A New Exploration of the Relationship between Daoist Texts and Literary Studies: Take Lu Xiujing as an Example | Chapter 7 | Language, Literature and Education: Research Updates Vol. 9

 

The study of Chinese culture has increasingly benefited from the cross-genre and interdisciplinary exchanges that arise from this diversity. Daoist and literary studies, in particular, frequently intersect, encouraging a harmonious exploration of diversity. Over the past century, scholars have made significant contributions to these two fields, advancing an understanding of both. The interdisciplinary study of Daoism and literature can be broadly categorised into three main approaches: analysing literary works as sources of Daoist material, examining Daoist scriptures as literary texts, and exploring the influence of Daoist beliefs on writers. This paper proposes a new perspective that complements these existing frameworks: by examining Daoist scriptures, we can better assess whether certain literary expressions or rhetorical devices were innovative or simply widespread conventions among writers of a particular period. Using the works of Lu Xiujing 陸修靜 (406–477 CE) as a case study, this paper builds on Haun Saussy’s argument that the use of “fragrance” as a rhetorical device to modify virtue—often surprising to modern scholars—was, in fact, a familiar trope for ancient Chinese writers. However, the paper critiques Saussy’s reliance on the works of the famous poet Qu Yuan屈原 (c. 342–278 BCE) as evidence. Unlike Qu Yuan, who was primarily a literary figure, Lu Xiujing, as a Daoist scholar, frequently employed metaphors related to smell and taste to express abstract moral or doctrinal concepts. For Lu and his contemporaries, such expressions were not regarded as remarkable literary techniques but rather as conventional modes of discourse. This suggests that, at least in early medieval China, such rhetorical usage among writers was not seen as novel but as commonplace. Lu Xiujing's example demonstrates that practical religious literature from the pre-modern era can be used to support the fact that some rhetorical devices that seem astonishing to modern researchers might not have been novel but rather common in a certain historical period. From this, this study can contribute to the comparative literature and interdisciplinary methodology of literature and religious studies.

 

 

Author(s) Details

Mianheng Liu
School of International Letters and Cultures, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, United States of America.

 

Please see the book here :- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/lleru/v9/6583