Conclusion: The Value of Otherness inLiterature
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 October 2022
Summary
仰皇風而悅化 Admiring imperial custom and pleased to betransformed
Yin Ju 殷巨 (fl. 270–285).THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS involved cross-disciplinarymethod and cross-cultural investigation. Thecross-disciplinary method employed philosophy,religion, linguistics, and anthropology to advancean innovative history of Chinese literature. Thecross-cultural investigation employed references toGreek, German, Persian, and Indian materials toexamine Chinese historiographic and literarydocuments on exotica.
Each of the examples studied in this book—rosemary, theagate bridle, the pomegranate, the monkey, thepeacock, and the lotus—conveys a culturally diverse,yet politically Sino-centric China. During the thirdcentury, when China was experiencing politicalturmoil and cultural crisis, the timely arrivals ofthese exotica inspired Chinese elites to think ofthemselves differently, politically and culturally.The result of their thinking inspired by thesecross-cultural encounters is profound, asdemonstrated in their writing: some new images werecreated, old images were re-created, new ideas wereadopted, and some old ideas were rejuvenated. Theaction and reaction of the thirdcentury Chineseelites towards foreign goods and ideas and towardstheir own culture and tradition have something toteach us.
Choosing Beauty, Goodness, and Truth
Ancient Chinese elites welcomed foreign objectsselectively and judiciously. Instead of acceptingthe objects and their “cultural baggage” in theirentirety, they carefully selected meanings,associations, and applications for each object. Onestory recorded by Zhang Hua 張華 (232–300), a poet,scholar, and official, in Bowuzhi 博物誌 might help us understand thisselection procedure:
During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, there wasone country located west of the Ruo River.110 Itsent an envoy, crossing the Ruo River on afeathered boat, to offer the Han one kind ofspice. The emperor regarded it as a normal one,not a rare one, so he did not treat the envoypolitely.
Afterwards the envoy lingered in China for awhile. One day the emperor visited Shanglin Park,where the envoy requested to have an audience withthe emperor and offered his spices. The emperorlooked at them. They were as big as egg, in totalthree, each the size of a date. He was notpleased, and had them stored at the externalgranary.
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- Fu Poetry along the Silk RoadsThird-Century Chinese Writings on Exotica, pp. 131 - 142Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2022