The Contemporary Unscrambling Of Chuang-tzu Aesthetic Judgment--Study On Aesthetics And Literature Of Chuang-tzu In The Recent 40 Years

Chuang-tzu, the cultural leading figure which has enduring impact upon those of later ages, built his prestige on his content of thought. Since the twentieth century, the western literary and aesthetic ideas spread into China, which has expanded the explanatory space of Chuang-tzu to a great extent, and fully proved the contemporary value and the world meaning of Chuang-tzu. The literary and aesthetic studies of Chuang-tzu in recent forty years are characterized by contemporary flavor. In sixties and seventies of the last century, some overseas scholars, such as Yan Fu and Wai-lim Yip, had been the key figures in the field of literary and aesthetic studies of Chuang-tzu, taking advantage of the academic frontier and studying the aesthetic values of Chuang-tzu in a comparative way. At the beginning of the eighties, the aesthetic studies of Chuang-tzu in inland China had become prosperous gradually, and hold a leading position consequently because of the indigenous advantage. With the ever frequently academic exchanges, the aesthetic studies of Chuang-tzu at home and abroad showed a tendency to merge into one, but still kept their own characteristics owing to the influence of certain factors, such as ideology, etc. Generally speaking, "comparison between the west and China" is the principal axis of the contemporary literary and aesthetic studies of Chuang-tzu, however, it brings vitality and biases as well, that is, "use the west to disciplme the Chinese tradition ". We never deny the validity of the west studies of Chuang-tsu, but exaggerate it, neither. On the contrary, it is, perhaps, more favorable to the development of world culture to acknowledge and stress on the difference of the Chinese and Western culture, and attach importance to the specifications of western culture and the aesthetic and cultural intension of Chuang-tsu.The first two chapters of this thesis focus on sketching the studies of Chuang-tsu, which intends to presents the achievements of the literary and aesthetic studies of Chuang-tsu through macro examination and micro exploration as well. The last chapter reviews the two orientations of study by reflecting the "genuineness" of Chuang-tsu, and puts forward some questions for researchers' reference.