Glimpse Of The Council Of Chinese And Western Cultures

At present, when comparing Chinese literature with western literature, people mostly emphasize the distinctions between them while neglecting what they have in common. Many scholars believe that people should analyze Chinese literature based on Chinese culture instead of referring to western culture. However the fact is although there are many differences between the two literatures, they still have a lot in common. Mr. Qian Zhongshu, who was one of Chinese contemporary scholars and writers, had an international influence. His works which are extensive and profound and contains a wide knowledge of things ancient and modern are regarded as the classical works in human culture. Guan Zhui Bian, one of his later works, which expounds his views on philosophy, aesthetics, literature, academy, and even politics, is considered as an excellent combination of Chinese and Western comparative literature. By sorting out the thoughts on literary and art criticism in this work, this thesis is dedicated to find out the possibility of the mutual understanding between Chinese and Western culture. It is very helpful to understanding Qian Zhongshu's literary thought as well as the study of the comparison between Chinese and Western literature. This paper will follow the thread given in Guan Zhui Bian to find out the answers from both theoretical and practical aspects.The body of this paper consists of three chapters:The first chapter is the introduction of Qian Zhongshu. Mr. Qian was a Chinese significant literary scholar in 20th century who possess a knowledge of Chinese and western culture. He finished the work Guan Zhui Bian during his later period, in which he expounded his views on philosophy, aesthetics, literature, academy, and even politics. Besides, the author also discusses the question that whether "Guanzhui" is Mr. Qian's modest words or it has other meanings in this chapter.The second chapter is entitled "some examples on the similarities between Chinese and western cluture in Guanzhuibian". Firstly, the similarities of Chinese and western literary was stated, and then the similarities of specific literary theory. It contains three segments. The first segment illustrates the similarities on the methods of literary creation, which are discussed from several aspects, ie.verve in writing, embedding moment, Synesthesia, ambiguity, and contrast; the second segment analyzes the motive of literature creation through narrating two stories of Sima Qian and Qian Zhongshu who are driven by their anger or worry motion to write books; the third segment focuses on the content. It analyzes the similarities between Chinese and western culture from such aspects as the relationship between name and existence, seeing through the appearance to perceive the essence, Distinction within Unification, and main spirit. And the last segment comes to a conclusion that the two abuses exist in both Chinese and western literature, ie. stereotyped expression and mistaking false for true.The third chapter is entitled "one method on how to compare Chinese and western culture-compare by connection". It contains two segments. The first segment explains what is "compare by connection" and its importance to "Guan Zhui Bian". The second segment states several typical examples to illustrate the benefits of this method.As the conclusion, we discuss the effect of Guan Zhui Bian on modern comparative literature, which is especially important in nowadays, the moment when Chinese literature theories need to be urgently reestablished.