Chinese Theories Of Reading And Writing: A Route To Hermeneutics And Open Poetics (S U N Y Series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture)

This ambitious work provides a systematic study of Chinese theories of reading and writing in intellectual thought and critical practice. The author maintains that there are two major hermeneutic traditions in Chinese literature: the politico-moralistic mainstream and the metaphysico-aesthetical undercurrent. In exploring the interaction between the two, Ming Dong Gu finds a movement toward interpretive openness. In this, the Chinese practice anticipates modern and Western theories of interpretation, especially literary openness and open poetics. Classic Chinese works are examined, including the Zhouyi (the I Ching or Book of Changes), the Shijing (the Book of Songs or Book of Poetry), and selected poetry, along with the philosophical background of the hermeneutic theories. Ultimately, Gu relates the Chinese practices of reading to Western hermeneutics, offering a cross-cultural conceptual model for the comparative study of reading and writing in general. Chinese Theories of Reading and Writing: A Route to Hermeneutics and Open Poetics......Page 5 Contents......Page 8 Preface......Page 12 The Rise of Hermeneutic Openness......Page 16 Origins of Openness in China......Page 17 Origins of Openness in the West......Page 20 Paradoxes in Interpretive Theories......Page 22 Objectives and Scope of Inquiry......Page 24 Assumptions and Orientations......Page 27 Part 1. Conceptual Inquiries into Reading and Openness......Page 30 Reading in a Comparative Context......Page 32 Mencius’ Positive Thesis of Reading......Page 33 Zhuangzi’s Counterstatement......Page 37 Mencius’ Hermeneutic Circle......Page 40 Zhuangzi’s Wordless Communication......Page 47 Views of Reading after Mencius and Zhuangzi......Page 50 A Chinese Model of Reading and Writing......Page 58 2. Hermeneutic Openness in Aesthetic Thought......Page 60 Suggestiveness as an Aesthetic Category......Page 61 Yiyin (Lingering Sound) and Yiwei (Lingering Taste)......Page 64 Bujin zhiyi (Endless Meaning): Multivalence and Polysemy......Page 69 Hanxu (Subtle Reserve): Unlimited Semiosis......Page 78 Wu (Ontological Non-Being): Self-Generative Suggestiveness......Page 87 Beyond Aesthetic Suggestiveness......Page 91 Part II. Zhouyi Hermeneutics......Page 94 3. The Zhouyi and Open Representation......Page 96 The Zhouyi as a System of Representation......Page 98 The Eight Trigrams as an Open System of Representation......Page 99 The Mechanisms of Openness in Hexagram Images......Page 102 Open Representation in Hexagram and Line Statements......Page 107 Indeterminacy in the Zhouyi’s Genesis......Page 112 Ideas of Openness in Zhouyi Intellectual Thought......Page 116 A Semiotic Model of Reading and Representation......Page 118 The Source of the Zhouyi’s Seductive Power......Page 126 4. Elucidation of Images: Ancient Insights intoModern Ideas of Reading and Writing......Page 128 Situating the Hermeneutic Controversy......Page 129 Mingxiang as a Hermeneutic Issue......Page 132 Wang Bi as an Innovative Synthesizer......Page 134 The Controversy over “Forgetting Images”......Page 139 A Distinction between Meaning and Significance......Page 144 Premodern Husserlians and Heideggerians......Page 153 The Death of the Author and Rise of the Reader......Page 157 Conceptual Significance of the Paradigm Shift......Page 162 Concluding Remarks......Page 164 Part III. Shijing Hermeneutics......Page 166 5. The Shijing and Open Poetics......Page 168 Literary Openness in the Shijing......Page 169 The Open Texuality of “Guanju”......Page 173 Textual and Extratextual Indeterminacy......Page 183 A Notion of Open Field......Page 185 Paronomastic Reading and Writing......Page 191 In Search of Original Intentions......Page 196 Two Paradigms: One Orientation......Page 201 Indeterminate Subject Position......Page 203 From Allegory to Open Readings......Page 208 A Writing Model of Intertextual Dissemination......Page 211 Part IV. Literary Hermeneutics......Page 222 Spatial Form and Linguistic Economy......Page 224 The “Eye” of Openness......Page 226 Symbiosis of Opposite Aesthetic Feelings......Page 235 Metaphysical Emptiness......Page 238 Serial Form and Oriented Openness......Page 242 8. Linguistic Openness and the Poetic Unconscious......Page 250 Openness and Poetic Language......Page 251 Openness and Syntactic Ambiguity......Page 256 Dream Language and the Poetic Unconscious......Page 260 Juxtaposition and Multidetermination......Page 264 Metaphor, Metonymy, and Signifying Practice......Page 268 The “Soul” of Openness......Page 275 Conclusion: Toward A Self-Conscious Open Poetics inReading and Writing......Page 278 How Open Is a Literary Text?......Page 279 Le Mot Juste and Endless Meaning......Page 283 Hermeneutic Openness Is a Positive Thing......Page 286 Notes......Page 288 Works Cited......Page 318 B......Page 336 D......Page 337 E......Page 338 H......Page 339 I......Page 340 L......Page 341 M......Page 342 R......Page 343 S......Page 345 W......Page 346 X......Page 347 Z......Page 348 This ambitious work provides a systematic study of Chinese theories of reading and writing in intellectual thought and critical practice. The author maintains that there are two major hermeneutic traditions in Chinese literature: the politico-moralistic mainstream and the metaphysico-aesthetical undercurrent. In exploring the interaction between the two, Ming Dong Gu finds a movement toward interpretive openness. In this, the Chinese practice anticipates modern and Western theories of interpretation, especially literary openness and open poetics. Classic Chinese works are examined, including the Zhouyi (the I Ching or Book of Changes), the Shijing (the Book of Songs or Book of Postry), and selected poetry, along with the philosophical background of the hermeneutic theories. Ultimately, Gu relates the Chinese practices of reading to Western hermeneutics, offering a cross-cultural conceptual model for the comparative study of reading and writing in general. Book jacket Introduction. Hermeneutic Openness: A Transcultural Phenomenon -- Part I. Conceptual Inquiries Into Reading And Openness. Chapter 1. Theories Of Reading And Writing In Intellectual Thought -- Chapter 2. Hermeneutic Openness In Aesthetic Thought -- Part Ii. Zhouyi Hermeneutics. Chapter 3. The Zhouyi And Open Representation -- Chapter 4. Elucidation Of Images: Ancient Insights Into Modern Ideas Of Reading And Writing -- Part Iii. Shijing Hermeneutics. Chapter 5. The Shijing And Open Poetics -- Chapter 6. Shijing Hermeneutics: Blindness And Insight -- Part Iv. Literary Hermeneuitics. Chapter 7. Open Poetics In Chinese Poetry -- Chapter 8. Linguistic Openness And The Poetic Unconscious -- Conclusion. Toward A Self-conscious Open Poetics In Reading And Writing. Ming Dong Gu. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. In contemporary literary thought, theories of reading have constituted an international subject of inquiry.