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This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. In their Own Words: British Sinologists’ Studies on Chinese Literature, 1807–1901 Lingjie Ji Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Asian Studies (Chinese) School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures The University of Edinburgh 2017 Declaration I hereby affirm that all work in this thesis is my own work and has been composed by me solely. No part of this thesis has been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. Signed: Name: Lingjie Ji Date: 23/11/2017 Abstract of Thesis See the Postgraduate Assessment Regulations for Research Degrees: www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/academic-services/policies- regulations/regulations/assessment Name of student: Lingjie Ji UUN S1356381 University email: [email protected] Degree sought: Doctorate No. of words in the 95083 main text of thesis: Title of thesis: In Their Own Words: British Sinologists’ Studies on Chinese Literature, 1807–1901 Insert the abstract text here - the space will expand as you type. Adopting a narrow sense of “literature” as the umbrella term for poetry, drama, and fiction, this research examines the British sinologists’ studies on Chinese literature from 1807 to 1901, and addresses the specific question of how both the knowledge about, as well as the collective discourse on, Chinese poetry, drama, and fiction were gradually constructed, narrated, accumulated, and standardized in the English-speaking world in the nineteenth century. This study brings together, for the first time, a wide range of little studied sinologists’ writings on Chinese literature, including monographs, journal articles, prefaces and introductions to translations, and chapters on Chinese literature in books surveying different aspects of China. Based on extensive archival investigations, this thesis reconstructs a panoramic view of how these diverse sinological texts acted collectively to create a body of knowledge about Chinese literature. Considering sinological literary studies within the historical and literary contexts which are sketched out in Chapter 2, the remaining three chapters of this thesis examine the three narrative forms I have identified in the sinologists’ writings on Chinese literature: the expository, or, direct description and explanation of the characteristics of Chinese literature, the comparative studies between Chinese and English or European literatures, and the historical accounts of Chinese literature. With systematic discourse analysis of these writings, this research aims to unfold the vocabulary and rhetoric, the frameworks and perspectives, and the narrative strategies employed by the sinologists in the discursive Document control If you require this document in an alternative format please Date last reviewed: email [email protected] or telephone 0131 651 15.05.15 4990. K:\AAPS\D-AcademicAdministration\02-CodesOfPractice,Guidelines&Regulations\24-MainReferencesCopiesPolicies\01- Current\Assessment BOE SCC & Feedback\Forms\ThesisAbstract Abstract of Thesis formation of the knowledge about Chinese literature. I argue that such knowledge and discourse produced in the sinologists’ studies must be understood as the result of the complex dynamics among multiple literary and cultural factors including the English and Chinese literary concepts and criticism, the ambivalent cultural attitudes towards China, the implied influence of British imperial power in China, and the varied purposes and criteria of individual sinologists. A study on the nineteenth-century British sinologists’ studies on Chinese literature enables us to trace and explain the historical origins of studies on Chinese literature in the English scholarship. Document control If you require this document in an alternative format please Date last reviewed: email [email protected] or telephone 0131 651 15.05.15 4990. K:\AAPS\D-AcademicAdministration\02-CodesOfPractice,Guidelines&Regulations\24-MainReferencesCopiesPolicies\01- Current\Assessment BOE SCC & Feedback\Forms\ThesisAbstract Lay Summary of Thesis The lay summary is a brief summary intended to facilitate knowledge transfer and enhance accessibility, therefore the language used should be non-technical and suitable for a general audience. (See the Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study, General Postgraduate Degree Programme Regulations. These regulations are available via: www.drps.ed.ac.uk.) Name of student: Lingjie Ji UUN S1356381 University email: [email protected] Degree sought: Doctorate No. of words in the 95083 main text of thesis: Title of thesis: In Their Own Words: British Sinologists’ Studies on Chinese Literature, 1807–1901 Insert the lay summary text here - the space will expand as you type. Adopting a narrow sense of “literature” as the umbrella term for poetry, drama, and fiction, this research examines the British sinologists’ studies on Chinese literature from 1807 to 1901, and addresses the specific question of how both the knowledge about, as well as the collective discourse on, Chinese poetry, drama, and fiction were gradually constructed, narrated, accumulated, and standardized in the English-speaking world in the nineteenth century. This study brings together, for the first time, a wide range of little studied sinologists’ writings on Chinese literature, including monographs, journal articles, prefaces and introductions to translations, and chapters on Chinese literature in books surveying different aspects of China. Based on extensive archival investigations, this thesis reconstructs a panoramic view of how these diverse sinological texts acted collectively to create a body of knowledge about Chinese literature. Document control K:\AAPS\D-AcademicAdministration\02-CodesOfPractice,Guidelines&Regulations\24-MainReferencesCopiesPolicies\01- Current\Assessment BOE SCC & Feedback\Forms\ThesisLaySummary If you require this document in an alternative format please Date last reviewed: email [email protected] or telephone 0131 651 31.05.16 4990. Table of Contents Acknowledgements............................................................................................................ iii Chapter 1 ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Discourse on Chinese Literature .............................................................................. 2 1.2 Literature Review: Understanding Literature, Understanding China ...................... 8 1.3 Methodological Considerations ............................................................................. 14 1.4 Chapter Outline ...................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 2 ......................................................................................................................... 26 2.1 In Search of Authority ........................................................................................... 27 2.2 Informal Empire and the “Professionalisation” of British Sinology ..................... 38 2.3 The Idea of “Literature” ......................................................................................... 46 2.4 Values of Chinese Literature and Aims of Literary Studies .................................. 51 2.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 61 Chapter 3 ......................................................................................................................... 63 3.1 Writings on Chinese Poetry ................................................................................... 64 3.2 On Chinese Versification ....................................................................................... 67 3.3 Classification of Chinese Poetry ............................................................................ 75 3.4 Writings on Chinese Drama ................................................................................... 79 3.5 Play Script and Theatrical Performance ................................................................ 85 3.6 Classification of Chinese Drama ........................................................................... 92 3.7 Writings on the Chinese Novel .............................................................................. 96 3.8 Style, Characterisation, and Narrative Techniques ................................................ 99 3.9 Classification of the Chinese Novel..................................................................... 106 3.10 Conclusion ........................................................................................................