Chinese Metaphysical Theories on Literature Before the Tang Dynasty (618–907)

Abstract

Chinese metaphysical theories on poetry have been inspired by the transcendental mysticism of Lao Zi’s and Zhuang Zi’s Daoist metaphysics; they are characterized by its conception of transcending the duality between the subjective consciousness and the objective reality. They consider the poetry as a part of Daoist understanding of Dao, as a revelation of the universal law which connects and integrates all things into the indivisible unity of all existence. – Lu Ji, one of the pioneers of the Chinese literary theory who grounded his theory of creative writing in Daoist metaphysics, developed in his Poetic Essay on Literature a model of spiritual joumey to describe and show the spirits operations during the planning of a literary composition. – One of the most important theorists in Chinese literary history is Liu Xie. His work Literary Mind: Carving of Dragons is the first extensive and systematic treatise on literature in Chinese language. He sees the origin of literature in Dao, in cosmos. Like Zhuang Zi he emphasizes mind fasting which can lead to the state of emptiness and tranquillity so that the writer’s creative as well as imaginative powers can achieve freedom and fulfilment.