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Chinese projections of Thoreau and his Walden’s influence in China

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Abstract

In 1995, Walter Harding turned out an article titled “Thoreau’s Reputation” trying to render a picture of how Thoreau had been perceived in a world other than the United States. He mentioned in particular the translation of the writer into different languages such as German, Dutch, Russian, Japanese, French, Czechoslovakian and Italian and he specifically dwelled on the Japanese reception of Thoreau and his works, without a single word about the abundance of Chinese scholarship on the same writer. This essay begins with a critical survey of how Thoreau has been perceived in China. It argues that there are tentatively three different stages as regards the Chinese projections of Thoreau in terms of issues raised and handled. The first stage roughly from the 1920s to 1949 marks China’s burgeoning interest in the American writer featured by a passion for Western literature as both cultural and intellectual nourishment. The second is mainly a period of ideological appraisals from 1949 to 1977 in which Thoreau is regarded as a champion of democracy and a critic of American capitalist civilization. The third one is known as the multiple approach period from 1978 onwards in which Thoreau studies has flourished and continues to grow in China. Focused discussions have revealed the following: (1) comparative approaches have been made into the Chinese elements in the formation of Thoreau’s notion of civilization and views of Nature; (2) critical attention has been drawn on Thoreau’s political thought and ecological awareness, rendering a multitude of interpretations both textually and theoretically; and (3) further discussions focus primarily on Thoreau’s personal conduct raising a question of how to appraise Thoreau’s withdrawal from society and giving rise to an ambiguous identity of Thoreau. Intertwined in my discussion is a further exploration of Walden’s influence in China and how Thoreau is integrated in contemporary Chinese writing at this age of ecological awareness.

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Notes

  1. Harding, W. (1995). “Thoreau’s Reputation”. In J. Myerson (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Henry David Thoreau, (pp. 1–11). New York: Cambridge University Press.

  2. Zheng, Z. (1926). “Meiguo wenxue” (American Literature). Xiaoshuo yuebao (The Short Story Monthly), 17(12), 14.

  3. Zeng, X. (1935). “Meiguo wenxue” (American Literature) (pp. 35–38). Shanghai: World Books.

  4. As for the similar critical opinion, cf. Bennet, J. (1994). Thoreau’s Nature: Ethics, Politics, and the Wild (pp. 12–14). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

  5. Although he was relatively less explored from late 1920s to 1949, Thoreau did come along with many other American writers such as Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, Jack London and Upton Sinclair, to name a few. The first Chinese version of Thoreau appeared in Shanghai and Chongqing. American writings were then either introduced briefly to the Chinese audience in literary magazines or approached in more detail in review essays or journal articles, cf. Wang, J. (2003) Wusi yilai woguo yingmei wenxue zuopin yijie shi: 1919–1949 (A translation history of British and American literary works in China: 1919–1949) (p. 70). Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.

  6. Xu, Yuxin (1960). Saizhenzhu—Meidiguozhuyi wenhua qinlue de jixianfeng (Pearl S. Buck—Vanguard of American Cultural Imperialism). Wenxue pinglun (Literary Review), 5, 100–107.

  7. Dong, Hengxun, et al. (Eds.). (1978). Meiguo wenxue jianshi (A Short History of American literature) (Vol. 1, p. 75). Beijing: People’s Literature Press (rpt. 1986).

  8. Thoreau, H. D. (1849). Resistance to civil government. In The Writings of Henry David Thoreau (Vol. 4, p. 371). Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1906.

  9. Ibid., p. 370.

  10. See Dong, Hengxun, et al. (Eds.). (1978). Meiguo wenxue jianshi (A Short History of American Literature) (pp. 61–64). Beijing: People’s Literature Press; Chang, Y. (1990). A survey of American literature (pp. 74–95). Tianjin: Nankai University Press; Li, Y., & Chang, Y. (Eds.). (1987). Meiguo wenxue xuandu (Selected Readings in American Literature), Book I (pp. 176–197). Tianjin: Nankai University Press; Yang, Q., et al. (Eds.). (1985). Selected readings in American Literature (pp. 200–233). Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Press; Wu, Weiren (1990). History of American literature and its selected readings (pp. 182–204). Beijing: The Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press; Tao, Jie (2000). Selected readings in American literature (pp. 45–52). Beijing: Higher Education Press; Zhang, Chong (Ed.). (2008). Selected readings in American literature (pp. 100–112). Shanghai: Fudan University Press.

  11. Zhang, Chong (2002). Thoreau and his Walden. In L. Haiping & W. Shouren (Eds.), A New Literary History of the United States (Vol. 1, pp. 289–300). Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2002.

  12. Wang, Shouren (1988). Thoreau and Confucianism. Foreign Languages, 2, 38.

  13. Wang, Qin (2008). Thoreau’s early contacts with Chinese Culture. Journal of Human Institute of Humanities, Science and Technology, 1, 43–46.

  14. Thoreau, H. D. (1947) Civil Disobedience. In C. Bode (Ed.), The Portable Thoreau (p. 125). New York: The Viking Press, 1947.

  15. Ibid., p. 127.

  16. Chang, Yaoxin (1998). A History of American Literature (Vol. I, p. 266). Tianjin: Nankai University Press (revised edition).

  17. Thoreau, H. D. (1947). Walden, in the portable Thoreau. In C. Bode (Ed.), The portable Thoreau (p. 555). New York: The Viking Press.

  18. Chang, Yaoxin (1998). A History of American Literature (Vol. I, p. 260).

  19. Lin, Yutang (1937). The importance of living, rpt (p. 125). Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1998.

  20. He, Huaihong (1988). Thoreau and his Walden. Dushu, 5, 104–111.

  21. Cf. Cheng, Yinhong (1996). Mystery of the Walden Pond. Dushu, 5, 140–144; Wang, Yuehua (1996). Two Walden Ponds. Dushu, 9, 156; Shi, Pengfei (1996). Civilization cannot be resisted. Dushu, 9, 157.

  22. He, Huaihong (1996). Things that concern Thoreau. Dushu, 3, 136.

  23. Cao, Yajun (2003). A life with principle: Understanding Thoreau in the context of China’s modernity. Journal of Shenzhen University, 5, 52–57.

  24. Su, Xiangui (2002). Thoreau’s thought of nature and its implications for ecological ethics. Journal of Peking University, 2, 58–66.

  25. Cheng, Aimin (2007). On the ecological significance of Walden. Foreign Languages Research, 4, 101–104.

  26. Cf. Hong, C. (2001). Xungui huangye (Return to the Wilderness) (pp. 103–123). Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company.

  27. Cf. Zhu, Xinfu (2006). Meiguo wenxue zhong de shengtaisixiang yanjiu (An Inquiry into American Literature from an Ecological Perspective) (pp. 90–101). Suzhou: Suzhou University Press.

  28. Yang, Jincai, & Pu, Lixin (2005). Thoreau’s ideal individualism and moral construction. Journal of Nanjing Normal University, 5,138–143.

  29. Yang, Jincai (2004). Henry David Thoreau’s social withdrawal and political concerns. Social Sciences in Nanjing, 12, 71–76.

  30. Hahn, S. (2000). On Thoreau (p. 1). Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

  31. Ibid., p. 2.

  32. Thoreau, H. D. (1982). Waerdenghu (Walden) (Xu, Chi, Retrans.). Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Press.

  33. Ibid., pp. 309–314.

  34. Thoreau, H. D. (1996). Walden (Xu Chongxin & Lin Benchun, Trans.). In Suoluo ji (Collected Writings by Henry David Thoreau) (pp. 357–648.). Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company.

  35. Wang Guanglin wrote a “Preface” to the Chinese version, quoting from Walter Harding’s “Five Ways of Looking at Walden” to serve as a reader’s guide, see Thoreau, H. D. (1998). Hubin sanji (Walden) (pp. 1–11) (Wang Guanglin, Trans.). Beijing: Writers’ Press. He revised his Chinese version and named it Waerdenghu (Walden) published by Changjiang Literature and Art Press in 2004. The version contains many pictures which are supposed to be more illustrative to Chinese readers. Another illustrated Chinese version of Walden is translated by Su Fuzhong, Beijing: People’s Literature Press, 2004.

  36. Thoreau, H. D. (2003). Walden. (Dai Huan, Trans.). Beijing: Contemporary World Press; Trans. Zhang Zhiyao. Harbin: Harbin Press.

  37. An Abridged Version of Walden, edited and translated by Yuan Wenling, Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 2000.

  38. A Bilingual Version of Walden, edited and translated by Tian Ying and Zhu Chunfei. Xi’an: Shaanxi People’s Press, 2005.

  39. Pan, Qingling (2007). Thoreau—a pioneering advocator of harmony between man and nature. In H. D. Thoreau, Walden Lake (Walden) (p. 9) (Pan Qingling, Trans.). Shanghai: Shanghai Social Sciences Academy Press.

  40. Quoted in Zhao, Jiabi (1980). Reflections on the publication of American Literature in Series. Dushu, 10, 95.

  41. Quoted in Zhou, Jun (1991). The works of Hai Zi (p. 179). Nanjing: Nanjing Press.

  42. Wei, A. (1998). Thoreau and I. Shijie wenxue (World Literature), 5, 283.

  43. Ibid., p. 284.

  44. Wei, A. (1995). Things in the Earth (p. 4). Beijing: China Foreign Translation Publishing Company.

  45. Thoreau, H. D. (1966). Walden and civil disobedience edited by Owen Thomas, New York: W·W. Norton, p. 217.

  46. Wei, A. (1995). Things in the Earth (pp. 81–83). Cf. “Things do not change; we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. God will see that you do not want society. If I were confined to a corner of a garret all my days, like a spider, the world would be just as large to me while I had my thoughts about me. The philosopher said: "From an army of three divisions one can take away its general, and put it in disorder; from the man the most abject and vulgar one cannot take away his thought." Do not seek so anxiously to be developed, to subject yourself to many influences to be played on; it is all dissipation”, see Walden and Civil Disobedience, p. 217.

  47. Wei, A. (1995). Things in the Earth (p. 4.) Cf., “I felt proud to know that the liberties of Massachusetts and of our fatherland were in such safe keeping; and as I turned to my hoeing again I was filled with an inexpressible confidence, and pursued my labor cheerfully with a calm trust in the future”, see Walden and Civil Disobedience, p. 107.

  48. Ge, Hongbing (2003). Sandbed. Wuhan: Changjiang Literature and Art Press.

  49. Wang, Jian (2004). An introduction to the people’s education edition of Chinese language and literature 2 compulsory, Teaching High & Primary School Textbooks, 26, 7.

  50. Buell, L. (1995). Thoreau and the natural environment, In J. Myerson (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Henry David Thoreau (p. 171). New York: Cambridge University Press.

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  1. Institute of Foreign Literature, Nanjing University, 210093, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China

    Jincai Yang

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Yang, J. Chinese projections of Thoreau and his Walden’s influence in China. Neohelicon 36, 355–364 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11059-009-0006-4

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