Chinese Literature: A Very Short Introduction by Sabina Knight (review)

How do you write a history of three thousand years of Chinese literature in a concise and insightful way accessible to people from all walks of life? The answer to this near impossible challenge is Sabina Knight's beautifully written little book in which she describes, in 120 pocket-size pages, the development of Chinese writing from Shang dynasty (1600–1046 b.c.) oracle bones to the present time. Embracing the traditional Chinese view of "culture as a continuous river" that encompasses "literature, history and thought as parts of one whole" (p. xvi), Knight offers us a guidebook through the vast terrain of Chinese literature that illuminates fundamental aspects of Chinese civilization without overwhelming the reader. Throughout the book, Knight interweaves thoughtful analysis with underlying questions and engaging metaphors: What does it mean to be human? How might benevolent people convey the Way, express feelings, tell stories, entertain and influence one another, and develop a humane society? How does the "vast river of human passions" that is literature connect to the historical and natural processes of life (p. xvii)? As Knight shows, these concerns lie at the heart of the Chinese tradition and link ethical, esthetic, social, and environmental concerns to each other.

From the first chapter, entitled "Foundations: ethics, parables, and fish," Knight reveals the power of literature to "open people's eyes, minds and hearts" (p. xvi). By allowing the legendary sage Zhuangzi 莊子 (ca. 369–286 b.c.) to speak directly through his text–a famous parable about the happiness of fish–the author foregrounds "another path to wisdom" that requires a constant desire to broaden one's perspective, shared by all major schools of Chinese thought (p. 2). Zhuangzi's intuitive understanding that "since he and the fish are part of the same universe, he can be attuned to the fish" (p. 2) sets the tone for the entire book, which seeks to speak directly to the reader so that we may understand essential ideas of Chinese thought in a concrete and tangible way. In this particular case, the author illustrates Zhuangzi's reflections on impermanence and constancy by quoting a verse from Su Shi 蘇軾 (1037–1101), one of China's most beloved poets. The poet, who lived more than one thousand years after Zhuangzi, expresses the essence of Zhuangzi's insight metaphorically and in this way reveals key elements of ancient Daoist thought as guiding themes of the Chinese literary imagination.

Throughout the book, the author highlights the crucial role of the literary tradition in China's survival over three thousand years. Reflecting on China in comparison to other great civilizations, such as the Roman Empire, Knight asserts that it is in part due to faith in the power of writing (wen 文) and the unifying function of written Chinese that the Middle Kingdom (Zhongguo 中國) persevered. Serving as a "bridge across time," writing became the root of civil practice, as opposed to the military realm (wu 武) and empowered thinkers and writers to "bequeath patterns to the future" as well as "contemplate examples of the ancestors" (p. 4). In this way, writing became the most important means of passing on the moral way (dao 道). This, in turn, allowed access to the inherent order of the universe and led to the evolution of "the study of writing" (wenxue 文學) so essential to Confucian scholars' cultivation of human-heartedness (ren 仁) (p. 5). By pointing to the significance of writing in the study of pattern within the Chinese worldview, Knight identifies literary texts as the crucial link between human understanding of the cosmos and cultivation of the self. As Knight also explains, the way of nature and of moral conduct is intertwined with an emphasis on recognizing patterns of the past, which leads to a strong historical consciousness in the Chinese tradition.

In five well-conceived chapters, the author traces the historical periods of China and the literary, intellectual, and religious developments that took place in each. Beginning with...