Zhang Dongsun’s Chuanghualun [Creative Evolution]
Hsiao-yen Peng
Hong Kong University Press eBooks June 6, 2023 DOI: 10.5790/hongkong/9789888805693.003.0004 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Zhang Dongsun's 1918 translation of Bergson's L'Évolution créatrice recast "consciousness" as the Chinese "Heart-Mind" (xin), treating Bergson's thought as compatible with the Book of Changes, and that this transcultural lexicon shaped Chinese Lifeview discourses and everyday vocabulary. Contends Zhang's impact, including on the Creation Society, the young Mao Zedong, Xu Fuguan, Mou Zongsan, and Julia Kristeva, has not been adequately assessed. |
Abstract
Chuanghualun 創化論, Zhang Dongsun’s 1918 translation of Bergson’s L’Évolution créatrice , taking its cue from traditional Heart-Mind philosophy turns “consciousness” in French to “Heart-Mind” ( xin 心) in Chinese. A close ally of Liang Qichao, he believes what Bergson opposes is not science, but the “outdated” science that maintained the body-mind dichotomy, while Bergson’s theory of change and ceaseless evolution is commensurable with the teachings in the Book of Changes . The transcultural lexicon used in his Chinese rendering reverberated in the Lifeview discourses and many terms have since become everyday Chinese vocabulary. The impact of Zhang Dongsun and Chuanghualun has not yet been adequately assessed, including the establishment of the Creation Society in Japan, the young Mao Zedong as a proponent of the Heart-Mind concept, and Xu Fuguan and Mou Zongsan, postwar leaders of New Confucianism in Taiwan and Hong Kong, not to mention Julia Kristeva, the famous French literary theorist.