The method
Culture corresponds to beauty; creativity to contemporary art; industry to cultural products; and lifestyle to Yi-Life. Together, they connect cultural meaning with the way people live.
Philosophical roots
Chinese philosophy and aesthetics have a long tradition of bringing aesthetic experience into everyday life. Zhuangzi attends to the beauty of nature; Tao Yuanming finds harmony with it in rural life; Su Dongpo discovers delight in ordinary things. Aesthetic intelligence draws on this tradition: developing our capacity to sense and understand beauty, and bringing aesthetic judgment into how we live and create.
Heaven and earth hold great beauty, yet say nothing.
In “Knowledge Wandered North,” beauty appears alongside the patterns of the seasons and living things. For aesthetic practice today, this invites careful observation: understanding the qualities of materials, the rhythms of a setting and our relationship with things. Creation begins by respecting their particular character.
Zhuangzi · Knowledge Wandered North · Chinese original ↗Picking chrysanthemums by the eastern fence, at ease I see the southern mountain.
In “Drinking Wine, No. 5,” flowers, a mountain and returning birds lend quiet depth to an ordinary moment. Aesthetic experience is shaped by attention, mood and the pace of life. This gives aesthetic intelligence a human measure: how a product or space feels to the people who use it, spend time in it and share it.
Drinking Wine · No. 5 · Chinese original ↗Everything has something worth beholding.
“An Account of the Terrace of Transcendence” finds delight in simple food, plants, wind and moonlight, and time with friends. Su Dongpo invites us to appreciate the ordinary. Applied to aesthetic intelligence, this means developing our own judgment: recognising what is distinctive in local culture, everyday objects and customs, then finding an expression that does them justice.
An Account of the Terrace of Transcendence · Chinese original ↗From everyday aesthetics to practice
Dr. Yi-Cheng Guo draws on approaches to living in Chinese philosophy and aesthetics to develop a contemporary practice of “beauty in everyday life.” His doctoral research at Peking University explored this idea in relation to ways of living. His teaching and advisory work bring aesthetic perception, understanding and judgment into products, spaces and cultural experiences.
For businesses and cultural institutions, this starts with understanding people’s lives: how an object is used, how a space invites people to spend time, and how a place’s culture is experienced. Aesthetic advisory and cultural IP planning translate that understanding into products and services people can use, enjoy and value over time.
The concentric circles method carries this judgment through culture, creativity, industry and lifestyle: understanding beauty through culture, expressing it through contemporary art, bringing it into use through cultural products, and making it part of everyday experience through Yi-Life.
Everyday aesthetics & the concentric circles · CUC lecture record ↗Classical quotations translated for this website. The readings above connect these texts with today’s practice of everyday aesthetics.
Four connected relationships
Dr. Guo’s framework begins with beauty at the centre. Culture provides meaning, creativity gives it contemporary expression, industry develops products and services, and Yi-Life brings beauty into daily life.
Study the history and character of a place, collection or brand. Identify the aesthetic values that should guide the project.
Work through art, design and narrative to connect cultural content with people today.
Translate creative expression into merchandise, exhibitions, spaces and licensing partnerships, with clear roles and quality standards.
Bring culture into shopping, travel, work and home. Continued use and participation help build recognition and attachment.
A coherent IP strategy connects the story, the rights, the applications and the operating plan. Each product or experience can then express the same cultural direction.
Tell us about your organisation, your project and the decision ahead.
Discuss a project ↗In the agricultural age, “physical strength” was the key to survival.
In the industrial age, “intellect” was a vital source of value.
In the age of AI, “aesthetic intelligence” is humanity’s ultimate competitive advantage.
2005 — 2026
From the Hong Kong forum and the 2007 book to Blue Book research, ICCSD publications and the 2026 course, the inquiry continues: how can beauty enrich daily life and create cultural and economic value?
Explore the publications & teaching timeline ↗