On the Thinking of China's Poetry

On China's Poems is an excerpt from an English speech given by Qian Zhongshu, a famous contemporary scholar, poet, novelist and translator, to an American friend in Shanghai on February 6th, 1945. Mainly talk about three issues. First, "talking about China's poems" must take the position of comparative literature, that is, we can get "China's poems" by comparing Chinese and foreign poems. Second, the basic characteristics of China's poems are: China's poems are premature, China's poems are short and pithy, China's poems are suggestive, and China's poems are light and soft; Thirdly, China's poems are "poetry-oriented", and "China" is nothing special. Chinese and foreign poems are compatible. Studying China's poems can help us have a better understanding of our own poems. In a word, from the standpoint of "comparative literature", this paper not only introduces the similarities and differences between China's poems and foreign poems, but also expounds the similarities and differences between Chinese and foreign poems, so as to enhance the audience's understanding of the characteristics of China's poems and promote mutual respect and tolerance.

In the 1940s, China was still in a state of "self-esteem" with blind culture, which showed that many people regarded China culture as their "standard" culture and rejected all foreign cultures. Many foreigners also hold the so-called "dominant culture" mentality, regard western culture as "standard culture" and despise China culture. The author has a clear understanding of these two viewpoints that separate Chinese and western cultures. Therefore, in his academic research, he devoted himself to determining the proper position of China's literature and art in the world literature and art hall, thus promoting China's literature and art to the world. He not only profoundly expounded the profound connotation and unique value of China's cultural spirit, but also pointed out its historical and regional limitations. He not only criticized China people's self-esteem for local culture because of some fantasies, but also mercilessly swept away the ignorant prejudice of westerners centered on European and American cultures, which played a very good role in promoting cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, enabling China people to understand western academics and westerners to understand China culture. This paper is a masterpiece of the author to promote the cultural exchange between China and the West from the perspective of poetic research.