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2025 Vol. 8, No. 2

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When Jingjie Encounters Realistic and Idealistic Representations:The Difference of Epistemology between Liang Qichao and Wang Guowei
CHEN Jianhua
2025, 8(2): 5-38. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20258201
Abstract:
After submitting to Western powers in the middle of nineteenth century,the Qing dynasty launches a technological movement to strengthen military power,which nonetheless fails in the Sino-Japanese war in 1894.By translating Huxley’s Evolution and Ethics,Yan Fu introduces new worldview of evolution of human races and exerts wide influences.In A Treatise on Benevolence,Tan Sitong theorizes “ether(or qi)” as the most powerful force in the universe,manifesting a breakthrough for the intellectual world ruled by the Confucian Way.In the literary field,Liang Qichao and Wang Guowei embrace the theories of realism and idealism influenced by Tsubouchi Shoyo,yet with respect to their conceptions of jingjie they complicate patterns of theory in light of the Saidian idea of traveling theory,indicating their different choices of idealism and materialism in terms of epistemology.This philosophical dualism deeply influences modern Chinese intellectual thought as well as romantic and realist trends in modern Chinese literature.
[Abstract](24) [PDF 1476KB](6)
Chinese and Western Theories of Literary Creation: Cultural Specificities Revealed through Comparative Analysis
CAI Zongqi
2025, 8(2): 39-52. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20258202
Abstract:
This article adopts the philosophical framework of “Yi-Xiang-Yan” (意-象-言)to systematically examine the development of Chinese Classic Theories of Literary Creation,while offering a comparative perspective with Western Theories of Literary Creation.Western literati often emphasize the attainment of spiritual reality through static contemplation of nature and dynamic imaginative activity,a view that partially corresponds to the Chinese notion of Yi (意).However,fundamental differences emerge in the conceptualization of Xiang (象),particularly concerning the relationship between mental image and external phenomena.Rooted in Neoplatonism,Western literary critics tend to valorize visual perception,whereas Chinese critics tend to emphasize xinxiang (心象),regarding sensory experience and external objects as merely stimuli for transcendent insight.Furthermore,Western literary critics typically regard language as a merely technical or secondary insrument and thereby exclude it from the core creative process.In contrast,Chinese critics integrate yan (or language) in the continuum of literary creation,linking it organically to creative conception.This contrast highlights a significant structural gap in Western literary theory-the long-standing disjunction between textual form,the act of writing,and the author’s creative imagination.The author calls for a deeper dialogue between Chinese and Western literary theories,arguing that classical Chinese poetics may offer vital theoretical resources and inspiration for rethinking Western approaches to examining literary creation.
[Abstract](12) [PDF 890KB](2)
Spirit Writing and Performance in the Work of You Tong （1618-1704）
By Judith T. Zeitlin, Translated by LI Liangzi
2025, 8(2): 53-77. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20258203
Abstract:
One of the most striking aspects of spirit writing in late imperial circles was its integration into literary culture. Spirit writing makes the past part of a continuous present， the infinite repeatability of authorship becoming proof of immortality. The absence of the medium in the literary record correspondingly enhances the impression of the spirit’s independent presence， much as the absence of the playwright and director from the stage contributes to the illusion that the characters in a play are real. You Tong documented his fondness for spirit writing in a variety of forms. You Tong’s engagement with planchette falls mainly into two distinct periods of his life. The first phase during 1642-1644， the second phase in the 1670s. Although after a hiatus of some thirty years， the second phase in some ways uncannily replicates the pattern of the first phase： the death of You Tong’s closest friend or wife intrigued him to write a torrent of mourning poems and seek to learn their fates in the other world. Writing， particularly unpublished writing， resembles the human body all too closely and is no bulwark against death. One of the reasons for men’s interest in women’s poetry in this period is that women’s poetry， usually devalued and unpublished， represented writing most at risk of being lost， and consequently， most in need of pity， protection， and preservation. The fragility and vulnerability projected onto women’s writings reveals the common tendency to conflate female body and text in this period， but it also betrays the anxiety that the male subject’s own writing will not last， his own self disappear without a trace. You Tong’s yearning to transcend the restraints of the spirit writing relationship， to see the form and hear the voice of an entirely literary creation—an ideal woman constituted only through words—resembles nothing so much as the desire of an author to witness one of his own characters come to life. There is one real way to satisfy this fantasy， of course： to script a play and then watch it performed. Celestial Court Music （钧天乐） is autobiographical not so much because it tells the story of You Tong’s life， but because it portrays major themes and experiences in his life anchored to a dense web of personal referents. We may speak once again of an absence of performance in that no seance is dramatized in the play， despite the importance of spirit writing in his emotional life. But You Tong’s fascination with female planchette immortals as the ideal woman and his anxieties about the posthumous fate of writing are tightly woven into the fabric of the play.
[Abstract](38) [PDF 2407KB](6)
Special Issue I：Sino-Western Literary and Cultural Relations and Mutual Learning among Civilizations
On the Sino-Western Interpretations of “Hearing the Dao in the Morning and Dying in the Evening” in Late Ming and Early Qing
XIAO Qinghe
2025, 8(2): 78-98. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20258204
Abstract:
The phrase “hearing the Dao in the morning and dying in the evening”(朝闻夕死)originates from the Analects of Confucius: “If one hears the Dao in the morning,it is not regretful to die in the evening.” Commentators from different periods have provided various interpretations of this phrase.General historical and literary works also offer understandings of it that differ from classical commentaries.After the introduction of Catholicism into China in the late Ming dynasty,Western Christian resources are employed to reinterpret ancient Confucian classics and key terms,thus imparting new meanings.With “hearing the Dao in the morning and dying in the evening” as a case study,this paper reviews the interpretations of different commentators,the understandings in general historical and literary works,and the reinterpretations by Catholics in the Ming and Qing dynasties.This approach allows for an exploration of how Chinese and Western cultures understand,interpret,and reinterpret core concepts and ideas from the perspective of mutual civilizational learning.
[Abstract](36) [PDF 1008KB](8)
Discerning the Bass in the Symphony: Interpreting the Thought of Chen Yuan on the Indigenization of Christianity in China
WANG Hao
2025, 8(2): 99-120. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20258205
Abstract:
In March 1927,a Protestant pastor named Wang Zhaoxiang published an article in The Wenshe Monthly,criticizing the literature affairs of Catholicism in China.Sooner in April,an important Chinese Catholic,Zhang Ruogu,wrote an article in response to Wang Zhaoxiang,which was published in the Art Weekly in Shanghai.Surprisingly,not onlydid Zhang Ruogu accept all of Wang Zhaoxiang’s criticism,but his reflections and critiques of Catholicism were even sharper.More dramatically,in May the great Chinese historian Chen Yuan also responded to Wang Zhaoshang,his article published in The Wenshe Monthly.Unlike Zhang Ruogu,Chen Yuan did not deal with any polemic issues,but merely pointed out,line by line,the errors of historical facts that lie in Wang Zhaoxiang’s article,and implicitly pointed out the historical sources of these errors,of which the most important one was Father Xu Zongze’s Savants & Sciences Européenes: à la fin des Ming et au début des Ts’ing.The Wenshe Monthly is the most important journal in the movement of indigenization of Christianity in China in the 1920s.And that Chen Yuan published article in this periodical,provides us with important clues and information for interpreting Chen Yuan’s attitude towards this movement.The response elicited by Wang Zhaoxiang’s article was a series of twists and turns,and the whole incident was full of contingencies.A comparison of Zhang Ruogu’s and Chen Yuan’s responses clearly shows that Chen Yuan holds a unique stance toward the Christian literature enterprise.Chen Yuan attaches importance to the indigenization of Christianity in China,but places great emphasis on research methodologies.
[Abstract](32) [PDF 1105KB](2)
A Study on the Cross-cultural Integration of the Parable of the Musicians’ Performance in Ten Chapters from an Extraordinary Man
LI Anheng
2025, 8(2): 121-131. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20258206
Abstract:
Matteo Ricci was a cultural messenger between East and West in the sixteenth and the early seventeenth centuries.The parable of the musicians’ performance in Ten Chapters from an Extraordinary Man is a metaphorical story that Ricci used to preach European Catholic ethics.This paper employs a comparative cultural approach to explore the logical relationship between Ricci’s parable of the musicians’ performance and the Buddhist parable of the performers’ show in One Hundred Buddhist Fables,analyzing the distinctions and correlations between Catholicism and Buddhism regarding their world views and life views,while also inquiring into the generation mechanism of the parable of the musicians’ performance.The research reveals that the parable of the musicians’ performance is not a singular Catholic metaphor,but rather a new hybrid product of the integration of diverse Eastern and Western cultures,serving as a classic example of cultural exchange and mutual learning between East and West.
[Abstract](16) [PDF 840KB](2)
Special Issue II：The History of Comparative Literature and the Internationalization of Chinese-English Academic Journals
In Memory of Professor Sun Jingyao
CHEN Na
2025, 8(2): 132-140. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20258207
Abstract:
Professor Sun Jingyao (1942-2012) was a renowned scholar of Comparative Literature and one of the pioneers of contemporary Chinese Comparative Literature.The author of this article maintained a long-standing professional relationship with Professor Sun and collaborated with him at Shanghai Normal University from 2005 to 2010.Written in commemoration of Professor Sun on the tenth anniversary after his passing,this memoir explores his life journey,academic contributions,professional dedication,and personal integrity,which holds significance for understanding the growth of a generation of scholars during a specific historical period and contributes to the academic history of Comparative Literature in China.
[Abstract](11) [PDF 753KB](2)
How to Tell the China Story Well from the Perspective of English Humanities and Social Sciences Journals:A Comparison with English Scientific Journals
GUO Tianzhen
2025, 8(2): 141-156. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20258208
Abstract:
This work summarizes the publication of English-language humanities and social sciences journals in China in terms of the number of journals,their inclusion in international databases,the content of the articles they carry,the mode of publication,and the national funding policy.The results show that,as an important carrier of academic and cultural communication,English humanities and social sciences journals are few in number and dispersed in terms of organizers,which are far from meeting the needs of China’s external expression of its story.Their external communication efforts are mainly through borrowing ships to go out to sea,which are poorly indexed in international authoritative databases,and weak in terms of international influence.Their topic-leading ability is seriously insufficient,and they have not yet been able to truly take up the mission of being a platform for international academic exchanges.Moreover,the strength of national funding should be continued and strengthened.It is proposed that pertinent departments of national philosophy and social sciences should draw on the experience of the implementation of the Chinese Science and Technology Journal Excellence Action Plan,deploy Action Plan for Excellence in Chinese Social Sciences Journals,and collaborate to promote the construction of world-class journals with Chinese characteristics.
[Abstract](17) [PDF 828KB](3)
Featured Articles
Henry James and André Gide:Artistic Resources for Bian Zhilin’s Novel Shanshan shuishui (Landschaften)
XU Jiang
2025, 8(2): 157-171. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20258209
Abstract:
Henry James and André Gide have a significant influence on the creation of Bian Zhilin’s novel Shanshan shuishui (Landschaften).From the perspective of artistic resources,entering the textual world of this novel can make understanding and interpretation more accurate and in-depth.Henry James pursues and portrays truth in a special way,conducting psychological analysis through dialogue and giving Bian Zhilin more insight in setting the narrative center.André Gide has a powerful and unique approach to depicting love and politics that reflects on individual progress.He has provided many inspirations for Shanshan shuishui (Landschaften) in the expression of gendered emotions and self-identity.Two resources and inspirations,two methods and brushstrokes,have enabled Bian Zhilin to create an extremely unique artistic text and a distinctive modern Chinese novel.
[Abstract](18) [PDF 896KB](2)
The Evolution of Chinese Stories Based on the Prototype of Ten Brothers in the English-Speaking World
WU Sujun
2025, 8(2): 172-187. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20258210
Abstract:
Since the end of the 19th century,Chinese stories based on the prototype of ten brothers have been transmitted to the English-speaking world for more than 130 years.Taking Stuart Hall’s encoding/decoding theory as the analytical framework,this article systematically examines the three historical stages of the spread of this story type in the English-speaking world: the “Oriental Spectacle” under the Western Gaze (1890s-1940s),the “Political Allegory” under the domination of the Cold War ideology (1950s-1980s),and the “Pluralistic Reconstruction” in the context of globalization (after the 1990s).Furthermore,it reveals that cultural communication is by no means a neutral transmission of information,but a game between encoders and decoders centered around the construction of meaning.
[Abstract](9) [PDF 1190KB](3)
The Sinological Turn in Studies of the History of Material-Cultural Exchanges among Sea Islands in Ancient China and New Approaches： A Review of American Sinologist Edward H. Schafer’s Shore of Pearls and Mirages on the Sea of Time
WANG Chenying
2025, 8(2): 188-199. doi: 10.19857/j.cnki.ICL.20258211
Abstract:
As the author of The Golden Peaches of Samarkand， a seminal work on the history of Sino-foreign material and cultural exchange history， the American sinologist Edward H. Schafer has long received widespread attention， while his two other studies of ancient Chinese islands are still little known. Shore of Pearls： Hainan Island in Early Times published in 1970， was introduced to China in 2020. As the aftereffect of The Vermilion Bird： T’ang Images of the South， it received little response after its publication. Another work， Mirages on the Sea of Time： The Taoist Poetry of Ts’ao T’ang， was his last work in his later years and has not yet been translated into Chinese. From these two works， which were published fifteen years apart， we are able to get a glimpse of the literary turn within American Sinological research represented by Edward H. Schafer. By asking “what kind of material world did people in the Tang Dynasty live in?” and exploring “what constructed the spiritual world of the Tang people，” Edward H. Schafer’s two studies on ancient Chinese islands address a unique spatiotemporal lacuna in material-cultural exchange history while offering new methodological pathways for Sinology. That being said， Schafer’s romanticized vision， though enhancing aesthetic and narrative appeal， risks factual inaccuracies. Some analyses remain superficial due to insufficient engagement with Chinese cultural mechanisms， warranting further excavation and caution.
[Abstract](15) [PDF 928KB](1)
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