China Being Led and Leading A Literary and Cultural Interpretation

This book unearths a forgotten history of exchange and enlightenment between China and the West, told through vivid examples drawn from the world of poetry, the philosophy of culture and religion, and the realm of international communication. Across chapters that cover an extraordinary range of cultural terrain, from an examination of the parallel expatriate experiences of the British critic and poet William Empson and the Chinese writer Xu Zhimo, to a study of the influence of Christian thought on the evolution of Confucianism, authors Li Zhimin and Daniel Braun rethink the contemporary paradigm of western hegemony and international division that shapes our senses and studies of the East and the West alike, in order to present an image of modern China that is richly hybrid in its blend of cultures, histories, and traditions. This book is immersed in the cultures and literary traditions of China and the West, and written for specialists of the regions and general interest readers alike.

Chapter One: The One-Way Model of Cultural Interaction: Literary Interactions between China and Cambridge.- Chapter Two: Turbulent Transformation of the Literary and Cultural Mentality of China from 1917 to 1949 and the Vigorous One after the Reform and Opening-Up Policy.- Chapter Three: The Origin and Development of New Chinese Poetry from the Perspective of Cultural Exchanges between China and the West.- Chapter Four: The Interplay of “Common Morality” and “Philosophy-Science”.- Chapter Five: Re-examination of the Question “Where Do I Come From?”: Establishment of Modern Cultural Norms Related to Parent-Child Relationships.- Chapter Six: “Where Am I Going?”: Reconfirmation of the Fundamental Cultural Faith in Life of Humanity and Its Survival.- Chapter Seven: “Who Am I?”: Establishment of Modern Culture on Basis of Three Forms of Personal Life.- Chapter Eight: Body Thinking, Image Thinking and Concept Thinking: The Philosophy of Thinking and Its Implication for Communications.-  Chapter Nine: The Linking Matters: An International Poetics of Sense-Making and Innovation.- Chapter Ten: Truth as a Construct and the Growth of Knowledge.- Chapter Eleven: Survival First: A Review of Modern Humanity and a Prospect for Its Future.

LI Zhimin is “Guangzhou Scholar” Distinguished Professor of English at School of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou University. He serves as President of Foreign Literature Society of Guangdong Province. His research interests focus upon studies on modern culture (philosophy), modern poetics and modern English Education.

Daniel Braun earned his PhD from Princeton University in 2019. His research and teaching focus on modern poetry in English, and the long history of poetics. He is currently a distinguished visiting scholar at School of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou University.