Natural Spirit In Modern Chinese Literature

In this dissertation, we will tentatively investigate the overall traits of modern Chinese literature from the angle of spiritual stands. Because of the affection of our traditional culture and modern western trends of thought, among the several spiritual stands of modern Chinese literature, the natural spirit seems specially out standing, and has a far-reaching influence. Occupying a crucial position, the natural spirit keeps close contacts with other spiritual stands of modern Chinese literature. By studying it, we can get a better understand of spiritual situations of modern Chinese literature, so we will thoroughly probe into its fundamental formations, fundamental traits, significance and limits in the modern Chinese literature. This kind of study will contribute to entirely understand the overall traits of modern Chinese literature and reflect upon the natural spirit that continuously exists in the civilization history of human race. In the preface, we give general definitions to the concepts of spiritual stand and natural spirit, and tentatively sort out spiritual stands of Chinese literature in order to launch this dissertation. The spiritual stand is the subjective stand of man associating with the world that includes our understanding of human nature, our grasps of the world, and our designs of value orders etc. The Confucian practical reason and the Taoist natural spirit are two kinds of most important spiritual stands of ancient Chinese literature; therefore, world-image and human-being-image constructed in the ancient Chinese literature are both stamped with distinct brands of them; moreover, they even decided core characteristics of ancient Chinese literature: actual character and harmonious beauty. Spiritual stands of modern Chinese literature include practical reason, historical reason, nihilism, natural spiritual and transcendent spirit which give birth to each other and transform into each other, take over for use each other and reform each other, query each other and undermine each other, thus jointly bring about a kind of complicated, variable, magnificent scene of modern Chinese literature. The first chapter mainly investigates the fundamental traits, significance and limits of the Taoist natural spirit in the modern Chinese literature. In many works of writers, such as Lu xun, Zhou zuoren, Fei ming, Yu dafu, Feng zikai, Shen congwen, Sun li, Wang zengqi, A cheng, Jia pingwa, Chi zijian etc, the features of the Taoist natural spirit are very distinct. Zhou zuoren, Fei ming, Shen congwen, Wang zengqi and other writers specially show extreme interests in it. In some works, for example, Fei ming's A Story in the Bamboo Forest, Bridge, Yu dafu's Sweet-scented Osmanthus Late in Blossom, Shen congwen's Border Town, Wang zengqi's Being Initiated into Monkhood, the magnificent ideal value which combine the Heaven and man into one, namely the Land of Peach Blossom cherished by the Taoist natural spirit, is presented before our eyes. Many modern Chinese writers enthusiastically pursue the perfect and harmonious heart of a newly born baby that attaches importance to weakness and femininity. In their opinions, this kind of true natural human nature is the ultimate standard to criticize actual life, and the center of value to be set up. Moreover, many modern Chinese writers admire the inacting and standing aloof value principle of the Taoist natural spirit, even faithfully put it into practice. However, the limits of the Taoist value ideal, value center, and value principle are very evident, so it cannot avoid disintegrating itself. The second chapter mainly investigates the fundamental traits, significance and limits of the Dionysian natural spirit in the modern Chinese literature. In order to achieve their goals, the reason of enlightenment and the historical reason both take over Dionysian natural spirit for use in varying degrees. The writers of enlightenment, such as Lu xun, Guo moluo, Lu ling, Niu han etc, all show solicitude for and have partiality for Dionysian power of life and Dionysian state of life. In order to achieve its ultimate goals, the historical reason takes over Dionysian power of life of the people at bottom of society, and creates the best opportunities for it breaking into Dionysian state of life because of reckless affirming the class struggle. However, the writers who conscientiously pursue the Dionysian natural spirit fully present its whole features before our eyes, for example Shen conwen, Zheng wanlong, Deng gang, Zhang chenzhi, Mo yan, Zhang wei, Chang yao etc. Shen congwen from the people of western part of Hunan province, Zheng wanlong from those strong men fleeing hither and thither in the North-Eastern forests, Deng gang from those boatmen leading a wandering life far across the sea, Zhang chenzhi from those Islams making a hard living on the Loess Plateau, Mo yan and Zhang wei from the people at the bottom of society on the Shandong peninsula, all find fully valuable Dionysian power of life for modern society. They not only have the greatest esteem for it, but also pay homage to it. These writers consider Dionysian natural spirit as the only outlet for people trapped in the predicament of modernity, but we consider that Dionysian natural spirit cannot undertake such a mission because of its own limits. The third chapter mainly investigates the fundamental traits, significance and limits of the female natural spirit in the modern Chinese literature. The female natural spirit can be divided into two types, namely mother god worship and post-female natural spirit. Being akind of natural spirit, the orientation of mother god worship places emphasis on the breeding and feeding lives traits of natural maternal instinct, which query all kinds of value orientations of patriarchy culture authority from the stand of natural life. In the modern Chinese literature, mother god worship goes back to ancient. There are many grand figures of mother god in the works of writers, such as Lu xun, Guo moluo, Bing xin, Rou shi, Ai qing, Cao yu, Feng deying etc. In the works of School-graduates literature, Zhang chenzhi, Zhang xianliang, Tie ning depict respectively the unrestrainded traits and grandness of mother god at the bottom of society, and describe their perplexities before the mother god. Mo yan, Xu kun, Chi li, Hu xin and other writers portray images of mother god on the stand in their many works again, and their feeling of mother worship is very high. In the 1980's-1990's, affected by the western feminism, female literature became very prosperous. The spiritual stand of this kind of literature is post-female natural spirit, which shows solicitude for another type of value orientation different from male and modern reason civilization. Confined to time and energy, we cannot study post-female natural spirit and female type of post-natural man in this dissertation. The fourth chapter mainly investigates the fundamental traits, significance and limits of the post natural spirit in the modern Chinese literature. The post natural spirit comes into being in the post-modern context of metropolis civilization. It is inclined to return to self's existence of body, refuse to admit all kinds of grand and lofty significance and value of historical world and spiritual world, look personal organic pleasant sensation as the ultimate goal, and do with actual life a playing manner. The current poems give very abundant expressions to the post natural spirit, for example, those zero-degree lyric poems, those bantering and ironic poems in the third-generation poems, and the–Lower–Part-of-the-Body poems, all embody distinct features of post natural spirit. However, Yu jian's poems relatively give expression to the side of active significance of the post natural spirit. Confined to time and energy, we cannot study post natural spirit and playing type of post-natural man in the novels in the 1980-1990's in this dissertation. For the purpose of making the main idea of the dissertation clearer, the conclusion of it aims at totally considering natural spirits in the modern Chinese literature. In the context of modernity, natural spirits emphasize the importance of the dimension of space of actual world, the perceptual even irrational dimension of human being, the aesthetic spirit of modern world. To a great extent, this kind of emphasis has some meaning of critique of modernity. From the angle of aesthetic view, we can say that natural spirits add some bright and natural beauty topicture scrolls of modern Chinese literature. However, being a kind of spiritual stand, the natural spirit cannot fundamentally avoid disintegrating itself, and modern Chinese literature has to transcend it. We find that modern Chinese literature can transcend it fortunately. Lu xun, Cao yu and some other modern Chinese writers have succeeded in transcending the natural spirit in some works.