Chinese Studies Commons^™

Model Minorities: Asian Americans And The White-Black Racial Paradigm, Jason Tom

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the racial wedge driven by Whites between Blacks and Asian Americans during the Cold War on to the present. Model minorities is a term coined by whites in the 1960s to suppress Civil Rights protests and Black demands. By elevating a minority group through success stories, whites constructed a means to suppress Black people’s organizing for change against systemic racism and oppression.

What Are You, Really?/Afar, Gazing At The Holy Mountain By Du Fu, Michael Zhai

Transference

A translation and commentary of Du Fu's poem "Afar, Gazing on the Holy Mountain," with a worksheet for readers to produce their own translations of the poem.

The Zhongyuan Festival At West Lake By Zhang Dai And Two Poems By Tan Yuanchun, Andrew Gudgel

Transference

A translation of an excerpt from the late Ming Dynasty essayist Zhang Dai's "The Zhongyuan Festival at West Lake" and two poems by the Ming Dynasty poet and writer Tan Yuanchun.

Literary Portrayals Of Religious Awakening Through Suffering And Loss - Buddhist, Daoist, And Christian Perspectives, Robert Canning

Masters Theses

The focus of this study is on portrayals of religious awakening in four short works of literature: a Chinese play, two Chinese short stories, and an American short story. In all of these works, the protagonists attain religious awakening, but only do so because they experience suffering and loss.

The experience of suffering and loss in these works helps to bring about the protagonists’ willingness to leave the worldly life. This is because the experience of suffering and loss clears the minds of the protagonists and helps them to realize the bitter nature of worldly existence.

In addition, these works …

An Umbrella Of Autonomy: The Validity Of The Hong Kong Protests, Ciera Lehmann

Senior Honors Theses

Hong Kong has been fighting for democracy and to retain its autonomy from China, and the world has been watching. Over time, Hong Kongers have seen Beijing blatantly tighten its grip before time was up for the fifty-year agreement since the handover in 1997. In 2014, and again in 2019, hundreds of thousands of citizens filled the streets to participate in pro-democracy demonstrations with the protests only gaining momentum and influence. While there has mostly been support for Hong Kong’s independence movement, there has been argument that Beijing’s actions are completely justified. Should Hong Kong remain autonomous from China, and …

Mulan: An Exploration Of Culture And Representation In Hollywood, Annie Okuhara, Bernadine Cortina, Hung Le, Ryan Nakahara, Jerry Zou

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

'Mulan: An Exploration of Culture and Representation in Hollywood' is a presentation and detailed analysis of various representational, cultural, and minority-related issues in the context of Hollywood and western media. The presentation will focalize specifically around the recent live-action remake of the 1998 film "Mulan". The remake, premiered in March 2020, received critical backlash from various audiences (mostly from the BIPOC community), bashing the film for its misrepresentation of Ancient China and Ancient Chinese culture. Through this misrepresentation, the Hollywood film ultimately reflects views of cultural appropriation, misogyny, and overall minority underrepresentation in the United States. The research presents the …

Chinese Gardens: Solutions For Urban Nature Deficit, Zachary K. Warner

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Research shows that time spent in nature is good for human health and well-being. However, as the world’s population becomes more concentrated in urban areas regular time in nature, especially extended time, is becoming more difficult to have. On the other hand, Chinese gardens can provide one solution to this problem because they have a unique way of providing a naturalistic space within a small area. Despite this fact, there aren’t many Chinese style gardens outside of China. Therefore, the objective of this thesis was to identify possible barriers to using Chinese garden design principles and construction techniques, then address …

華夷之辨、華夷之辯 : 從《左傳》談起, Wai-Yee Li

嶺南學報 Lingnan Journal of Chinese Studies

蠻、夷、戎、狄等稱謂可以是具體專指，亦可以是類别泛稱，但是中文没有一個字或詞涵蓋所有外族，同時貫撤始終地包羅“外來”與“野蠻”的語意。論者多謂《左傳》以及其他載籍中“我者”與“他者”的分際是文化習俗而非種族。但是文化習俗差異如何精準地界定，並不容易。本文探究三個問題。(1) 華夷之“辯”如何界定華夷之辨？戰事方式、土地運用、禮制儀節是否爲決定因素？楚、吳形象，爲何游移於“華化”與“夷化”之間？魯與“東夷”的關係，顯示“他者”的描摹與自我定位不可分割。同源近俗似乎正是衍生突顯差異的原動力。(2) 文化聯繫的存在或否定，往往建基於歷史回顧。承認“戎化”或刻意淡化與周的歷史淵源，可以是抗拒周王之要求、不受其羈縻的方法。相反的，重寫歷史，泯滅“他者”身份，也許是圖霸的途徑。作者分析“有史爲證”的辯論方式，探討華夷同、異的觀點如何藉重塑歷史尋找論據。(3) 貶損蠻、夷、戎、狄的論點往往出現於人物的言説，所以我們應該考慮“他者”屬性道德化背後的修辭框架。辯論的焦點可能是軍事策略、和與戰的選擇、“獻捷”的儀節、周王與盟主的關係等等。《左傳》透過追捕歷史事件的因果關係及歷史人物的動機，超越了簡單化、道德化的華夷之辨程式，呈現了一個複雜而多元的畫面。

There is no fixed categorical term for barbarians in Chinese. Specific groups are identified as “aliens” or “cultural others” through words like Man 蠻, Yi 夷, Rong 戎, and Di 狄, but all four terms can be specific or categorical. It is often said that the us-versus-them formula in Zuozhuan (and early Chinese texts in general) is cultural rather than ethnic, but precise definitions of cultural difference can be elusive. This article focuses on three issues regarding the representation of cultural difference: (1) Who is the barbarian? Can we find the decisive criterion in modes of …

西遊的文化政治：從兩部遊記看蒙元正統論的生成, Ming Tak Ted Hui

嶺南學報 Lingnan Journal of Chinese Studies

南宋末年，偏安一隅的宋室曾多次向鄰國派遣使節，讓他們考察外國的軍政制度與文化風俗，藉此訂定邊政，防範外族侵擾。這些使者所撰述的遊記大都有實際的功能。相對來説，全真教道士李志常 (1193—1256) 所編撰的《長春真人西遊記》更能展現當時文化與政治之間糾纏不清的關係。李志常的這部遊記記錄了自己追隨老師丘處機 (1148—1227) 西行到中亞訪問成吉思汗 (1162—1227) 的旅程。他一方面要申明全真教在文化上的權威，另一方面卻又必須考慮當時蒙古已統領華北地區，擁有統治的實際權力。本文即嘗試先闡明《長春真人西遊記》的敘事策略，説明李志常如何在承認蒙古的統治之餘，展示自己在文化上比蒙古人更優越。本文接着從全真教的遊記轉到耶律楚材 (1190—1244) 所撰的《西遊錄》。耶律楚材扈從成吉思汗出兵西域，其遊記不但有意識地回應了全真教的記錄，同時又挪用了全真教的修辭，既申明了蒙元帝國攻佔中亞的理據，同時也模糊了蒙古人與漢人的分野。透過比對兩部遊記的異同，追乘其修辭的影響，本文嘗試闡明這些作品早已爲蒙元的正統論奠下基礎。

Before the Mongol conquest in 1279, numerous envoys were sent from the Southern Song court to its neighboring states. Their purpose was to evaluate and tame foreign territories and alien peoples and thereby reduce their threat to Song culture, and the travelogues resulting from these journeys were often “utilitarian” in style. The Record of the Perfected Master Changchun’s Journey to the West (Changchun zhenren xiyou ji), however, deserves special attention for its nuanced handling of a complex cultural-political power dynamics. Its compiler, Li Zhichang, was a leader in the Quanzhen …

流放、邊界、他者 : 方孝標《東征雜詠》探析, Lawrence Yim

嶺南學報 Lingnan Journal of Chinese Studies

清初流放東北的事件，規模之大、牽涉之廣史無前例，涉及歷史、政治、文化、文學種種方面。不少流人在戍所仍寫作不輟，他們的詩文作品大有研究的價值。本文探論方孝標 (1618—1696) 在赴寧古塔途中所作之組詩《東征雜詠》，其内容、情感、語言異常引人入勝。本文著眼於下列問題：流人難以言喻的精神、心理狀況是如何經由文本的文學、美學機制而得以反映、再現的? 流放世界的間隙性“閾限”(liminality) 與流放文字本身的“閾限”是怎樣的一種依存關係？我們又可以怎樣從歷史、哲學、文學的角度去理解、描述這種“居間性”(inbetweenness)? 這些提問有助我們理解“流人作爲詩人”或“詩人變作流人”的方孝標的形象與聲音。我們也將看到，流人在異域的山川風物中，在文化與語言的差異中，在精神與肉體的卑辱經驗中，以及在迷惘困惑的自我主體性中，必然會遇上一個“他者”(other)。

Exile to Manchuria in the early Qing ( 1644 - 1912) is a peculiar historical, political, and cultural phenomenon whose scale and scope is unprecedented in pre-modern Chinese history. Among the exiles were some very accomplished writers who continued to write in the places of banishment, and their treatment of the trope of exile and exilic experiences in poems and prose writings is worthy of serious study. This paper is a study of the exilic writings of the especially important yet understudied poet Fang Xiaobiao (1618 — 1696), who in the wake of the …

《讀書聲》與清初社群的界限, Ariel Fox

嶺南學報 Lingnan Journal of Chinese Studies

本文透過傳奇《讀書聲》中出現的奇異生物，探索了帝國晚期的中國對於非人他者的想像。全劇行至中段，元初書生宋儒發現自己被抛棄在一座遥遠的荒島上。在那裏，他被一隻人熊救起並與之結爲伴侣，這是一隻勇猛卻又充滿善意的類熊生物。儘管兩者的結合時日不長，但是藉由婚姻，邊緣化角色被置於中心位置（既是故事的、又是帝國的中心），這樣的情節在全劇爲數不多，因而具有重要意義：此外，待到結局之時，書生與船夫之女和蒙古官員之女雙雙成婚。然而，當這樣的雙重婚姻爲有效跨越文人與商人、漢人與蠻夷之間的差異提供了可能，人熊的悲劇命運卻又消弭了任何跨越人獸界綫的機會。換言之，随著商人和蒙古人成爲新的社會群體的一部分，人熊卻標誌着一條必需的界限。劇中，正是這條界限使得社會與民族的他者擺脱了低賤與野蠻的標籤。與此同時，新社群對於人熊的排斥也並非無憂；通過顛覆傳奇普遍對完整性的强調，《讀書聲》戲劇性地展示了清初秩序重建所必經的分裂與排斥。

This article explores the late imperial imagination of the nonhuman other by way of a curious creature that appears in the southern drama Dushu sheng. Midway through the play, set in the early years of the Yuan dynasty, the young literatus protagonist is abandoned on a remote island, where he is rescued by a renxiong, a fierce yet empathetic bear-like creature that takes him as its mate. Though short-lived, their union is one of several in the play in which marginal characters are brought into the (narrative and imperial) center through marriage: by the end of the …

女夷救忠臣 : 《血影石》中的性别、疆界與華夷辯證, Chiung-Yun E. Liu

嶺南學報 Lingnan Journal of Chinese Studies

清初蘇州派劇作家朱佐朝《血影石》傳奇，敘寫八百媳婦國跨海向中國興兵,拯救明初“靖難”忠臣之家。本文由此出發，考察晚明清初文學敘寫華夷互動，當中内/外、自我/他者之間的關係如何安排，史地知識之實與建構想像之虚，彼此如何交錯轉换。本文首先將《血影石》與晚明小説《英烈傳》及《西洋記》對照分析，以見晚明清初小説戲曲中，華夷關係想像内涵的異同變化。其次聚焦《血影石》，分析劇作家如何在性别、華夷、政治錯综的場域中，調度轉化陰/陽、中原/異域、野蠻/文明符號，使原處從屬地位的“女”、“夷”得到角色動能，成爲救援行動的關鍵力量，並自海洋邊緣，以八百媳婦國爲中心，重構出另一套世界地理秩序，與中華視野下的華夷觀相抗衡。

In the seventeenth-century chuanqi play Xieying shi 血影石 (The Rock with Shadows of Blood), the tributary state of the Ming Empire, Babai xifu guo 八百媳婦國 (Lanna Kingdom, primarily in modem Northern Thailand) leads a joint fleet of the states in the southern and western oceans to “correct” the moral failings of the Ming Empire in China. After the civil war, the victorious Yongle Emperor usurps the throne from his young nephew, the Jianwen Emperor, executes the latter’s loyal ministers and persecutes their families. This play raises the questions as to what defines Yi (the foreign barbarian) as opposed to …

先秦諸子開幕式與閉幕式, Yi Yang

嶺南學報 Lingnan Journal of Chinese Studies

孔子於魯昭公三十一年赴洛陽問禮於老聃，老聃傳授的道和禮，孔子接受並加以改造的以仁和孝爲核心的禮，開啟了春秋戰國諸子百家争鳴的源頭。三百年後，荀子招收韓非、李斯爲徒，以帝王術统率思想，給諸子百家争鳴畫上一個句號。這就是先秦諸子百家的開幕式和閉幕式。

In the 31st year of the Duke Zhao of Lu, Confucius went to Luoyang and consulted Laozi about li 禮 (ritual). Confucius re-conceptualized with ren 仁 (benevolence) and xiao 孝 (familial piety) as the cores. The exchange between Confucius and Laozi marks the beginning of the Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought. Three hundred years later, Xunzi mentored Han Fei and Li Si and taught them the art of rulership which puts an end to the centuries-long Concention. Such are its beginning and end.

今本何休《解詁》通用字辨, Jiyi Gao

嶺南學報 Lingnan Journal of Chinese Studies

何休之用字，有獨用、别用例，無通用例。獨用者，謂二字可通，但何氏止用一字。别用者,謂二字雖可通，然何氏分别其義，義既有别，則不得相通用。通用者，謂二字相通，或用此字，或用彼字，字雖相易，義則無殊。通用例與獨用、别用例相乖，今以何氏義例及《解詁》諸本相證，知今本《解詁》之通用字，乃後人傳寫改易。明乎此，則何氏《公羊》家法、今本《解詁》傳寫之譌亂，可以了然矣。

He Xiu’s diction is featured by use of exclusive characters and use of different characters rather than by use of interchangeable characters. Use of exclusive words means using only one character when two characters can be used interchangeably. Use of different words means though two interchangeable characters can be used to replace each other, He Xiu refuses to use them to replace each other because they differ in meaning. Use of interchangeable characters means two characters, though different in form, can be used interchangeably, for they express the same meaning. However, considering that use of exclusive characters and use …

多重他者 : 太平天國戰争時期的身份政治, Huan Jin

嶺南學報 Lingnan Journal of Chinese Studies

在太平天國戰争 (1851—1864) 期間及其結束後，“他者”這一概念被用來煽動與表述暴力，並且在這一過程中獲得了多種意義。本文集中於十九世紀與太平天國相關的話語與表述，來探討“他者”這一概念所藴藏的政治、道德以及文化内涵。首先，通過討論太平天國和清政府的政治宣傳，作者探究這兩個敵對政權如何各自構建其政治敵人。對於太平天國的身份建設而言，宗教與政治敵人的確立尤爲重要。其次，作者關注介於現實與想像之間的筆記小説中處於政治與社會邊緣的人物。這些人物穿越政治邊界，也因此在太平天國與清政府話語中所規定的“我們”與“他者”之外形成了“第三類别”。這些短篇故事中的作者對這些邊緣角色做出道德評價，因而將他們置於另一種與“他者”相關的敘事規範之中。最後，在奇幻與想像的疆域裏，企圖建構與調整政治與道德“他者”的努力被撤底質疑。總體而言，本文以在太平天國戰争之中及其結束後所産生的文學與文化爲對象，探討“他者”這一概念的多義性與有效性。

During and after the Taiping Civil War (1851 - 1864), the notion of the Other was implicated in the provocation and mediation of violence and, as a result, acquired a multitude of new meanings and manifestations. Focusing on the discourse surrounding the Taiping War, this article explores the multiple political, moral, and cultural implications embedded in the idea of otherness. Unpacking the propaganda discourse of both the Taiping rebels and the Qing government, the author investigates the making of the political enemy by opposing regimes. In particular, the construction of a religious and political enemy is vital …

“龍城飛將”與古詩中地名, Ming Yang

嶺南學報 Lingnan Journal of Chinese Studies

唐代詩人王昌齡名作《出塞》中“龍城飛將”之語，應理解爲横行萬里、轉戰絶域的大將，不應理解爲專指漢代的“飛將軍”李廣。“飛將”“龍城”都是泛指。將原本專指邊塞某地的名稱虚泛化，作爲一種詞藻使用，是南朝以來詩文創作裏的常見現象。不僅涉及邊塞的作品，一般詩作中也可以見到類似情況，詩人們以泛用地名的手段，表達感受，營造氣氛，而不顧地名的實際所指。

The words of “flying General of dragon city” (龍城飛將) in the famous work Going out of the frontier (《出塞》) by Wang Changling of the Tang Dynasty should be understood as a general who traveled thousands of miles and turned to fight in a remote area, not to refer to Li Guang, the “flying general” (飛將軍) of the Han Dynasty. Both of “Flying general” (飛將軍) and“dragon city” (龍城) are general terms. It has been a common phenomenon in poetry since the Southern Dynasties that the name originally specifically refers to a certain place in the frontier fortress is used as …

書信中的君王形象與心理戰 : 拓跋燾 (408—452) 的國書和他的南方讀者, Lu Kou

嶺南學報 Lingnan Journal of Chinese Studies

公元五世紀上半葉，北魏 (386—534) 王朝逐漸统一中國北部，成爲與南朝劉宋 (420—479) 政權相對峙的勁敵。隨著軍事對抗和外交互動的逐漸頻繁，雙方也實施和利用多種文化與政治策略以在權力與正統的爭奪中獲勝。本文討論北魏君主拓跋燾 (408—452，423—452在位) 在南北朝軍事對峙的關鍵時刻發送給南朝的國書以及書信中帝王的自我呈現。學界對北朝文學的某種共識認爲北人文章在語言風格上的簡單，反映了北方質樸的民風與民族特色。筆者則將拓跋燾書信的討論置於宫廷創作、外交策略以及歷史敘述的語境中，認爲拓跋燾書信語言的“簡單”是北朝宫廷特意營造與選擇的修辭術。該修辭策略塑造了與南方截然相反的帝王形象，同時影響預期讀者對當時軍事與政治形勢的判斷。之後，史學家沈約 (441—513) 將拓跋燾的書信嵌於《宋書》的歷史敘事中。語境的變化改變文本的意義，爲後來讀者提供了新的闡釋框架。

The Northern Wei dynasty (386 - 534) unified north China in the fifth century CE and stood as a powerful rival to the Liu Song dynasty (42 - 479) in the south. As military campaigns and diplomatic exchange between the two dynasties became more frequent, both courts strove to deploy a variety of strategies to prevail in the competitions of political authority and legitimacy. This article examines the northern emperor Tuoba Tao’s (408 - 452，r. 423 - 452 ) self-represen-tation in his letters delivered to the southern audience at the height …

更近本真：一位翰林學士筆下的非文人階層, Ronald Egan

嶺南學報 Lingnan Journal of Chinese Studies

洪邁 (1123—1202) 身世顯赫，身爲翰林學士與朝中史官，以《容齋随筆》見稱於世，卻編纂了卷軼浩瀚、多達三十二本集子的志怪小説集《夷堅志》。其所收集的故事往往牵涉到商人，以及階層更低的士兵、屠夫、侍從、娼妓等，是宋代菁英文人筆下很少見到的人物。而這些故事不是洪邁憑空虚構的，絶大多數來自知情人的口述，有些是洪邁的親友，不少在結尾處記下知情人的姓名與官職，身份可考證，足見提供消息的人真實可靠。因這些故事不像一般文學作品那麽程式化，筆下的社會底層人物也就不那麼充滿刻板印象，讓我們可藉以窺見當時菁英文人對平民的一些認知與看法，有些是出於我們意料之外的。

Yijian zhi, the massive collection of supernatural tales compiled by Hong Mai ( 1123 — 1202) in the twelfth century, gives considerable attention to merchant figures and even members of more lowly walks of life (e.g., soldiers, butchers, waiters, and singing girls). This is unexpected since Hong Mai himself was not just an imperial official but a particularly eminent one, whose appointments included Hanlin academician and court historian. Appearing in the tales, sometimes even as protagonists, are members of society whom the superelite like Hong Mai seldom even mention in their conventional literary and scholarly writings. …

《桃花扇》西遊記 : 從《容美紀遊》看明清之際西南土司的認同政治與文化經營, Siao-Chen Hu

嶺南學報 Lingnan Journal of Chinese Studies

本文探討明清之際西南地區土司如何長期經營文化與文學傳承，一方面親近主流的漢人儒家文化，一方面保有其本土特質。土司透過多樣的文學活動來“展演”文化，從而鬆動了漢與非漢的界線。論文的核心文本是清初文人顧彩所作的日記體遊記《容美紀遊》。

This article explores how chieftains on the southwest periphery during the Ming-Qing transition conducted long-term plans to formulate cultural and literary heritages that had an affinity with Han Chinese mainstream culture but also retained indigenous qualities. The author demonstrates that the boundaries between Han and non-Han peoples became more negotiable with the enterprising efforts of chieftains to “perform” civilization by way of literary activities. The discussion centers on Rongmei jiyou (My Travel to Rongmei), a travelogue in diary form by early Qing scholars and playwright Gu Cai.

古代東亞各國所見的大酺活動, Guoliang Ye

嶺南學報 Lingnan Journal of Chinese Studies

歷代施政，能受人民以歡樂心情迎接者，爲數不多，或歷時不久。筆者歷思往事，以爲實施時間久，百姓實質受惠大，而無太大弊端者，蓋有三事：一日鄉飲酒，二日養老，三日大酺。大酺一事，由朝廷允許百姓自由歡樂飲酒若干日。事自受人民歡迎，然自戰國晚葉趙國率先實施起，大盛於唐之高宗、則天兩朝，至宋朝猶見其尾聲，堪稱史上最受歡迎禮典之一。不僅此也，韓、日、越等東亞各國亦斷斷續續舉行大酺禮典，堪稱頗有意趣之活動，可惜學界多不甚注意。筆者以爲學界可研究之事本不爲少，且史上之佳話並非無有，故取歡樂之事研究之，似亦人生可爲之事，大酺活動不失爲其中一種。

Not many rulers in history received people’s warm welcome, at least not for long even if they did. The author argues long rulership that brought forth a thriving time and without fundamental flaws usually performed three rituals: 1. xiang yinjiu 鄉飲酒 (district wine drinking); 2. yang lao 養老 (veneration for the elderly); 3. da pu 大酺 (feasting). Da pu refers to the ritual that the royal court approved of people’s feasting and drinking for a few days. One of the most welcomed rituals in history, da fu started in the State of Zhao in the late Warring States period, …

The Achievements Of And Inspirations From The Psychology Of Tragedy, Ersu Ding

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The Psychology of Tragedy (1933) by Zhu Guangqian is a monumental work in the history of Chinese theories of tragedy. Written from the unique perspective of a Chinese scholar and moving with ease among major Western theories of tragedy, its author had raised therein a good number of great insights that are still valid today. Zhu Guangqian's greatest contribution to the theory of tragedy lies in his modification of Aristotle's theories of "catharsis" and "hamartia", legitimating the plot of innocent suffering and introducing into the mix of tragic feelings such important concepts as love and regret. Probably due to his …

The Complete List Of Theoretical Studies In Literature And Art, Vol. 1-6, 2020, Studies In Literature And Art Theoretical

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

No abstract provided.

The History, Region And Cultural Community Around The Paintings Of Ten-Thousand-Mile Yangtze River During The Song, Yuan And Ming Dynasties, Jin Yue

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

During the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, there emerged in large numbers of paintings under the title of Ten-Thousand-Mile Yangtze River. On the one hand, these paintings with inscribed poems and essays by elite literati collectively shaped the image of the Yangtze River, and established a cultural community with regional and historical identity centering on the Yangtze River. This greatly strengthened the sense of national identity and its presence. On the other hand, these paintings were collected into classified books as encyclopedic references during the late Ming dynasty, and became cultural products for mass consumption. Through copying, reproduction and dissemination …

A Study Of The Phenomenon Of The Quasi-Peach Blossom Spring And The Poetry In The Late-Qing Dynasty, Qihua Sun, Shijin Luo

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The image of "The Peach Blossom Spring" created by Tao Yuanming (365?-427) became a motif since the Liang dynasty in Chinese ancient literature. The reception of the Peach Blossom Spring had shown two dimensions of the nothingness and the concreteness during the Tang and Song dynasties. However, toward the late Qing dynasty, the gradual appearance of quasi-Peach Blossom Springs and the poeticization of them, perhaps due to the social turmoil, especially brought by the Taiping Civil War. The understanding of the unrealistic vision of the Peach Blossom Spring and the wish for it during the turmoil constructed the mindset of …

Classic Literary Criticism As The Embryo Of Productional Literary Criticism, Wenfang Yao

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

A significant development of Euro-American literary criticism in the 20th century is its progress regarding the issue of "art production," which, by including into it the practice of literary reading and literary criticism, breaks through the previous theoretical assumption that "art production" is limited to literary creation. Classic critics such as Albert Thibaudet, T.S. Eliot, Ivor Armstrong Richards, and Northrop Frye have, through practical experiences of literary criticism, discovered and confirmed the production of literary criticism. They have not only embarked on verifying such production through scientific experiments, but also conceptualized the ways in which productional criticism can be conducted …

Indexicality Strikes Back: From The Photographical Past To The Digital Present, Jia Peng

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Indexicality as a logic category of signs anchors semiotic cognition and reality. As photographs record the existence of objects, indexicality is considered as the evidence of the "objectivity" of photographic signs. With the development of digital technology, indexicality seems to decline and even disappear, since the objects of images no longer necessarily exist. Yet, in Peircean semiotics, the relationship between indices and objects could be either "existential" or "empty", and the latter is further interpreted by Roman Jakobson with the concept of "shifters", a term re-visited in contemporary semiotics of art and image. In the semiotic production of digital images, …

"A Close Affinity With The Concept Of The Dao": Toward Walter Benjamin's Idea Of Revolution, Fenves Peter

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

This paper takes its point of departure from an enigmatic concept Benjamin briefly discusses in one of the fragments he wrote in the early 1920s in conjunction with his search for an appropriate topic for a qualifying dissertation — the concept of action — or agent-determinative knowing, which, he suggests, may be comparable to the concept of the Dao." After analyzing the fragment in question, the paper seeks to demonstrate that in the early 1930s Benjamin develops this Dao-like concept under the rubric of two terms drawn from the vocabulary of ancient Greek thought: "mimesis" is the name under which …

On Jean-Luc Nancy's Reinterpretation Of The Sublime, Qi Wang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Different from Jean-François Lyotard and Jacques Derrida, Jean-Luc Nancy's reinterpretation of the concept of the sublime highlights its functions of combatting metaphysical totality, defending difference and witnessing the un-presentable. What Nancy does is not only to rethink the "presentation" and "limit" of the sublime, but also to reflect on the end of art, the relationship between imagination and the sublime, the sublime offering and so on. Nancy divides Immanuel Kant's aesthetic schema into two paradigms — "aesthetics sublates philosophy" and "philosophy sublates aesthetics" — and believes that neither accurately demonstrates the essential state of being in the postmodern condition. Nancy …

On The "Portrait Paintings" In The Late-Ming Fictions And Xiqu, Yaping Cai, Guofu Cheng

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Portrait paintings were prominent in ancient Chinese fictions and xiqu (traditional Chinese opera), and the close relationships between them have not been duly explored. In late Ming-Dynasty fictions and xiqu, portrait paintings have been used in eighteen fictions and xiqu to construct the plots. These paintings usually gave a frontal image of the characters, with occasional glamorization for a unified representation of both the appearance and the spirit to achieve the integration of the character with the scenery. Three developments in the late-Ming Dynasty may explain why portrait paintings were prominent in the fictions and xiqu: the revival of figure …

Reflection And Development: A Review Of 70-Year Study On Ci-Poetry In Shanghai, Guozhong Peng, Zehhua Liu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The study of ci-poetry in Shanghai since the founding of the People's Republic of China can be divided into three stages: transition, prosperity, and development. In the transitional period, the study of ci-poetry in Shanghai focused more on ideological content than on artistic characteristics, and more on the style of "haofang" (the bold and unrestrained) than "wanyue" (the graceful and restrained). During its prosperous period, the study of ci-poetry in Shanghai began to reflect on the previous research. Driven by the fever for aesthetics and methodology, Shanghai has witnessed fruitful production of scholarly works on ci-poetry. After entering the stage …