iChina: The Rise of the Individual in Modern Chinese Society. Edited by Mette Halskov Hansen and Rune Svarverud. Copenhagen: NIAS Press, 2010. xx + 275. pp. £18.99. ISBN 978-87-7694-053-9

This article examines the changes in the linguistic and cultural concepts of freedom (自由 zìyóu) in the Chinese linguistic worldview, which have occurred as a result of extralinguistic and socio-cultural transformations brought by globalization processes between the 20th and 21st centuries. The starting point of the research is the traditional ideas about freedom, rooted in Confucianism and the Taoist worldview, according to which disobedience and self-will of the individual can lead society and the country to chaos, so freedom should be limited by norms and prohibitions. By studying empirical data with the help of definitional, quantitative, interpretative, and contextual analysis, a total of more than 1000 phrases with the lexical unit of interest were gathered. Thus, the idea of freedom in modern Chinese society was described in great detail. The results obtained were accompanied with the data of the quantitative analysis of the most frequent collocations based on the materials of the Balanced Corpus of Modern Chinese in Peking University. The article provides many examples that prove that the lexeme 自由 zìyóu occurs in phrases that describe numerous and diverse spheres of human activity. The conclusion was made that it has expanded its combinability capabilities as a result of the semantic shift that took place with the penetration of liberal ideas into China from the West. The research is of great importance and benefit for Chinese philologists, as well as for anyone interested in studying globalization processes and their impact on the traditional cultures of the East.

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Different Approaches to Modern Art and Society: Li Zehou versus Xu Fuguan

Asian Studies ◽

10.4312/as.2020.8.1.77-98 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 77-98 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Téa Sernelj

Keyword(s):

20Th Century ◽

Aesthetic Experience ◽

Modern Art ◽

Chinese Modernity ◽

Material Development ◽

Modern Chinese ◽

Chinese Aesthetics ◽

Basic Approaches ◽

Art And Society ◽

The Individual

Proceeding from the inseparable relation between ethics and aesthetics in traditional (and often also modern) Chinese thought, this article aims to illuminate two important approaches to the aesthetic foundations of Chinese modernity. The relation between the individual and society, which is a core question of modern ethics, is reflected in most of the ethical theories of 20th century China. In this context, the article first presents Li Zehou’s theory of aesthetics and his definition of aesthetic experience. In this way, it aims to illuminate Li’s interpretation of modern art and society, and to posit it into a contrastive position to Xu Fuguan’s ethico-aesthetic theories, especially the ones regarding modernity and Western culture. The basic approaches applied by these two important modern Chinese scholars reveal great differences in attitude towards the spiritual and material development of humanity in the 20th century, which is especially interesting since they are both rooted in the abovementioned belief that ethics cannot be separated from aesthetics. Besides, Li Zehou sincerely admired Xu Fuguan’s work on traditional Chinese aesthetics and referred to his comprehension of general concepts of traditional Chinese aesthetics in many of his own works dealing with aesthetics.

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A „Nóra-jelenség” és az ibsenizmus szerepe a 20. századi kínai dráma fejlődésében

Távol-keleti Tanulmányok ◽

10.38144/tkt.2017.2.4 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (2017/2) ◽

Author(s):

Blanka Nyirádi

Keyword(s):

20Th Century ◽

Pond Water ◽

Vital Role ◽

Chinese Society ◽

Early 20Th Century ◽

Cultural Reform ◽

Literary Traditions ◽

Modern Chinese ◽

Key Factor ◽

Chinese Intellectuals

The 19th-century Norwegian playwright, Henrik Ibsen had an unparalleled,posthumous impact on the development of modern Chinese drama. How isit possible that he could influence the literature of a country so remote inspace and so different in its literary traditions? History is a key factor in thisstory. Early 20th century China was at the threshold of taking radical measures in reforming its society, and she was badly in need of a supporting ideology. Ibsen was a thinker and dramatist who, by means of presenting acutesocial problems in his plays, deeply influenced the society of his age. Hedid so in a realistic way and with the help of a clear language, both of whichfactors extremely appealed to modern Chinese intellectuals. It can be stated that it was to a great extent through Ibsen’s plays, mostimportantly through Nora, that modern Chinese intellectuals discovered thelong-range possibilities lying in the adoption of Western dramatic form,namely, transforming minds. Nora stirred the pond water of Chinese society,and came to symbolize the rebellion of the ‘Free Individual’: something that had no precedent whatsoever in China but what has long been in theair. Modern Chinese playwrights began to imitate Ibsen with great fervour,resulting in the flourishing of the social problem play, featuring brave andmodern ‘Chinese Noras’. Although advanced thinkers soon had to realize thatthe ideas of Ibsen cannot simply be adopted but must first be modified to beable to credibly represent contemporary Chinese social, cultural and moralreality, the ‘Nora-phenomenon’ and Ibsenism played a vital role in setting offthe literary and cultural reform in early 20th-century China.

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