Abstract In this article, we interpret the transformation processes of the Western literary reception of Chinese canonical classics revisited in Western visual texts. I question how converting traditional vernacular writing into global visual forms alters narrative logic, ethical orientation, and cultural value for Western consumption, bypassing medium-based technicalities. I examine the visual recoding of the Chinese canon to explain drastic ideological shifts in reading practices, framing the inquiry within a critique of Western-centred interpretive modes. My analysis focuses on how these masterpieces are stripped of their original cosmological, Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian scaffolding in Ming and Qing novels, reinforcing Western-centric power structures. Through a literary-critical examination of case studies, this paper demonstrates the tense negotiation between preserving literary heritage and satisfying commodity fetishism in the visualisation of Chinese classics.
Abstract Since Water Margin was introduced to Japan during the Edo period (1603–1867) by its first Japanese translator, Okajima Kanzan, it has established a profound connection with the era's popular literature. The integration of this classic with Japanese culture was multifaceted. To expand its audience and accommodate illiterate commoners, illustrated editions of Water Margin emerged. These editions evolved, from initial rough translations with simplistic drawings during early Edo, to the widespread, popular picture books of the mid-Edo period, and finally to the distinctive, Japanised versions of the late Edo period. Examining the progression of Water Margin picture books reveals the dynamics of its transmission, reception and transformation in Japan, highlighting deep cultural implications. The impact on Edo literature was significant, particularly in novel writing, spurring a wave of creative adaptations. This trend also facilitated the spread of Chinese vernacular literature in Japan.
Abstract This article constructs an interdisciplinary paradigm integrating Yi aesthetics, Western academic interpretations of Chinese aesthetics, and Chinese American diaspora narratives. It aims to fill gaps in Western scholarship regarding the mysticism of the I Ching , tracing the cross-cultural transformation of Zhou Yi hexagram symbols into poetic forms and exploring the underlying cultural-political logic. Taking The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston as the primary object of analysis, the study examines how the writer constructs poetic anti-colonialism and shapes ethnic identity discourse through the creative reinterpretation of Yi aesthetics’ three core dimensions: image-thinking, philosophy of change, and holistic thinking. This aesthetic practice fundamentally deconstructs Western Orientalist stereotypes, offers a localized theoretical model for Chinese literary studies, and opens new avenues for contemporary comparative literature and ethnic identity research.
Abstract The aim of this research is to explore how Western versions of The Orphan of Zhao and Farewell My Concubine transform Chinese storytelling. It argues that Western interpretations are shaped by translation, distribution, and selective exoticisation. Drawing on Orientalism and translation studies, the article shows how The Orphan of Zhao becomes a Western-style tragedy centred on the autonomous individual and resistance to tyranny, departing from Confucian relational values. Similarly, Farewell My Concubine is often read in the West as a queer melodrama and testimony of authoritarian violence, overlooking traditional theatrical and historical contexts. Through textual analysis and cross-cultural critique, the study shows that Western theories – including humanist tragedy, psychoanalysis, queer theory, and liberal critiques of state power – both illuminate and limit understanding. It concludes that Sino-Western literary relations should be treated as a bidirectional dialogue, in which Chinese narratives challenge and enrich Western paradigms rather than serving as mere material.
Abstract When Lao She's Teahouse moves from the Chinese stage to Broadway, something vital gets lost in translation. This article explores that shift, applying Adorno and Horkheimer's theories to show how the Western culture industry neutralises dissent; that is, to account for the bourgeois appropriation of the work. It is worth noting that the original drama's focus on twentieth-century class conflict is essentially flattened by the musical format, replaced by the kind of individual sentiment that sells tickets. So, by analysing this transition, I show how the political grit of the work is stripped away and repackaged as an exotic luxury. It is a classic case of how global markets can take non-Western radical literature and turn it into a harmless, consumable product.
