Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.10, 2018

A Study of the Classification of Chinese Literature in Early Western Catalogues

(Abstract)

Song Lihua

The compilation of catalogues of Chinese works in the West was almost synchronous with the arrival in the West of Chinese literature, furnishing an important means by which early Western scholars could construct a knowledge genealogy for this literature. These descriptive catalogues incorporated Chinese literature into the Western disciplinary system, affirming the literary significance of Chinese fiction, drama, folk songs and other genres as branches of literature and elevating their scholarly standing. The differing Chinese and Western literary traditions met in the catalogue of Chinese works, resulting in stylistic dislocation. The styles and terms of both traditions were mixed up and used together. In the course of their encounter with Western genres, stylistic concepts that were originally Chinese had their connotations narrowed or expanded and at the same time were injected with Western content. The innovations resulting from these changes evolved into modern stylistic concepts, reflecting the dialogue and transformation of Chinese and Western forms. Studying the historical generation and stylistic reconstruction of the Western cataloguing of Chinese works and its classification of modern Chinese literature can help clarify the complex scholarly logic of the early modern historical evolution of Chinese literature and reveals profound changes in modern Chinese literary concepts, the definition of literary forms and the knowledge system.