The polysemous term of shen 神 in Wenxin diaolong

Document Type

Book chapter

Source Publication

Recarving the dragon: Understanding Chinese poetics

Publication Date

1-1-2003

First Page

85

Last Page

116

Publisher

Charles University in Prague, Karolinum Press.

Abstract

Here I propose to study how Liu Xie 劉勰 (ca. 465-ca.521) masterfully exploits the polysemy of shen in Wenxin diaolong 文心雕龍 (Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons). In this masterwork of criticism, he employs distinctive clusters of the term shen and shen-binomes in his discussions on the origins and nature of literature, the authorial qualities, the creative process, as well as on the religious poetry of remote antiquity. Focusing on clusters, I shall demonstrative how he ingeniously adapts different notions of shen developed by Confucian, Legalist, Daoist, and other philosophical schools to theorize about particular aspects of literature. By investigating the conceptual origins of shen, I aim to demonstrate the ramifying aesthetic significance of this all-important term in Wenxin diaolong and in Chinese literary thought at large.

Publisher Statement

Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Additional Information

ISBN of the source publication: 9788024606910

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Cai, Z.-q. (2003). The polysemous term of shen in Wenxin diaolong. In O. Lomová (Ed.), Recarving the dragon: Understanding Chinese poetics (pp. 85-116). Prague: Charles University in Prague, Karolinum Press.

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