Introduction: Ecocriticism and Ecocivilization in the Confucian Cultural Environment

In this introductory essay on the special issue "Ecocriticism in East Asia," the author first offers a critical introduction and commentary on various essays included in this issue. And then, the author wants to argue that the issue of ecological and environmental problems is very relevant to our life in the present era, especially in China as well as in other East Asian countries or regions where economy has been developing by leaps and bounds during the past decades. On the other hand, environmental problems have also occurred in different countries or regions in East Asia. As literary scholars, what we should do is to find some ecological wisdom from ancient Asian philosophy, especially the Confucian and Daoist doctrines which are full of ecological resources. The articles in this issue do not merely offer their authors' critiques of the destruction of nature and environment in this area, but rather, they also try to provide some possible solutions although their proposals would not necessarily be adopted by the decision maker.