The Establishment Of The Idea Of "Literature" In Modern China And The Intermediary Japan

This article discusses the establishment of the idea of "literature" during the late Qing Dynasty from a circumjacent perspective. By taking Japan as a research dimension in the development of Chinese literature, this article gave a synchronic description of the formation of "Literature" in China.Vocabulary is the most important carrier of idea. By reviewing the way that how those words and phrases were imported into China, chapter 1 states that the very word "Literature" was established along with the construction of modern disciplinary system.Ideas are embodied in conceptions. Taking Zhang Taiyan’s definition for an example, chapter 2 discourses how the definition of literature was established.The idea of literature also contains the construction of literature category. Chapter 3 and 4 illustrate the construction and adjustment process of the conception of modern literature category in China, with each chapter taking novel or drama as an example.The re-elaboration and re-construction of the Chinese classical knowledge and documents, which based on the "literature", is the most important symbol for the establishment of "Literature". Therefore, chapter 5 exemplifies the idea’s (Literature) function of acculturation with the re-elaboration and obstruction of traditional relationship between literature and geography.