Zhuangzi and Modern Chinese Literature

and Modern Chinese Literature, by Jianmei Liu. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016. Pp. 312. $60.00 (hardcover).At a time when there is much discussion surrounding resurgence of Confucius in contemporary China, Liu Jianmei's and Modern Chinese Literature presents a rigorous and insightful investigation of a certain Daoist philosophical heritage that has played no small part in modern Chinese intellectual and literary life. Examining an impressive range of influential writers, from Lu Xun and Guo Moruo to Yan Lianke and Gao Xingjian, Liu combines a historical interpretation of authors' interactions with with a literary analysis of their works through a Zhuangzian lens. The result is a study that offers an intriguing view of not only various treatments of over past century, but also of ways in which ideas from have become relevant for different writers at different times.Liu focuses on both for its influence as a literary work and for particular emphasis it places on individual and inner freedom. She indicates that two themes that interest her most are, first, the absolute spiritual emancipation of individual as presented in 'Free and Easy Wandering,' and second, the questioning and rejection of absolute and fixed views on 'right and wrong' (5). By linking spiritual freedom promoted by these two themes with Isaiah Berlin's notion of negative Liu indicates what she sees as modern applicability of through a resistance to a moral monism, which can lead to prescribed utopianism and modern authoritarianism. Furthermore, Liu sees importance of in its ability to function as both mirror and lamp, reflecting certain historical intellectual conditions while also providing Chinese literature with creative potential. Overall introduction presents a convincing basis for Liu's study, and is crucial for understanding way Liu approaches texts she examines in following chapters.The first section of book focuses on authors who began writing before 1949. Liu effectively demonstrates her approach in initial chapter on Guo Moruo, combining close readings of his poetry with a historical examination of his dramatically changing attitudes toward Zhuangzi. Categorizing Guo Moruo's output into three stages, Liu begins with his early of exaggeration, in which his complete embrace of drives his superior poetic creation by emphasizing extreme individuality, anti-utilitarianism, and romantic freedom. In his middle of depression, Guo Moruo's adoption of Marxist historical materialism suppresses his exploration of individuality and leads him to a more objective, academic stance toward Zhuangzi. By height of his late stage of salvation in 1960s, not only did he reinterpret as a proponent of feudalism, but by completely submitting himself to authoritarian ideological orthodoxy he also entirely negated Zhuangzi's spirit of absolute freedom. For Liu, this change in Guo Moruo's attitude is significant as it demonstrates how the very idea of positive freedom, which Berlin defines as 'true' self, distinguished from empirical self, would open door to freedom's betrayal (44).Like Guo Moruo, Fei Ming also eventually turned from an initial creative embrace of to an ideological rejection. Liu demonstrates how Fei Ming's novel Bridge employs total literary aestheticization to exemplify Zhuangzi's concepts of uselessness and forgetting self. Liu notes, however, that after establishment of PRC, Fei Ming's production becomes marked by discarding dream of Zhuangzi after he jubilantly and unstintingly identified with Maoist thought and voluntarily identified with Communist brainwashing (137). Fei Ming is a significant literary figure who is seldom discussed in English-language scholarship (Bridge remains untranslated), and Liu's extensive treatment in this chapter stands as an important contribution. …