" Nature Of Human Nature " On The Basis Of Literature

This thesis aims to expose Li Zhi's literary thought by focusing on the fact that he approaches literature from the perspective of his thinker's status, to make clear the sequence and the transience of his thought from the philosophical one to the literary one, so as to verify his value and position in the history of Chinese literary theory.The body of the thesis consists of five parts. The introduction is a brief literature review on the critique which has been made on his literary thought and points out the writing characteristic and outline of this thesis.There are three chapters altogether. The first chapter introduces the philosophical basis of Li Zhi's literary viewpoint- the theory of the inherent humanity. The first section explains the connotation of the theory of the inherent humanity, including not only the metaphy sical thinking about humanity, but also the caring for daily life- the pursuit of the spiritual freedom of the individual; The second section exposes the cultural background and his personal factors of Li Zhi's theory of the inherent humanity. Li Zhi's theory of human hatter is a logical development of the Mind Theory of wang Yang-ming and Tai Zhou Left School of Thought. Its formation is related to the specific historical context of Li Zhi's life and his personality. Section three discusses the openness of Li Zhi's philosophical ideas. He confirms the plurality of the social culture and brings about a great advance in literary viewpoint. He takes literature as kind of intensive thinking on the awakening of human being.Chapter two illustrates the literary thought of Li Zhi: The first section, Li Zhi sets literature absolutely free from the feudal politics byintensifying the emotional consciousness of the creative subjects, brings the artistic styles of "Nature is beaicly" and "Romanticism" as well. Section too, by dismounting the patriarchal discourse of lonfucianists. Li Zhi has won the equal speaking right for people, which gains the rightful position for the popular literature and generalizes the concept of literature greatly.Chapter three explains the critical viewpoint and practice of Li Zhi section one expounds his critical purpose which is to persue the happiness and self- sufficientness of individual spirit and the value of spiritual creation of author. Section two, analyses the orientation of the aesthetics value of his literary critique and the opposition to the traditional common political critique. Section three briefly analyses the interaction between Li Zhi's Literary critique and that of others.The conclusion summarizes this thesis, drawing to a close the influence and value of Li Zhi in the history of Chinese literary theory.