Chinese Philosophy's Influence on Thoreau's Thought
Location
Beaman A&B
Presentation Type
Presentation
Start Date
26-9-2012 2:00 PM
Description
Lin Yutang says that Henry David Thoreau was the “most Chinese of all American authors” and that he could translate passages of Thoreau into Chinese and pass them off as original writing by a Chinese author without raising any suspicion. Since the mid-1960s many interpreters of Transcendentalism, and of Thoreau’s work specifically, have called attention to the influence of Confucian thought on Thoreau’s Walden, or Life in the Woods (1854). Much less attention has been paid to possible Daoist influences on Thoreau. While Linda Brown Holt has seen Daoist influence in Thoreau’s embracing of simplicity, reveling in the divinity of nature, affection for paradox, and free wandering, no one has argued that Daoism influenced Thoreau’s discontent with civil society and its pressures toward conformity as evidenced in both Walden and in the earlier essay “Resistance to Civil Government.” Dr. Li’s presentation will consider whether Thoreau’s sentiments such as “That government is best which governs not at all,” are influenced by his extensive reading of Chinese writings through which he was familiar in French translation.
Recommended Citation
Li, Qingjun, "Chinese Philosophy's Influence on Thoreau's Thought" (2012). Humanities Symposium. 19.
https://repository.belmont.edu/humanities_symposium/2012/2012/19
Chinese Philosophy's Influence on Thoreau's Thought
Beaman A&B
Lin Yutang says that Henry David Thoreau was the “most Chinese of all American authors” and that he could translate passages of Thoreau into Chinese and pass them off as original writing by a Chinese author without raising any suspicion. Since the mid-1960s many interpreters of Transcendentalism, and of Thoreau’s work specifically, have called attention to the influence of Confucian thought on Thoreau’s Walden, or Life in the Woods (1854). Much less attention has been paid to possible Daoist influences on Thoreau. While Linda Brown Holt has seen Daoist influence in Thoreau’s embracing of simplicity, reveling in the divinity of nature, affection for paradox, and free wandering, no one has argued that Daoism influenced Thoreau’s discontent with civil society and its pressures toward conformity as evidenced in both Walden and in the earlier essay “Resistance to Civil Government.” Dr. Li’s presentation will consider whether Thoreau’s sentiments such as “That government is best which governs not at all,” are influenced by his extensive reading of Chinese writings through which he was familiar in French translation.
Comments
Convo: AL