新月派的中國想像

Abstract

The Crescent Moon Society is one of the most important group during 1920s to 1930s. It is not only famous as a literature society in the Chinese history of literature, but also well known as an intellectual society in the Chinese history of thought. The Mingpao (明報) said: "There is a triple balance of power in the realm of thought of China: (1) the Communist Party, (2) the Crescent Moon Society, (3) the Three People's Principles." What the dissertation talking about is that how one of the "Three Thought" … the Crescent Moon Society imagines China during the 1920s to 1930s, which has Anglo-American background, loosely organized, and different internal concept. What kind of perspective of the imagination do these intellectuals returned from the "modern" Western-centric choose? What's the relationship between the perspective they chose and the Chinese and western culture they experienced? What does the imagination of China of the "complicated" society construct? What are the differences and similarities of the imagination of China among the Crescent Moon Society and other groups? How does the Crescent Moon Society image the nation? How to answer all the questions above is the purpose of this dissertation. Besides, the dissertation aims to offer a new angel of view to understand the relationship between the Chinese modern literature and the construction of imagination of nations, and enrich the discussion about the Chinese modern literature and the imagination of nations.

In Chapter II, the dissertation focuses on the letters and diaries of the members of the Crescent Moon Society as well as their "pilgrimage" before they "join" the group. It discusses the perspective on which the Crescent Moon Society examines Sino-Western culture and imagines China. From Chapter III to V, the dissertation mainly discusses how the Crescent Moon Society builds their imagination of China in three different discourses: "enlightenment", "Revolution" and "Salvation". In this process, different meanings of the three discourses within different times and spaces are also a focus of discussion. In Chapter III, starting from the debate of "Enlightenment and Salvation", the dissertation explicates the relationship between "Enlightenment" and "Salvation" as well as the meaning of "Enlightenment" in different Sino-Western contexts. Then, the dissertation points out further how the Crescent Moon Society interprets the meaning of "Enlightenment" and how to imagine China under this meaning. Therefore, the dissertation introduces the word "Nature" to interpret how the Crescent Moon Society builds their imagination of Chinese national characters. In Chapter IV, the dissertation explicates the meaning of "Revolution" in a similar way, and combs it through its development process in China. Also, the dissertation examines the meaning of so-called "Counter-Revolution" and therefore points out how the Crescent Moon Society explains the meaning of "Revolution" as well as their imagination of China under this meaning. The dissertation introduces hereto the word "Freedom" to understand their imagination of Chinese politics. In Chapter V, as the word "Salvation" has been less affected by western society than "Enlightenment" and "Revolution", the dissertation emphasizes the development process of "Salvation" in China, and how Crescent Moon Society understand the meaning of "Salvation" as well as their imagination of China under this meaning. The dissertation introduces herein the word "Being in and for itself" to interpret how the Crescent Moon Society builds their imagination of Chinese culture.

Date of Award	3 Dec 2015
Original language	Chinese (Traditional)
Awarding Institution	City University of Hong Kong
Supervisor	Hsiao-ti LI (Supervisor) & Gabriel WU (Supervisor)