Transmutations of Desire: Literature and Religion in Late Imperial China

Qiancheng Li

Nov 2020 · The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press

About this ebook

In the West, love occupies center stage in the modern age, whether in art, intellectual life, or the economic life. We may observe a similar development in China, on its own impetus, which has resulted in this characteristic of modernity--this feature of modern life has been securely and unambiguously established, not the least facilitated by the thriving of literature about qing, whether in traditional or modern forms. Qiancheng Li concentrates on the nuances of a similar trend manifested in the Chinese context. The emphasis is on critical readings of the texts that have shaped this trend, including important Ming- and Qing-dynasty works of drama, Buddhist texts and other religious/philosophical works, in all their subtlety and evocative power. "The power of qing or strong emotion is a major theme in late imperial Chinese literature--some writers asserting that it can transcend even life itself. Qiancheng Li surveys a number of seventeenth-century philosophical, religious, and literary texts to elucidate the metaphysical aspects of emotional attachment and of sexual desire in particular. Through his broad and penetrating reading, Li demonstrates incontrovertibly how, to seventeenth-century writers, qing and religion were inextricably linked. To those writers, qing could bring enlightenment, and certainly Li’s study enlightens its readers to new levels of complexity in major literary works of that period. Transmutations of Desire sets a major new milestone in the study of traditional Chinese culture."--Robert E. Hegel, Washington University in St. Louis

About the author

Qiancheng Li is Associate Professor of Chinese and Comparative Literature at Louisiana State University. He is the author of Fictions of Enlightenment: "Journey to the West", "Tower of Myriad Mirrors", and "Dream of the Red Chamber"; the editor and annotator of the variorum, critical edition of Xiyou bu; and the co-translator, with Robert E. Hegel, of it, titled Further Adventures on the Journey to the West (2020).