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The Literary Concepts Through Novel Titles Of The Ming And Qing Dynasties, Guofu Cheng

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Titles are special insight into the Ming and Qing novel writing. Through an examination of the texts, prefaces and epilogues, the records of book production, guidelines for book use, book reviews, notes etc. the paper explores the literary concepts reflected by the Ming and Qing novels. Specifically, novel titles can be interpreted in four respects, namely, the novel as a supplement to history, the novel as admonishment, the novel as entertainment, and the novel as true feelings. Through these concepts we may have a better understanding of the significance and the evolution of the literary concepts of the Ming and …

The Origin Of The Title "The Four Dreams Of Linchuan" And The Deep Significance Of The Peony Pavilion, Baocheng Kang, Yanfang Chen

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The title "the Four Dream of Linchuan" is not in accordance with the facts of the four Chuanqi plays written by Tang Xianzu, for "The Purple Hairpin", one of the "four dreams" has little to do with "dream" of any kind. Inspired by "the Four Dreams" written by Che Renyuan and the folk song "4 dreams 8 voids" in The Plum in the Golden Vase, Tang Xianzu himself began to use the title of "the Four Dreams of Linchuan". The title was rarely recognized till the late Ming Dynasty, but it became popular during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of …

The Origination Of "Zhong Zhuo Da" From Calligraphy Critique: The Cultural And Literary Historical Background Of The Turn Of Ci-Poetry Criticism In The Late Qing Dynasty, Ronggang Jiang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

"Zhong Zhuo Da" (Strength, Refined Antiquity, and Grandiosity) is an important theory of ci-poetry in the late Qing Dynasty, since its theoretical origin remains unknown, there are so various interpretations of the theory that there is still no consensus on its origin. Through a comprehensive study of the related cultural changes in the late Qing Dynasty, the paper argues that it is almost certain that the aesthetic paradigm should originate from the theory of tablet calligraphy critique. Given the shared problem with the development of ci-poetry and calligraphy in the late Qing Dynasty, critics introduced tablet calligraphy critique into ci-poetry …

The Naming Of Bronze Bells In The Shang Dynasty;The Concept System Of Yuexuan; Bronze Bells' Definition:Three Issues About The Bronze Bell, Fa Zhang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The bronze bell in the Shang Dynasty had no name, which was why it has been called Rao (铙) by many scholars and Rong (庸) by others. From the viewpoint of the evolution of bronze bells, Rao was related more to Ling (铃) in the Xia Dynasty, and later Rao became Rong in the Shang Dynasty and finally Bianzhong (编钟) in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Thus seen, Rong was more akin to the nature of bronze bells. The concept system of Yuexuan (乐悬) consisted of three aspects: sunju (簨虡), sidu (肆堵) and gong-xuan-pante (宫-轩-判-特). The three groups of concepts were …

Thinking Is Folding: Deleuze's Problematique Of The Baroque, Kailin Yang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

According to Deleuze, the importance of the Baroque is not the history of art, but what counts is to force us to think about "the possibility of the fold to infinity". The fold, as "point of view", is the distinct expression of the universe, while each fold is inseparable from becoming. The Baroque has no essence. It is just a mannerism pushed to infinity. Through the Monad of Leibniz, Deleuze creates the concept of the fold. Between the Monad and the universe, there is a non-relative who built the "milieu" or "common Limit". Through the conception of the fold, Deleuze …

Pen Names In The "Seventeen Years Period" And The Ecology Of Contemporary Chinese Literary Criticism, Pengcheng Kou

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

It is a common phenomenon to use a pen name when a writer publishes his critical works in China's "seventeen years period". There are several causes: 1. the author worries that his work is not mature; 2. the author is not confident of his reputation; 3. the author intends to express particular ideas. Underneath these apparent causes are deeper psychological motivations: 1. to express opposite ideas to someone else’s; 2. to criticize a friend or a teacher; 3. to publish politically alternative works; 4. to reinforce the validity of criticism with another name; 5. to express special aims. Because of …

Tactile Culture Or Auditory Culture: A Different Future Of The Post-Visual Culture, Lianjie Liu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

With the continuous expansion of the hegemonic visual culture, post-visual culture has become an academic topic. Represented by Martin Heidegger and Hans-Georg Gadamer, phenomenology and hermeneutics turn to listening and advocate the auditory culture, but some postmodernists like Marshall Mcluhan and Jacques Derrida turn to touching and advocate tactile culture. The replacement of visual culture with auditory culture is still confined by traditional Western mindset, which is in fact a move from one extreme (despotic culture) to another extreme (submissive culture). Compared with visual culture and auditory culture, tactile culture is more self-reflexive, and less likely to become despotic, which …

The Aesthetic Regime Of Art And The Construction Of Its Politics: On Jacques Rancière's Aesthetic Thoughts, Haiting Zheng

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Jacques Rancière is not satisfied with the two modes of modernism, namely turning art into mere life or into pure art. He endeavors to reveal the hidden tension between this binary opposition, maintaining that art should play freely within this binary tension space and make the tension space a dissensus theatre of the part of no part. The essential of aesthetic revolution of modernism lies in recognizing and receiving the previous excluded parts of literature, such as details drifted away from the integrated story, characters detached from the writer's arrangement, which challenge the given distribution of the sensible with its …

The Construction And Review Of The Wujiang School And Linchuan School: A Study Of The History Research Books Of Traditional Chinese Drama In The Republic Of China, Huaping Cheng

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The naming of Wujiang Group and Linchuan School in the history of drama was established by drama historians of the Republic of China. Because these drama historians had neither defined the concept of School, nor had they reached a consensus and guidelines that should be followed in the division of the School. These drama history research books differed in the classification and number of dramatists. In interpreting the theory of the two factions, there is also a tendency to exaggerate the opposition between the two groups. Since the Republic of China, some drama historians had denied the existence of Linchuan …

Transcending The "Word-Image" Debate: The Writing Experiment Of T. J. Clark's The Sight Of Death, Yi Zhuge

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The "word-image" relationship is an important subject of modern Western aesthetics. It represents the division between the writing of art history and that of art criticism. The bone of contention between the two writing camps is whether the art work can be reducible to words. Art writings vibrate between this dualism, and some try to transcend the "word-image" division in theory. In his The Sight of Death: An Experiment in Art Writing, T. J. Clark, by adopting the diary style without a strong style of language, recorded his daily viewing of Poussin's paintings and his deep contemplations. He stresses the …

The Perfect Trinity Of Poetry, Calligraphy And Painting As A Neo-Classicist Paradigm In Zhao Mengfu: The Three Aspects Of Zhao Meng-Fu's Thought On Literature And Art, Yi Zhang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

In the formation of the neoclassicism integrating the Yuan's and Southern and Northern Dynasties' retro ethos, Zhao Mengfu, known for his literary and artistic talents, played a pivotal role because of his opportunities to travel between South China and Dadu, the then capital, and to mix with his contemporary literati and artists, thus becoming an archetype of an artist featuring the trinity of poetry, calligraphy and painting. His "conception of antiquity", his understanding of the "Tang approach and Jin rhyme" and his high-brow, superbly skilled painting contains his valuation of classicality, naturalness, tradition, and innovativeness, informing the trend of the …

"What Are Poets For" And Ecological Ethics, Kuiying Zhao

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Martin Heidegger's essential question of "what are poets for" is used to explore the relationship between the poet and nature, being, beings as a whole, the thing, and language in the "world's night" of "destitute time". In Heidegger's view, human beings' venture that follows their manufactural willing has led to the vanishing of the thing, the shrink of beings as a whole, destruction of the foundation of all beings, and deprived things and human beings of their homes of being. Then poet's mission is to reflect on the control of technology, to participate in the rescue of the thing, to …

A Critique Of Studies Of The Cultural Identity Of Hong Kong Literature Since The 1990s: The Case Of Inherent Contradiction Between Nativeness And Chineseness, Shiying Xu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Since the 1990s, Hong Kong and overseas scholars have borrowed the idea of the "third space" to investigate the issue of cultural identity in Hong Kong literature, which has brought about three typical views: "the margin theory", "the crevice theory" and "the theory of imagining Hong Kong moving North", all based on the inherent contradiction between the Hong Kong nativeness and Chineseness. In order to transcend the framework of "Hong Kong and China", Zhu Yaowei shifts his vision to the framework of "East and West, local and global, orientalism/postcoloniality and global capitalism". The above discussion shows that political factors play …

A Probe Into The Theory Of Event Literature: Reflections On The Reconstruction Of Literary Studies "After Theory", Jing Yin

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Terry Eagleton criticized different kinds of post theories which were once in fashion in his After Theory, and proposed that literary theory should return to literature itself and reflect on such grand issues as morality and ethics in a constructive way. Based on the "literary ethics" put forward by Terry Eagleton and the concept of "event" highlighted by his theoretical reflection, this paper tries to combine Gilles Deleuze's and Alain Badiou's concepts of "event" in order to carry forward Eagleton's reflection on theory and develop an effective theory of event literature, which focuses on writers who, as the faithful subjects …

Bai Xianyong's New Aesthetics Of Kunqu Opera, Sheng Ding

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Bai Xianyong proposed the concept of New Aesthetics of Kunqu Opera after the youth version of The Peony Pavilion and the new version of The Story of Jade Hairpin. The goal of the New Aesthetics of Kunqu is to integrate the classical aesthetics of Kunqu and modern theatrical aesthetics, and the integration is characterized by the centrality of classicality aided by modernity. The works which come as a result of the New Aesthetics of Kunqu Opera have received praises scholars and some criticism from senior fans at the same time. This paper expounds on Bai Xianyong's theory and practice, and …

Becoming, Intensity And Transversal Communication: The Cross-Cultural Dialogue Between Deleuze's Thoughts And Taoist Thoughts, Dandan Jiang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

This paper explores the paradoxical thought in the works of the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze (1925-1995), including his writings in collaboration with Félix Guattari, around the question of "becoming". It examines the connotation of certain notions and their internal connection in Deleuze’s works, and, by drawing on the reinterpretations of Deleuzian philosophy by the contemporary Italian philosopher Agamben, discusses becoming and intensity, immanence and Transcendental empiricism, body without organs and transversal, etc. It also explores some possibilities of cross-cultural dialogue between Deleuze's thoughts on becoming and the works of the Taoist thinker Zhuangzi in ancient China.

Empiricism, Sense And Modernity Of Aesthetics: Edmund Burke's The Sublime And Beautiful From The Viewpoint Of Medieval Aesthetics, Chen Chen

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Edmund Burke's The Sublime and Beautiful is familiar to Chinese scholars, the studies of which nevertheless are inadequate, as many studies confine themselves to Burke's exposition of the sublime. But in fact Burke implies a critique of the tradition of the medieval doctrine of beauty, which is particularly evident in the first section of the third part of this book. As central concepts in the Scholastic doctrine of beauty in the Middle Ages, proportion, fitness, and perfection are transmitted to Burke's times. Burke, employing John Locke's empiricism, criticizes traditional qualities of the beautiful on the side of the object, and …

From "Poetry Critique" To "Drama Critique": Lü Tiancheng And Qi Biaojia's Critique Of Drama, Chao Wang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

"Drama critique", an important form of critical studies of drama in the Ming dynasty, benefits more or less from the critical paradigms of poetry and prose in terms of the consciousness of different schools, the awareness of comparison and the image- and analogy-based aesthetical mindset. Meanwhile, Lü Tiancheng and Qi Biaojia, starting from the "nature and naturalness" theory in poetry criticism, pursue an aesthetical taste characterized by "ideo-mood-imagery" and "feel". By modifying the various indexes of "calligraphic critique" and "painting critique", including the "spirit, exquisiteness, potential and embodiment", they successfully refresh the essence of "drama critique", which reflects the evolution …

Literary Theory: Nationality In An Age Of Globalization, Fan Nan

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

The maintenance of nationality of Chinese literary theory in an age of globalization is part of the issue of the relationship between culture and nationality. Many factors are herein involved, including nationality and the globalization of Chinese literary theory, the relationship between the discourse of modernity and traditional culture, and the treatment of Localization, the modern constructive transformation of ancient Chinese literary theory, etc. A thorough study of these factors is needed to draw a reasonable conclusion. There is an important principle for introducing into China Western literary theories: the significance of the theory is to represent and interpret China's …

Lubomir Dolezel's Literature Fiction And Possible Worlds Theory, Yu Zhang

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art

Lubomir Dolezel is one of the most important literary theorists of the so-called fiction and possible worlds theory in the English world. In Dolezel's Heterocomica: Fiction and Possible Worlds, the author provides a conceptual framework of possible worlds against the one-world frame in traditional fiction study, arguing that fiction worlds are a special kind of possible worlds. Focusing on the fictional universe projected by literary texts and the discursive means of achieving fictional effects, he offers a new approach to narrative and fiction study. This paper is a complete review of the entire system of Dolezel's possible worlds theory, and …

The Heart Of Basketball: A Dynamic And Transformative Program Design For Chinese Youth, Jayson Gilbert

Capstone Collection

Chinese participation in educational overseas programs has steadily increased over the past several years. Chinese parents and youth see these types of programs, specifically short-term programs, as a means to gain exposure to a foreign country and its culture before possibly studying in that country. This capstone paper explores the value of such programs by examining their long-term impact while considering other factors that may influence Chinese desire to participate in these programs.

The research in this paper reveals that overseas youth programs that incorporate sound pedagogy and elements of experiential learning in their design have potential to be successful …

Chinese Wines And Foreign Urns: Making Objects Of Lyric, Ryan Matthew Hintzman

Student Work

A 2016-2017 William Prize for best essay in East Asian Studies was awarded to Ryan Matthew Hintzman (Silliman College '17) for his essay submitted to the Department of Comparative Literature, "Chinese Wines and Foreign Urns: Making Objects of Lyric.” (Edward Kamens, Sumitomo Professor of Japanese Studies, advisor.)

Ryan Hintzman’s essay, Chinese Wines and Foreign Urns: Making Objects of Lyric is a work of awe-inspiring erudition, vision, and ambition. Ranging far and wide among traditional and more recent theories of the lyric and moving boldly from 8th century poems in Japanese to 19th and 20th century poems in English, Hintzman …

Xinghun: A "Cooperative Marriage" Ties Chinese Lesbians And Gays, Rongdian Zhu

Master's Projects and Capstones

In modern China, although the normality of homosexuality has been officially admitted, misconception and discrimination against homosexuals are still prevalent in the mainstream of Chinese society. Chinese LGBT people endure two main sources of pressure: one is from the external and another is from the internal. From the outside, Chinese LGBT people bear the suppression made by the normality of sexual orientation and the hegemonic culture of heterosexuality, in particular heterosexual marriage. And such discrimination is still occurring now in our society. LGBT people themselves are heavily tortured by the pain and pressure of self-denial. A lot of them cannot …

A Coffee-Scented Space: Historical, Cultural, And Social Impacts Of The Japanese Kissaten, Claire A. Williamson

Student Work

A 2016-2017 William Prize for best essay in East Asian Studies was awarded to Claire Williamson (Jonathan Edwards College '17) for her essay submitted to the East Asian Studies Program, “A Coffee-Scented Space: Historical, Cultural, and Social Impacts of the Japanese Kissaten.” (William Kelly, Professor of Anthropology and Sumitomo Professor of Japanese Studies, advisor.)

Japan has a long and well-documented history as a tea culture, from everyday practices to the refined aesthetics of the tea ceremony and its associated arts. Yet modern Japan is also a highly developed culture of coffee, and this is the topic that Claire Williamson …

Enclave Of Ingenuity: The Plan And Promise Of The Beijing Intellectual Property Court, Max Goldberg

Student Work

A 2016-2017 William Prize for best essay in East Asian Studies was awarded to Max Goldberg (Pierson College '17) for his essay submitted to the Ethics, Politics, & Economics Program, "Enclave of Ingenuity: The Plan and Promise of the Beijing Intellectual Property Court.” (Frances Rosenbluth, Damon Wells Professor of Political Science, and Paul Gewirtz, Potter Stewart Professor of Law, advisors.)

Max Goldberg’s thesis, Enclave of Ingenuity: The Plan and Promise of the Beijing Intellectual Property Court, examines in depth one of the most interesting institutions in today’s China – an experimental court that stands at the intersection of …

Celebrating The Feminine: Daoist Connections To Contemporary Feminism In China, Dessie Miller

Master's Projects and Capstones

Contemporary feminism and its emergence in the early 20th century may seem like a recent phenomenon; however, the idea of feminism has been evolving over the centuries and what may be called a “proto-feminism” could be found in one of China’s classical literary masterpieces, known as the Daodejing. Classical Chinese philosophy has influenced and helped shape what feminism is today in China. For this project, I analyzed the use of language in the Daodejing to demonstrate the feminine imagery throughout the text. Secondly, the characters having significance for feminist interpretations for the Dao and Yin-Yang were deconstructed and analyzed in …

Phenomenal Marks, Ruptured Spaces, Relearning Language, Crossing Cultures, Meelee Ahn

Graduate School of Art Theses

The form of my thesis is one of interruptions, or “Ruptures,” as I call them. These are events of my personal history, or stories from the lives of artists, that intervene against my narrative through graphic and language devices meant to be understood as equivalent to the material affects in my painting. Important artists and movements mentioned are Gerhard Richter, Franz Kline, Helen Frankenhauler, Lee Ufan, Doho Suh, and Abstract Expressionism. Writers and philosophers Maurice Merlou-Ponty, Gaston Bachelard, Joan Banach, Sigmund Freud, John Gage, Brian Massumi, Allen Weiss, Clement Greenburg, Shin-Chulgyu, and Yoon-Dongju are also discussed. The idea discussed include …

One Epic Φf Stardusts, Y∞N Irene Hong

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

A long time ago in a far away galaxy,

there was a star shining alone in the deep darkness.

The beautiful star aged and exploded into a supernova,

where her golden light scattered into the tiniest sparkles of dust,

pouring down to Earth.

Made of Stardust,

humans naturally have responded to the divine light that they carry inside their souls,

through diverse acts of enlightenment such as art, religion, and science.

.

.

.

As a Stardust, an artist, a Korean, and a woman,

I keep walking in between opposing forces and varying perspectives

until I transcend their boundaries and …

A Study Of Apocalyptic Themes In Japanese Popular Culture, Thomas M. Coar

Senior Theses

While consuming Japanese popular culture, it is easy to notice the reoccurring themes of the apocalypse though they are often very different in their presentation to the audience. Through investigation, the study found that the Japanese people draw their understanding of the apocalypse from many different religions and ideologies, also known as religious pluralism. An influential aesthetic inspired by the Buddhist doctrine of impermanence in Japan is mono no aware which is the idea of seeing the beauty in the chaos and destruction, with sadness and compassion, including the apocalypse. Stemming from the ideologies of reincarnation and masse, the Japanese …

Animating Chinese Cinemas: A Preface, Li Guo, Jinying Li

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

This preface by the guest editors provides a situated overview of the purpose, structure and methodologies of the contributing articles on Chinese animations in this special issue. Aiming to reconfigure Chinese film studies through historical and theoretical inquiries about the relationship between the animated and the cinematic, the special issue introduces a nascent perspective on Chinese animations by offering rigorous and stimulating studies on the forms, genres and materiality of animation, as well as on the technological and ontological conditions of animated moving images in the age of digital new media. The preface also provides a brief historical overview of …