Zhu Guangqian: The Spirit of World Renunciation and the Worldly Undertakings

Author: Qian Niansun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: In the 21st century, world culture is facing a new turning point. To oppose cultural hegemonism and cultural fundamentalism, it is essential to promote multipolar balance and the pluralistic development of culture. In this process, Chinese culture will inevitably become an important part of the construction of the new world culture. This requires us, on the one hand, to modernize the interpretation of traditional culture to facilitate its modern development and benefit the world; on the other hand, to urgently summarize the past experiences and lessons of absorbing Western culture on the basis of Chinese culture, to summarize the modern culture of the past century, and to contribute to the construction of the future world culture. The core of this summary undoubtedly lies in the conflicts and collisions between ancient and modern Chinese and Western cultures and the development trends they have fostered. The development of Chinese comparative literature in the past century has been driven by this historical mission. The 20th century was a century in which the history of Chinese academic culture transformed from tradition to modernity andly moved toward maturity and prosperity through the conflicts and integration of Chinese and foreign academia. In this century, comparative literature first emerged as a concept and method of academic research, and then as a relatively independent discipline, leaving its profound and unique mark on the history of Chinese academia. The emergence, development, and prosperity of comparative literature in 20th-century China were primarily based on the internal need for changes in the concept and methods of Chinese literary research. This determined the basic characteristics of 20th-century Chinese comparative literature. Historiographical research shows that Chinese comparative literature was neither ancient nor imported; it was a new humanistic phenomenon rooted in the intrinsic needs of the development of local literature, emerging in the context of global exchanges. The relationship and mutual influence between Chinese and foreign literatures over the past century are an important part of Chinese comparative literature. As Mr. Qian Zhongshu said, "From a historical perspective, one of the first tasks completed by countries in developing comparative literature is to clarify the relationship between their own literature and foreign literature, and to study the mutual influence between their own writers and foreign writers." Over the past century, many scholars have made significant achievements in this regard, but past research has largely been limited to the influence of Western culture on Chinese scholars and writers, with little study on how this influence developed within the transmission of Chinese culture itself, and even less research on how traditional Chinese culture was reinterpreted under the influence of foreign culture, leading to its modernization. This series of books, starting from the current situation and the perspective of historiography, comprehensively explores and deeply studies how outstanding Chinese academic figures over the past century, on the basis of inheriting traditional Chinese culture, absorbed Western culture, and formed a unique modern Chinese culture according to the needs of the times and society. On this basis, it explores the laws of inheriting traditional culture, absorbing Western culture, and the coexistence of pluralistic cultures, aiming to elucidate the unique path of the formation of new culture in China, draw correct conclusions and predict future development directions through examples, and enable Chinese culture to truly serve as advanced culture, occupying its rightful place and playing its due role in the pluralistic landscape of world culture. The connection between ancient and modern cultures and the communication between Chinese and Western cultures are important contents of cultural development in the 20th century, but academic research has focused more on general theoretical discussions about these aspects and less on substantial case studies that combine the integration of Chinese and Western cultures with the inheritance of ancient and modern traditions. This series of books, from the perspective of historiography, conducts in-depth case studies of Chinese academic figures who have made significant contributions to the development of Chinese culture and the communication of Chinese and Western cultures. On the coordinates of the intersection of ancient and modern and Chinese and Western cultures, it comprehensively elaborates on their lives, ideals, careers, achievements, and their contributions to the development of Chinese and foreign academia. It places particular emphasis on exploring how these figures, over the past century, inherited traditional Chinese culture and absorbed Western culture, forming a modern Chinese cultural landscape completely different from the past. The focus on case studies aims to highlight their unique contributions to the development of Chinese and foreign academia through the lives, ideals, careers, and achievements of key figures, as well as their inheritance of traditional culture and absorption of Western culture, elucidating the unique path of the formation of new culture in China, and striving to draw correct conclusions and predict future development directions through examples regarding the century-long debate between Chinese and Western, ancient and modern cultures. The authors of this series are first-class experts and scholars with extensive writings in cross-cultural studies and modern literature, possessing a deep cultural foundation and research expertise. They are the new generation of leading figures who have emerged after the great figures such as Qian Zhongshu and Ji Xianlin, who communicated Chinese and Western cultures at the beginning of the 20th century. They have basically achieved the goal of famous authors writing about famous figures, with in-depth research, accurate narration, detailed materials, and unique perspectives. In summary, the research conducted in this series of books is not only extremely important for China but also has outstanding methodological and epistemological significance for the dialogue and communication of pluralistic cultures in the world. This series aims to fill the gaps in academia in this regard. This book takes the 80-year life journey of Zhu Guangqian as the longitude and his important turning points and main achievements in academic career as the latitude, elaborating on his outstanding contributions and lessons learned as a great academic master in the fields of Chinese and Western aesthetics and literary research on the historical coordinates of cultural exchanges between ancient and modern and Chinese and Western cultures. Through the examination of individual cases, it explores the characteristics of the fate of Chinese intellectuals in the 20th century and provides an overall reflection on the construction of academic culture in that era.