In the theory of Chinese calligraphy and painting, terms from other fields of knowledge were widely used, namely philosophy, medicine, military affairs, astronomy, feng shui, etc. The interdisciplinary universality of key terms for traditional aesthetics creates significant difficulties in translating ancient treatises on art, which are associated with understanding Chinese terms and selecting their analogues in European languages. This article attempts to understand the meaning of the shi category, which is often found in treatises on calligraphy and painting, but is still poorly studied in modern Western art criticism. It should be noted at once that the study of the genesis and historical evolution of the category of shi in the theory of Chinese art is a very distant future task. This is primarily due to the small number of treatises on painting and especially on calligraphy translated into European languages. Keywords: shi category, energy (chi), energy flow, principles of shaping, interaction (xiang), pressure force of the brush, design of the work (i), energy channels (qimai), dynamic structures of plastic forms. Modern Chinese art historians, following the tradition, habitually use the category of shi, leaving it without special explanations [Li Zehou, 1988; Ye Lang, 1999]. Among Western art historians, John Hay (1993) conducted a study of the shi category. In the publications of P. Shturman, the term shi is translated as configuralforce or momentum, and the category of shi itself is explained as follows: "Shi is a manifestation of both potential and kinetic energy" [Sturman, 1997, p. 16]. Special interest in the category of shi is shown mainly by Western researchers of Chinese origin, for whom understanding the difference between the cultural paradigms of China and the West is especially relevant. Gao Jianping, a specialist in Chinese aesthetics, admits that there is no exact equivalent for the term shi in English and that it would be better to leave it untr ... Read more