ABSTRACT
There is no doubt that a strong hermeneutical tradition exists in the history of Chinese arts and humanities inclusive of literature, history, and philosophy, but how to characterize this important tradition becomes itself a hermeneutical issue. Why so? This is because our understanding of what constitutes a hermeneutical understanding is hermeneutical, namely, is subject to different interpretations, ana is therefore subject to different changes in interpretations under different circumstances and from different perspectives. But we can also see that all different interpretations are founded on some underlying paradigm or model of understanding of reality and truth. Perhaps it is in the nature of interpretations and understanding that an appeal to an understanding of real ity and truth is always made. This understanding of reality and truth is thus simultaneously the source of meaning and the driving force for seeking under standing. Without such a reference, no understanding and interpretation can be made. Thus we can speak of the Chinese hermeneutical tradition as basi cally ontological. To understand and to interpret is to appeal to this underlying ontological hermeneutics or the hermeneutical understanding of reality for the actualization and validation of a specific interpretation in a specific situation as well as in light of the understanding of the specific situation. Thus we have ele ments of both change and constancy in the hermeneutical tradition, which are integrated to give rise to many philosophical and ontological hermeneutical texts.
