Communication Between Chinese And Western Poetic Soul

Wordsworth,one of the British romantic poets in the 19 th century,attaches great importance to the discussion and description of human hearts.In his poems the description of nature and praises of the mysterious force of the universe are closely related to the discovery of the mystery of human mind and revelation of the universal human nature.This can be expressed as a kind of “poetics of mind”.As in his the Prelude especially,he explores the improvement of human mind from his own life,through which Wordsworth has clearly understood the connotation of the universal human nature,and he acknowledges “the mind of man becomes a thousand times more beautiful than the earth”.Professor Chia-ying Yeh is a famous contemporary scholar,proficient in Chinese poetics.She concludes the theory of “arousing and moving” according to Chinese traditional poetics which lays great emphasis on "arousing",ie.Chinese poetry has the function of arousing and moving people.Poets create poems as they are moved in life;while readers are reading poems,they are moved too.And therefore heart-to-heart communication forms between poets and readers,which is the core of the theory of “arousing and moving”.Apparently both of Wordsworth's poetics and the theory of “arousing and moving” pay special attention to “human mind”.This thesis attempts to discover the connotations of these two poetics and theory and probe into their similarities and differences from the aspect of the universality of human mind.Based on the comparison,it is revealed that “human mind”,the universal human nature,is the certain association between two different cultures and it can help to bridge the gap between Chinese and Western civilization.The thesis consists of three parts: the introduction,the body and the conclusion.In the introductory part,it introduces the domestic and overseas researches on Wordsworth's poetic theory concerned with human mind.And it is also about the researching achievements and current research situation of Chia-ying Yeh's theory of “arousing and moving”.Additionally it shows the purpose and significance of selecting this topic according to the analysis of “inter-cultural research” in comparative literature.The body of the thesis falls into three chapters,which explore Wordsworth's poetics,the theoretical connotation of “arousing and moving”,and the comparison between them as well.Chapter One explores Wordsworth's unique understanding of the connotation of human mind according to an analysis of his the Prelude to prove that Wordsworth's understanding of human mind is the understanding of human nature.In his poetics and poems,Wordsworth highlights the idea that pure humanity is the origin of the poetry.Chapter Two is an analysis of Chia-ying Yeh's theory of “arousing and moving”.The function of “arousing” has been understood and valued as a tradition in Chinese poetics and fundamentally “arousing ” is “being aroused from life”;Chia-ying Yeh transmits this tradition and proposes the theory of “arousing and moving”.She quotes and analyzes numerous poems in her treatises to interpret the connotation of “arousing and moving”.Chapter Three draws a comparison between Wordsworth's poetics and the theory of “arousing and moving” to reveal their similarities and differences.Although they are from different cultures and times,Wordsworth's poetics and the theory of “arousing and moving” share something in common as they both value human mind more than outside world—the former is the basis,the latter being an inducement.With a Christian cultural background,Wordsworth confuses divinity with humanity,while Chinese poetics show the beauty and wealth of humanity directly.So humanity is universal and communicating between human minds is possible no matter who you are,a reader or a writer,no matter what culture you belong to,Chinese or western.And this is what Wordsworth's poetics and the theory of “arousing and moving” stimulate us to think of.The conclusion part sums up Wordsworth's and Chia-ying Yeh's poetic theory,concluding that all the outstanding artistic works is humanism,from which the identity of human nature and communicating between human mind are justified.And therefore it is fairly significant for people to reflect on “universal principles”.The thesis attempts to reveal the possibility of communicating between different literature and culture because of the universality of human mind.Having full understanding of this is of great help to have better communication and a brighter future for Chinese and Westerners.