Natural Writing Transcending Reality: A Cross-Cultural Comparative Study of The Eight Notes of Yongzhou and The Dharma Bums
Abstract
From the perspective of cross-cultural hermeneutics, natural images and their spiritual connotations in different cultural contexts exhibit profound connections and variations. The Eight Notes of Yongzhou by Liu Zongyuan of the Tang Dynasty and The Dharma Bums by American writer Jack Kerouac, though rooted in distinctly different cultural contexts, both take nature as a medium to achieve spiritual transcendence of social reality. The landscapes in Liu Zongyuan’s writing embody the frustrations and idealistic aspirations of literati, while Kerouac, influenced by the American reception of Han Shan’s poems, regards the wilderness as a spiritual sanctuary to escape modern civilization. Despite differences in cultural backgrounds and expressive styles, both writers convey implicit criticisms of mainstream culture through natural writing and seek personal spiritual liberation in nature. This study highlights the creative transformation of literature in the process of cross-cultural communication, reflecting the universal value of natural writing as a transcendent form of expression.
References
- Chen, J. N. (2009). Salvation and Construction: On the Realm Construction in Liu Zongyuan’s The Eight Notes of Yongzhou. Journal of Lanzhou University (Social Sciences Edition), (06), 94-98.
- Li, Q. B. (2024). The Spatiality of Cross-Cultural Hermeneutics and the "Internal Comparison Method" [J]. Comparative Literature in China, 2(4), 2-18.
- Ye, C., & Yang, H. Q. (2017). The Path of Cross-Cultural Interpretation in Comparative Poetics. Contemporary Literary Criticism, 2(5), 20-25.
- Chen, D., & Tan, Q. L. (2014). The Dharma Bums: A Novel by Jack Kerouac Dedicated to the American Han Shan. Journal of Hunan University (Social Sciences Edition), (6), 107-111.
- He, K. X. (2025). A Brief Analysis of the Deconstruction of Han Shan’s Poems by the Beat Generation—Taking Gary Snyder’s English Translation and The Dharma Bumsas Examples. Masterpieces Review, (2), 79-83.
- Xu, L. (2021). A Natural Revolution: An Ecocritical Reading ofThe Dharma Bums. Journal of Ancient and Modern Chinese Creation, (10), 13-14.
- Shao, N. N. (2003). The Historical Turning Point of Landscape Aesthetics—Centered onThe Eight Notes of Yongzhou. Literary Review, (6), 22-27.
- Chen, J. (2010). Kerouac’s Reception of Buddhist Thought as Reflected inThe Dharma Bums. Foreign Literature Studies, (3), 107-113.
- Robertson, D. (1992). Real matter, spiritual mountain: Gary Snyder and Jack Kerouac on Mt. Tamalpais. Western American Literature, 27(3), 209-226.
- Morrison, S. S. (2020). An exterior air of pilgrimage: The resilience of pilgrimage ecopoetics and slow travel from Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales to Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. Humanities, 9(4), 117.
- Kerouac, J. (2007). The Dharma Bums.. (Chen, Trans.). China CITIC Press.