University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2018 From Alienated To Connected: An Examination Of Religion In The Literature Of Su Xuelin, Bing Xin, And Xu Dishan Gina M. Elia University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Asian Studies Commons, English Language and Literature Commons, and the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Elia, Gina M., "From Alienated To Connected: An Examination Of Religion In The Literature Of Su Xuelin, Bing Xin, And Xu Dishan" (2018). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 2835. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2835 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2835 For more information, please contact [email protected]. From Alienated To Connected: An Examination Of Religion In The Literature Of Su Xuelin, Bing Xin, And Xu Dishan Abstract The literature of Bing Xin 冰心 (birth name Xie Wanying 谢婉莹) (1900-1999), Su Xuelin 苏雪林 (1897-1999), and Xu Dishan 许地山 (1893-1941) concerning religiosity is dismissed in previous scholarship by C.T. Hsia, Lewis Robinson, Marian Galik, Chen Weihua, and Yang Jianlong as reflecting simply the personal experiences of the authors themselves rather than as political or social commentary. I argue for a reading of these three authors’ literature that acknowledges its efforts to engage with contemporaneous debates on the relationship of religion and modernization. Using close-reading and intertextual analysis, I argue that within the narratives of these three authors’ literature, identifying as religious or participating in religious cultural phenomena is for protagonists linked to cultivating the skill of focusing on the well-being of others. This practice in turn leads to greater happiness and contentment on an individual level for the protagonists, who form deeper connections with others and overcome their sense of social alienation. I conclude that the category “religion” is used in the narratives of Bing Xin’s, Su Xuelin’s, and Xu Dishan’s literature to frame certain skills important to forming connections with other people as “other” than social, in other words as ostensibly existing outside of the social realm that is causing protagonists to feel alienated in the first place. This then allows protagonists to turn to these skills as a set of allegedly objective guidelines for overcoming their social alienation and becoming happier and more contented on an individual level. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group East Asian Languages & Civilizations First Advisor Victor Mair Keywords China, literature, modernization, religion, Republican Era, social Subject Categories Asian Studies | English Language and Literature | Religion This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2835 FROM ALIENATED TO CONNECTED: AN EXAMINATION OF RELIGION IN THE LITERATURE OF BING XIN, SU XUELIN, AND XU DISHAN Gina Elia A DISSERTATION in East Asian Languages and Civilizations Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2018 Supervisor of Dissertation Victor H. Mair, Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations Graduate Group Chairperson Christopher P. Atwood, Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations Dissertation Committee: Steven Riep, Associate Professor of Asian and Near Eastern Languages, Brigham Young University Jolyon Thomas, Assistant Professor of Religiousi Studies Carlos Yu-Kai Lin, Lecturer of Chinese Literature ii Dedicated to my mother, Nanette Elia iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge the immense support I received from numerous professional contacts, friends, and family in writing this dissertation. I am especially grateful to my advisor, Victor Mair, as well as my committee members Jolyon Thomas, Carlos Lin, and Steven Riep, for their invaluable support and feedback on the drafts I submitted to them. I am grateful to the Fulbright Foundation, the U.S. State Department, and the U.S. Department of Education for funding numerous years of my doctoral study and research, and allowing me access to archives in Taiwan and mainland China. I would like also to thank Siao-chen Hu at Academia Sinica, who graciously agreed to sponsor me for a year in Taiwan so that I could access the extensive collections at Academia Sinica with ease while conducting my research. I am also incredibly grateful to my husband, Bill Ding, as well as to my family for the emotional and mental support they provided me as I carried out this project. There are many other individuals and institutions who have supported me in direct or indirect ways as I composed this dissertation, too numerous to thank individually here. I thank each of them as well. iv ABSTRACT FROM ALIENATED TO CONNECTED: AN EXAMINATION OF RELIGION IN THE LITERATURE OF SU XUELIN, BING XIN, AND XU DISHAN Gina Elia Victor Mair The literature of Bing Xin 冰心 (birth name Xie Wanying 谢婉莹) (1900-1999), Su Xuelin 苏雪 林 (1897-1999), and Xu Dishan 许地山 (1893-1941) concerning religiosity is dismissed in previous scholarship by C.T. Hsia, Lewis Robinson, Marian Galik, Chen Weihua, and Yang Jianlong as reflecting simply the personal experiences of the authors themselves rather than as political or social commentary. I argue for a reading of these three authors’ literature that acknowledges its efforts to engage with contemporaneous debates on the relationship of religion and modernization. Using close-reading and intertextual analysis, I argue that within the narratives of these three authors’ literature, identifying as religious or participating in religious cultural phenomena is for protagonists linked to cultivating the skill of focusing on the well-being of others. This practice in turn leads to greater happiness and contentment on an individual level for the protagonists, who form deeper connections with others and overcome their sense of social alienation. I conclude that the category “religion” is used in the narratives of Bing Xin’s, Su Xuelin’s, and Xu Dishan’s literature to frame certain skills important to forming connections with other people as “other” than social, in other words as ostensibly existing outside of the social realm that is causing protagonists to feel alienated in the first place. This then allows protagonists to turn to these skills as a set of allegedly objective guidelines for overcoming their social alienation and becoming happier and more contented on an individual level. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................. III ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ V CHAPTER 1: GENERAL INTRODUCTION ............................................................... 1 Argument ....................................................................................................................................................... 1 Definition of Terms ....................................................................................................................................... 2 I. Republican Era/May Fourth Era and Modernity/Modernization ........................................................ 2 II. Bing Xin, Su Xuelin, and Xu Dishan ................................................................................................. 7 III. Religion ............................................................................................................................................ 13 Literature Review ........................................................................................................................................ 18 I. “Modernity” and “Modernization” in Republican Era literature ...................................................... 18 II. Republican Era Literary Interest in Religion .................................................................................... 20 III. Religion in the Literature of Bing Xin, Su Xuelin, and Xu Dishan .................................................. 23 Methodology ................................................................................................................................................ 26 Chapter Outline ........................................................................................................................................... 31 Significance and Implications ..................................................................................................................... 34 CHAPTER 2: THE SHADOWS OF IDIOSYNCRASY AND THE SPECTER OF THE AUTHOR IN PREVIOUS ANALYSES OF THE LITERATURE OF BING XIN, SU XUELIN, AND XU DISHAN ......................................................................... 36 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 36 The Historical and Literary Context of Bing Xin’s, Su Xuelin’s, and Xu Dishan’s Literature ............ 52 I. May Fourth Era Debates on Religion and Modernization ................................................................ 54 II. Interventions from Authors in the Debate on Modernizing