which played an important role was artistic activity, whose style of creation is called socialist realism. What, then, is socialist realism?

Lenin said that art should stand on the side of the proletariat, as follows: Art belongs to the people. The deepest wellspring of art must be found among the wide-ranging class of laborers.... Art should be based on their feelings, thoughts, and demands, and should grow along with them.

17 [Literature] must become party literature.... Down with nonpartisan writers! Down with literary supermen!

Literature must become part of the common cause of the proletariat, "a cog and a screw" of one single great Social-Democratic mechanism set in motion by the entire politically-conscious vanguard of the entire working class. 18 Also, the founder of socialist realism in literature, Maxim Gorky (1868-1936), stated the following about socialist realism: For us writers, it is necessary in our life and in our creative work to stand on the high viewpoint-and only on that viewpoint that can see clearly all of the filthy crimes of capitalism, all of its mean and bloody intentions, and all of the greatness of the heroic activities of the proletariat. 19 In the contemporary age, writers assume the mission to play two roles at the same time, that of a midwife [to socialism] and a grave digger [to capitalism]. 20 The main goal of socialist realism lies in inspiring a socialistic, revolutionary world view, or world sense.

21 To put this another way, writing poetry and novels, painting, and so forth, should all be carried out for the purpose of exposing the crimes of capitalism and praising socialism, and works should be created to inspire readers and viewers to stand up for revolution, with a burning righteous mind.

Socialist realism was formulated by Soviet artists under the guidance of Stalin in 1932, and came to be applied to all artistic fields, such as literature, drama, cinema, painting, sculpture, music, and architecture. It advocated the following:

(1) To describe reality accurately with historic correctness in its revolutionary development.

(2) To match one's artistic expression with the themes of ideological reform and the education of the workers in the socialist spirit.

What is the theoretical ground that gave rise to such socialist realism? It is found in the Marxist theory of "basis and superstructure." Marx stated in the Introduction to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy:

The totality of these relations of production constitutes the economic structure of society, the real foundation, on which arises a legal and political superstructure and to which correspond definite forms of social consciousness [including art].

22 Stalin further elaborated the theory of "basis and superstructure as follows:

Having come into being, it [the superstructure] becomes an exceedingly active force, actively assisting its base to take shape and consolidate itself.... The superstructure is created by the base precisely in order to serve it, to actively help it to take shape and consolidate itself.

23 The superstructure is the product of one epoch, the epoch in which the given economic base exists and operates. The superstructure is therefore short-lived; it is eliminated and disappears with the elimination and disappearance of the given base. 24 To synthesize and summarize, the above means that "Communist art must actively cooperate in eliminating the capitalist system and its superstructure, while in Communist society [socialist society], it must actively serve to maintain and strengthen its economic System, while educating the working people." Based upon this theory, socialist realism was established.

B. Critique of Socialist Realism

As indicated by Lenin's words, "Literature must belong to the Party," by Stalin's words, "Writers are the engineers of the human spirit," and by Gorky's words, "Writers are the midwife to socialism, and the gravedigger to capitalism," artists and writers were required to obey the Party's directives absolutely, and their individuality and freedom were totally disregarded. As a result, in the Soviet Union, artists and writers have been living under surveillance and oppression since the Revolution. Especially in the late 1930s, when Stalin promoted socialist realism, a great number of artists and writers were arrested and purged as heretics.

25 Even after the death of Stalin, socialist realism continued to reign as the accepted theory of art, and consequently many artists and writers became dissidents.

Criticizing socialist realism, art critic Herbert Read said, "Socialist realism is nothing but an attempt to stuff intellectual or dogmatic objectives into art." 26 Ilya G. Ehrenburg (1891-1967), a Soviet journalist and novelist who was awarded Stalin Prizes for two of his novels but later became critical of Stalin, said, "What is described in a book depicting weaving women in a spinning mill is not a human being but a machine, and not human feelings but merely the process of production." 27 Thus, lie criticized the image of the human being depicted in socialist realism.

The Korean art critic Yohan Clio also criticized the image of the human being in socialist realism, as follows:

The farmers and workers whom they [the Soviet writers] described were wonderful heroes and heroines who did not show even the faintest sign of uneasiness. It was all the more so since a theory of no conflict was spread. That is, they don't seem to have any kind of anxiety whatsoever. They were the ones who had no life of their own.... Therefore, that writing could never express a person's internal world.

In April 1986, an accident occurred at the nuclear power plant of Chernobyl, in the Ukraine Republic of the USSR. Concerning the accident, Mikhail Gorbachev said that the nuclear accident had been a great disaster, but that there was a still greater problem to attend to, namely, bureaucratism. He said at a meeting of the Writers' union, "At the time of the Revolution, Gorky exposed and condemned the corruption and crimes of public officials. In the same way, Soviet public officials today have lapsed into bureaucraism, and there is a lot of vice. So, you writers should not hesitate to criticize them through your works." Then, a certain poet allegedly requested the Soviet government to stop its censorship of literary works. He did so because to date Soviet artists and writers have been deprived of freedom, in the name of socialist realism.

In Communist China, Mao Tse Tung granted freedom to intellectuals for a while, with his policy of "letting a hundred schools of thought contend," prior to The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. When that happened, most intellectuals criticized the socialist policies. Several years ago, Den Ziaoping has adopted pragmatism, and has started to allow freedom to intellectuals, bit by bit. As a result, a renowned theorist of communist China, Wang Ruo, revealed that in socialism there is human alienation just as in capitalism.

When we consider these facts, we realize that socialist realism, as art for the proletarian revolution and as art that is subservient to party policy, has proved to be totally false art.

C. The Indictment of Communism by Writers

Communist leaders compelled artists and writers to praise communism from the viewpoint of socialist realism, but the artists and writers who pursue true art have come, instead, to indict Communism for its falsehood.

Andre Gide (1869-1951), a French writer who had been fascinated by Communism, attended Gorky's funeral in 1936, and afterwards traveled in the Soviet Union for a month. He candidly expressed, in his book Back From the USSR his disappointment with the Soviet society he saw on that occasion. He said in the introduction,

Three years ago I declared my admiration, my love, for the USSR An unprecedented experiment was being attempted there, which filled our hearts with hope and from which we expected an immense advance, an impetus capable of carrying forward in its stride the whole human race ... In our hearts and in our minds we resolutely linked the future of culture itself with the glorious destiny of the USSR 29

However, after coming in contact with the Soviet people during his one-month trip, he wrote the following impressions:

In the USSR everybody knows beforehand, once and for all, that on any and every subject there can be only one opinion.... So that every time you talk to one Russian you feel as if you were talking to them all.

What is desired and demanded is approval of all that is done in the USSR ... And I doubt whether in any other country in the world, even Hitler's Germany, thought to be less free, more bowed down, more fearful (terrorized), more vassalized.

31 The Soviet writer Boris L. Pasternak (1829-1960) secretly wrote Doctor Zhivagyo, in which lie expressed his disappointment with the Russian Revolution, and advocated the philosophy of love. That book was published, not in the Soviet Union but in foreign countries, and was received favorably. It was decided to award Pasternak the Nobel prize, but, as a result, at home he was expelled from the Writer's Union, and denounced as a reactionary anti-Socialist writer. Pasternak stated in that book, through Zhivago, who represented his own conscience, the following:

Marxism a science? ... Marxism is too uncertain of its ground to be a science. Sciences are more balanced, more objective. I don't know a movement more self-centered and further removed from the facts than Marxism. 3

2 He also denounced the attitude taken by the revolutionaries toward intellectuals, saying,

At first everything is splendid. "Come along. We welcome good, honest work, we welcome ideas, especially new ideas. What could please us better? Do your work, struggle, carry on." "Then you find in practice that what they mean by ideas is nothing but words-claptrap in praise of the revolution and the regime...." 33

D. Errors in the Communist Theory of Art from the Viewpoint of Unification Thought

First, socialist realism does not regard art as the "activity of creating beauty and joy for the whole (creation) as well as for oneself (appreciation) while respecting the individuality of the artist," but has made art become a means of educating the people, while conforming to Party policy. Artists should manifest their individuality in their work to the utmost degree. By so doing, they please God and other people. Socialist realism, however, has deprived artists of individuality and has standardized works of art. Therefore, there is no way for true art to be born out of it.

Second, socialist realism denies God; therefore, it has lost the fundamental standard of artistic activity. It establishes, instead, arbitrary standards based on Party policy, forcing artists and writers to conform to them.

Third, since beauty and love are closely related as two sides of a coin, art and ethics must also be in the relationship of the two sides of a coin. Yet, since Communist society denies the ethics of love, it has transformed art into art without love, art as a tool to rule the people.

Fourth, art is not the superstructure. Nevertheless, socialist realism regards art as a superstructure and makes it fall into the status of a servant of the economic system (or the "base"). In reality, however, art is not determined by the economic system. Marx himself made the following confession in latter part of his Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy.

The difficulty we are confronted with is not, however, that of understanding how Greek art and epic poetry are associated with certain forms of social development. The difficulty is that they still give us aesthetic pleasure and are in certain respects regarded as a standard and unattainable ideal. 34 According to the materialist conception of history, Greek culture (part of the superstructure) should have disappeared by now without leaving a trace, and contemporary people should feel no interest in it. But Marx felt a difficulty because of the fact that Greek art and epic poetry, such as The Iliad and The Odyssey, not only give contemporary people joy, but have even become the models of art. This is nothing but Marx's own testimony to the error of his theory of "basis and superstructure." Human beings have the fundamental desire to pursue the values of trueness, goodness, and beauty. Even though fallen, all people possess it in all periods, universally. Therefore, if the values of trueness, goodness, and beauty are expressed in a work of art, that work catches everyone's heart. The fact that Greek art has continued to be enjoyed by people even until today means that it contains eternal values of trueness, goodness, and beauty.

Finally, let us consider Gorky and Tolstoy, two writers who were totally different in style, though both of them condemned the corruption of Russian society before the Revolution in the same way and in almost the same period. Gorky conformed with Communism, which sought to overthrow capitalism violently, and asserted that the mission of the artist lies in inspiring revolutions. Thus, he wrote works that glorified the revolutionary movement. Mother by Gorky has been regarded as a literary masterpiece of socialist realism.

It depicts the image of a mother, who was an uneducated working woman, being gradually awakened to the class nature of society from a desire to protect her only son, who had been thrown into prison on charges of revolutionary activities. Finally, she herself becomes an active participant in the revolutionary movement.

On the other hand, while condemning social evils, Tolstoy advocated that the way to resolve them lay in the recovery of true human nature through love. One of Tolstoy's masterpieces is Resurrection. An aristocratic young man, appearing in court as a member of a jury, knows that a young woman whom he had seduced in a mistake of his younger days had become degraded and is right then being judged. He becomes conscience-stricken, repents and makes up his mind to save her. Finally, she is rehabilitated, and the young man also starts a new life.

The way Gorky chose was the external way of social revolution, whereas the way Tolstoy chose was the internal way of spiritual revolution. Which was the correct way? The way of violent revolution that Gorky chose was the wrong way, as the realities of today's socialist society-including oppression of human nature and corruption of bureaucrats-indicates. On the other hand, the way Tolstoy chose was the true way, in that it was the way to recover human nature. It must be pointed out, however, that it still had its limits in saving society as a whole.

Here, Unification Thought pursues the way for both humankind and society to be reformed as the humankind and society originally intended. This becomes possible by correctly understanding God. In other words, by knowing correctly the attributes of God, who created humankind and the world, we can learn the ideal state of human beings and society as they were originally intended. All that must be done is to reform humankind and society in that direction. The new art advocated by Unification Thought is Unificationism, in which idealism and realism are unified, centering on God's Heart (love). Unificationism seeks to reform reality toward the original ideal of humankind and society.

Chapter 7: Theory of Art