On Image

“Image” is an essential concept in Chinese literature theories of dynasties. The author’s exploration and interpretation of the image in literary texts are based on his “poetics of life.” Using the intercommunity of “image” and the theoretical system of perceptual phenomenology as an axis, he broadens the research vision of “image” and discovers the characteristics of Chinese literature. The image narration is unique to Chinese narratology. Chinese people have a unique narrative expression, which is the contribution of Chinese narrative tradition to modern narratology. Image is central to Chinese aesthetics. By creating aesthetic images, literature and art have thrived and consolidated the thinking tradition of emphasizing images and feelings. The scope of application of the conception of the image formed long ago has almost covered all fields of Chinese culture. Connecting the aesthetic category of the image with narrative thinking means a high-grade ore worth mining. Image narration is an essential characteristic concept of Chinese narratology, and the author considers it a vital part of constructing the Chinese narratological system. In addition to the way of structure-designing and the technique of making a literary work coherent mentioned in Chapter 1, image narration, Chinese people’s holistic time consciousness proposed in Chapter 2, and the narrative perspective and aesthetic law of symbiosis of the existent and nonexistent elaborated in Chapter 3 constitutes the basic theoretical framework of Chinese narrative form and imply the specific content of the cultural code of Chinese narratology. Moreover, image narration is integrated with structure, time, and vision. Image selection, refinement, and materialization are inseparable from the way of designing the structure and the technique of penetrating a structure. The superficial structure of the image is the description and transfer of objective things, while its deep structure is the tangible manifestation of the inner life. The selection of images is a process of simplification and intensification, which embodies the holistic consciousness of Chinese people. The image used by Chinese people is natural, social, ethnic, cultural, or mythological. Once selected or processed by the creative subject, every image will have rich historical and cultural connotations and boast accumulated national psychology. Only by shifting from the superficial structure of the image to the deep structure can Chinese people express their deep reflection on life, history, and nation. And this shift is always a tiny part of the holistic 40consciousness of Chinese people and the most active small part of the mind of the creative subject. Therefore, the combination of images is only a matter of narrative form. The inner driving force that determines the combination is the creative subject’s emotional power and habitual mindset in scrutinizing the value relationship. This driving force can simplify, strengthen, transform, or enhance the image. The image being simplified, maintained, altered, or improved is constantly transforming with the change of a specific narrative perspective, such as the crisscrossing of time and space, changing of size, corresponding between the void and the solid, the alternation of the singular and compound, etc., which is the actual value of image narrative. Second, the crux of the method of image narrative is the selection and combination of images. In selecting and combining images, writers should consider whether they have the narrative function, whether they can have a penetrating force in the narrative structure, whether it has an intelligent power in the meaning reference, and whether they can achieve aesthetic transcendence in narration. The competence of image narration in structure mainly reveals in integrating the whole story, foreshadowing the plot development, and preparing a satisfactory conclusion. Novel critics of the Ming and Qing dynasties, such as Jin Shengtan, Mao Zonggang, Zhang Zhupo, have mentioned the image narrative. Still, they often confuse the narrative image with the narrative clue. Only by differentiating the narrative image from the narrative clue can we understand the signification of the image. In ancient Chinese aesthetics, the characteristic of mirroring the interaction between the mind and the subject matter of image was first discovered by Liu Xie’s The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons. Many influential literary critics and theorists of dynasties elaborated on the characteristic, generally emphasizing the integration of the writer’s spiritual world with objective things. They highlighted the focus on conveying meaning and stressed the significance of transcending objective things. They believed that the profundity of the image lies in the ideas, feelings, and cultural and philosophical thinking it implies. They asserted that images with a perceptible form conveying the spiritual through concrete form had taken root in people’s minds. It can activate people’s historical and cultural consciousness because, as a living force of consciousness, it has been internalized as a part of their spiritual structure for a long time. Third, the performance of image narration ultimately depends on the expressiveness of the image. Simplification is the fundamental law that strengthens and expands the expressiveness of an image. Simplification makes the image no longer all-encompassing but a reduction of the whole and highlight of a specific part with the function of condensing the meaning and spirit of the literary work. As a means of narration, simplification is straightening the relationship between the image and literary work, making the work coherent, expressive, and smooth. Simplification has dramatically expanded the emotional connotation of the narrative world and provided readers with more aesthetic information. Image narration can also be discussed in detail from such angles as the fusion and variations of styles and the fusion and overlap of characters’ temperament and image narration. Following the artistic rule of simplification, image narration is also a window for Chinese and Western communication and comparison. Similarly, Western literary and artistic creation also follows this 41law of art. However, since people of Western countries have their “first concern” and insight shaped by their traditional norms different from those of the Chinese, Western literary and artistic works have focuses, systems of standards, meaning, and expression different from those of China.