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(By Bian Ji)

In recent years, increasing numbers of Chinese scholars have engaged in comparative studies in Chinese and Western Literature and Art. Indeed many of early 20th century forerunners of modem Chinese Literature used the comparative method in their analytical works with fruitful results. Liang Qichao (1873-1929) likened the long narrative poems of Huang Zunxiah (1848-1905) to western epic works; the poet Su Manshu (1894-1919), who was well-versed in both Chinese and foreign literature, thought that the Tang-dynasty poets Li Bai and Du Fu had certain elements in common with Byron and Shelley; the noted literary critic Wang Guowei (1877-1927) also used the comparative approach in his work. Though in many ways these early attempts were relatively superficial, they were still indicative of a growing tendency to pursue this method of interpretation.

Lu Xun’s on the Demoniac Poets, written in 1907, expounded some general principles of the development of literary traditions and drew attention to the rebellious spirit of the western romantic poets of the 19th century in order to encourage his fellow-countrymen. This particular essay is considered a masterpiece among early Chinese works on comparative literature.

The majority of the articles and books written in the 1920’s and 30’s concentrated only on the study of influences. Some highlighted concrete examples of literary influence through analysis of materials from trans­lated works, theatrical productions, reviews, personal exchanges and international congresses. Others studied theme, character plot and style, researching the sources of ideology and subject matter of literature in different countries. Still others traced the development and distribution of literary forms and the variations which consequently occurred. In this latter category, Mao Dun’s Foreign Drama in China, written in 1980, is a serious study of the importation of spoken drama, hitherto unknown in china, from the West.

Owing both to geographical reasons and to the very different course of development of Chinese society and civilization, cases of literary influence between China and the West are of course fewer than the internal exchanges and influences within the European-American cul­tural system. In recent times the focus of comparative literature has shifted from the “study of influence� type which emerged at the beginning of the century to the “study of parallels�, a method which is based not on historical influences but instead seeks to discover the common features of different literatures and also to analyse the relationship between literature and other arts. If the study of influence belongs essentially to the field of the history of literature, then this second type of study, the study of parallels, belongs to the field of literary criticism and theory.

The eminent scholar Qian Zhongshu’s research has made an enduring and significant contribution to comparative studies of the latter genre. His first major publication in the field Notes on Literature and Art (Tan Yi Lu) appeared in 1948. Thirty years later, in 1979, the first four volumes Perspectives on Literature) (Guan Zbul Plan) were published, an important event in the field of comparative literature in China.

Perspectives on Literature moves chronologically through early Chinese literature commencing with the Book of Changes complied in the Zhou Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty. Throughout, the most distinguishing feature of the work is the way in which it has broken the bounds of different academic spheres and opted for an interdisciplinary approach to the world of literature and art.

Among the more than 1200 subject entries in these first four volumes over 200 are direct comparisons of Chinese and Western works, the discussion supported by a wealth of textual evidence. Qian displays a remarkable range and erudition In his research. The biblical metaphor about not crying over split milk he finds echoed more than twenty times in Chinese literature. Images from The Book of Songs are paralleled in Virgil and Dante. The theme of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Em­peror’s New Clothes appears in an early 6th century Chinese work.

When comparing the two traditions, Qian frequently uses western works to illuminate and suggest resolutions of many controversial issues in Chinese literary criticism. Although the “Cook-crows� In the “Ballads of Qi� section in The Book of Songs has long been said to describe the wife of an official persuading her husband to be diligent in his duties, Qian claims an affinity of intent with the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet, ­thereby placing a more romantic interpretation on the Chinese work.

Qian also draws on anthropological research in his analyses. He points out that such research has highlighted certain universal features in early human society and that these resonate similarly in later cultural development. Themes such as the famous story about the metamorpho­sis of the soul into a butterfly in the Chinese classic Zbuang Zi (the work of Zhuang Zhou, c. 369-286 BC) are found in both Egyptain and Greek literature and parallels can be drawn also with a certain episode in Dante’s Purgatorio. Qian points out that myths about metempsychosis were common to most early societies and therefore appear in the classical literature of most cultures.

Common literary techniques can be explained by common features of human psychology. Long before the term “stream of consciousness� was introduced, thought had been likened to an endless stream in both Chinese and western literary works. Qian quotes examples from both Chinese and western literary works which express aesthetic beauty through a sense of grief and suggests that this is an example of the psychological notion that aesthetic perception is often accompanied by a sense of pain.

One of the most important features of Oian’s research is that it does not address itself merely to the surface of literary works but attempts to present a more profound analysis of the essence of literary creation. Many of the entries illustrate the common bases of literary theory itself such as the comparison drawn between the traditional Chinese literary principle “strong and weak, finn and supple, coexist and contrast� and early Greek concepts.

Qian feels that the aim of comparative literature is to enable us to better understand the basic principles of literature and by extension of human civilization itself. In this respect the study of parallels can fundamentally transcend the scope of actual relations between Chinese and western literature. Using meticulous supportive data he builds his case for the universal roots of aesthetic perception. At the same time comparative literature serves also to define and illustrate essential cultural differences.

In this respect, he considers comparative studies in Chinese and western poetry an important and hopeful field of research. He illustrates how Chinese and westerner alike find that the most moving poetry is that expressing grief or pain and that many poets and literary critics not only held similar views, but often chose the same images and situations thereby demonstrating a common perception. He advocates that, in studying early Chinese theories of literature and art, one should read extensively beyond theoretical works and should include poetry, ballads and proverbs since many original ideas are contained in these forms. Attention should also be paid to theories on painting and music. For example, the term yun (rhyme) in poetry was adapted from music to indicate a musical effect. It was first used in China in a treatise on painting written by Xie He in the fifty century A.D. Similar applications of the term can be found in Indian and Western aesthetic theory.

To facilitate the flow of culture between different countries requires the breaking of the language barrier and so literary translation assumes a vital role in comparative literature. Qian Zhongshu considers transla­tion an art in itself and adopts many of the arguments from Hegel’s Aesthetics to discuss various aspects of translation.

Many younger Chinese scholars are now following Qian’s example in the study of comparative literature, and this new generation of researchers will owe a profound debt of gratitude to the pioneering work of this distinguished scholar.