Image Of Western Civilization And Image Of The Self-construction Of Chinese Civilization In A Brief History Of Civilization

In the late Qing literary works, Li Boyuan’s " A Brief History of Civilization" isthe first novel which take "civilization" as the core,to reveal the image of Western"civilization" of chinese and "civilization" self-construction.The novel pay attention tochanges in people’s daily life brought by Western utensils, customs, newknowledge,reflect people cognitive change of Western civilization from barbarism tocivilization after experiencing Western civilization after experiencing Westerncivilization.The cognition of the Western image transformation is not the result ofrational thinking,but mixed some self-projection of desire,and it is reflection andcontemplation of reality self. Referring to the West, Li Boyuan exposed the reality ofChina’s ugly and backward and the criticism of the national character of chronicillness and morbid. Although this criticism to some certain extent is affected byWestern discourse about the negative image of China,has excessive self-deprecationtrend.It eagerly involves a craving to rebuild itself.However,Li Boyuan gavesarcasm to the way which put all the Western trendy as a medicine of saving thenational, he thought this criticism and learning is not thorough. Because influenced bythe concept of intrinsic culture and ways of thinking, people lacked rational choiceand in-depth understanding of Western culture, which is not only failed to learn theessence of Western civilization, but also makes the traditional culture of moral valuehas been greatly damaged.Through the panoramic display of the social disorder under the impact of theWestern civilization,such as moral decay, identity confusion,Li Boyuan reveals a notflawless Western as people thought. and break the ideal of Western mythology.Thisquestion sounds on the ideal of Western is very valuable in the overwhelmingxenophilia voice. Therefore, he hopes to build such a civilization blueprint,whichborrowing constitutionalism and democracy from the Western and being able to savethe traditional culture. Li Boyuan’s concept of civilization embodies an idea of fusionof chinese and Western,which provide a significant enlightenment on the dialoguebetween Chinese and Western cultures.