Chinese Theories of Reading and Writing: A Route to Hermeneutics and Open Poetics

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.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction: Hermeneutic Openness: A Transcultural Phenomenon The Rise of Hermeneutic Openness Origins of Openness in China Origins of Openness in the West Paradoxes in Interpretive Theories Two Hermeneutic Traditions in China Objectives and Scope of Inquiry Assumptions and Orientations Part I: Conceptual Inquiries into Reading and Openness 1. Theories of Reading and Writing in Intellectual Thought Reading in a Comparative Context Mencius' Positive Thesis of Reading Zhuangzi's Counterstatement Mencius' Hermeneutic Circle Zhuangzi's Wordless Communication Views of Reading after Mencius and Zhuangzi A Chinese Model of Reading and Writing 2. Hermeneutic Openness in Aesthetic Thought Suggestiveness as an Aesthetic Category Yiyin (Lingering Sound) and Yiwei (Lingering Taste) Bujin zhiyi (Endless Meaning): Multivalence and Polysemy Hanxu (Reserve): Unlimited Semiosis Wu (Ontological Non-Being): Self-Generative Suggestiveness Beyond Aesthetic Suggestiveness Part II: Zhouyi Hermeneutics 3. The Zhouyi and Open Representation The Zhouyi as a System of Representation The Eight Trigrams as an Open System of Representation The Mechanisms of Openness in Hexagram Images Open Representation in Hexagram and Line Statements Indeterminacy in Zhouyi's Genesis Ideas of Openness in Zhouyi Intellectual Thought A Semiotic Model of Reading and Representation The Source of the Zhouyi's Seductive Power 4. Elucidation of Images: Ancient Insights into Modern Ideas of Reading and Writing Situating The Hermeneutic Controversy Mingxiang as a Hermeneutic Issue Wang Bi as an Innovative Synthesizer The Controversy over "Forgetting Images" A Distinction between Meaning and Significance Premodern Husserlians and Heideggerians The Death of the Author and Rise of the Reader Conceptual Significance of the Paradigm shift Concluding Remarks Part III: Shijing Hermeneutics 5. The Shijing and Open Poetics Literary Openness in the Shijing The Open Textuality of "Guanju" Textual and Extratextual Indeterminacy A Notion of Open Field Paronomastic Reading and Writing 6. Shijing Hermeneutics: Blindness and Insight In Search of Original Intentions Two Paradigms: One Orientation Indeterminate Subject Position From Allegory To Open Readings A Writing Model of Intertextual Dissemination Part IV: Literary Hermeneutics 7. Open Poetics in Chinese Poetry Spatial Form and Linguistic Economy The "Eye" of Openness Symbiosis of Opposite Aesthetic Feelings Metaphysical Emptiness Serial Form and Oriented Openness 8. Linguistic Openness and the Poetic Unconscious Openness and Poetic Language Openness and Syntactic Ambiguity Dream Language and the Poetic Unconscious Juxtaposition and Multidetermination Metaphor, Metonymy and Signifying Practice The "Soul" of Openness Conclusion. Toward A Self-Conscious Open Poetics in Reading and Writing How Open Is A Literary Text? Le Mot Juste and Endless Meaning Hermeneutic Openness Is A Positive Thing Notes Works Cited Index