The Development Of Subjective Consciousness And Qin Literature

Based on the joint of anthropology and literature, woven upon the relationship between the development of people's subject consciousness and the ante-Qin literature, the essay delves into the trace of development of subjectivity in the pre-Qin literature. On the one hand, the article is the first to carry out an interdisciplinary research on the basis of the development of people's subject consciousness, which renders it to be of great academic importance. Therefore, it will enlarge the horizon of literature and provide a new perspective in the interdisciplinary study of literature, history and philosophy. On the other hand, the essay has a vital practical significance. In the past few years, there is a precipitate trend in the academic circle: the lack of historical knowledge in some artists renders their works to be gorgeous-looking but superficial and unpersuasive; while the neglect of the aesthetic functions of their works by some historical researchers makes them obscure and unrefined. The present thesis attempts to carry out a comprehensive study covering literature, history and philosophy and the idea it entails may be of some help to the academic circle.The development of human beings' subject consciousness undergoes three stages. The first stage is the primitive society when people had no subject consciousness, thus could not distinguish themselves from objects, so we call it Chaos. The second stage refers to the establishment of the "quasi-consciousness" in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, which is ruled with rituals. On the basis of collective consciousness, people in this period began to have quasi-consciousness, thus accomplishing the first qualitative leap of the subject consciousness—liberating themselves from nature. By means of rituals, people commenced to be divorced from the animal kingdom and became human beings in its full sense. Therefore, the society shifted from the Chaos to one ruled by rituals. The third stage covers the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States period, characterized by the emphasis on individuality. This period, with the collapse of its ritual is referred to as the turbulent times. With the development of productive forces and the establishment of the new mode of production relations, the Zhou rituals that maintained the social orders gradually collapsed and the thoughts focusing on the importance of the common citizens flourished. Thus, the subject consciousness witnessed its second qualitative leap—the individual was highlighted from the collective.The development of subject consciousness is incarnated in the pre-Qin literature: the first stage is incarnated by the myths of the ancient times and some poems in The Book of Songs, the second in some of the poems in The Book of Songs and essays of West-Zhou; and the third in the essays written by the various thinkers of the pre-Qin times and Li Sao.The development of the subject consciousness and that of the pre-Qin literature is closely connected: the development of human beings determines that of literature. Amidst the various social factors that influence the development of literature, the one of vital significance is the development of human beings, through which all the other factors operate. Therefore, every leap in the subject consciousness will lead to the flourish of literature. The first leap renders human beings separate from the animal kingdom and gives them the quasi-consciousness. It is then that the ruling class led by Duke Zhou created the highest culture in the globe at that time, the culture of rituals and music. And the second leap leads to the separation of the individual from the collective and the emergence of subject consciousness. Together with it there is the upsurge of the thoughts of the various schools and the contention of them, thus forming another climax in the history of Chinese culture.