The Image Analysis Of Samurai And Zen Monks In Night 2 Dreams Of

Natsume Soseki,known as “National Writer”of Japan,was a great critical realistic writer and scholar of the Meiji period of Japan.He was especially gifted in both comprehension of literature and the grasp of language.Being exposed to advanced European technology and thinking mode while he was studying in the UK at the early stage of development of Japan,Natsume Soseki has much more foresights than ordinary Japanese people.In only ten years' of his creation work,Natsume produced many novels and a respectable amount of literature comments,Chinese poetry,Haiku and essays with prominent characteristic of times.Ten-Night Dreams,which was created when Soseki was 42,refers to ten stories with the theme of dreams serialized in Asahi Shimbun.The contents of Night 2 Dream would be analyzed from the following aspects:First,analysis on the creative background of Night 2 DreamSocial BackgroundNight 2 Dream was created after the Russo-Japanese War.Japan finally won the War,and thus promoted it's international status.Therefore,most Japanese became arrogant and blinding,which caused a fierce conflict between the thought of separating from Asia into Europe and the thought of preserving Japanese native culture.Personal BackgroundFamily: Soseki came from a samurai family of an intermediate level.Therefore he would be inevitably affected by samurai's living and thinking habits.And the habitof practicing meditation would exist in his deep mind as an invisible information.Early life:Being placed in a foster care not long after he was born,Soseki mentally suffered a lot.He was not brought back to his own family until he was 20 years old.Instead of be happy,he disgusted it very much.This phase of life experience directly helped form his character: sensitive,self-contemptuous,and neurotic.Impact of Sinology: Chinese literature and the art of Chan paintings in Tang and Song Dynasty had been Soseki's spiritual ballast when he was young.In Two Pine Society,he systematically learned classic books on Confucianism,Buddhism and Taoism.Thus laid a solid foundation for his later creation of both literature and Chinese poetry.But in the mean time,some kind of dependence on Chan Sect emerged in his mind.Impact of western culture: Although mentally suffered a lot while he was in the UK,Soseki truly recognized the gap of economy and thought between Japan and European countries,which provided a useful perspective for his later literary creation.Second,analysis on his representative work relating to Zen thought.Literature work: There is quite a lot of description of Zen in Soseki's works.This thesis would analyze from the novel Door,which was mainly relevant with his own experience of practicing meditation.Chinese poetry: This part may mainly focus on Soseki's Chinese poetry in different periods.Third,analysis on Zen case in Night 2 DreamThis part may mainly focus on the following aspects: Samurai's practice of meditation,Case of “empty” and “ stick,shout”,Zen painting by Yosa Buson,cases similar to Night 2 Dream.Conclusion could be drawn from the above analysis: Samurai finally got satori,and dropped the butcher's knife.Thus he succeeded in enlightenment.Finally,analysis on the image of Samurai and Zen monks.By analyzing katana in Night 2 Dream,conclusion can be drawn that old classes represented by Samurai has declined,and it is a necessary tendency that old classes should be replaced by new society.Mirror image analysis on Samurai and Zen monks:From analysis of Soseki's both accepting of new culture and preserving of local culture,conclusion can be drawn that Samurai is a mirror reflection of Soseki's inner heart.Soseki,standing from the perspective of a Zen monk,led ordinary people to get satori.Thus Zen monk is the mirror reflection of his practical action.Hence both Samurai and Zen monk in Night 2 Dreams is actually the mirror unity of Soseki in different stages and from different perspectives.