dc.description.abstract | This thesis takes Zou Tao as the research subject, investigates his friendship with scholars in Shanghai in the late Qing Dynasty and the process of him acquiring Western knowledge. The researcher attempts to analyze how Zou Tao went from a lower ranked scholar (Luo Di Xiu Cai, a scholar who failed the imperial examination at the county level) to become one of the member in the new scholar community by entering the promising and prosperous Shanghai, as to outline his complete life map.
This paper is divided into four major aspects: first of all, the researcher tries to explore the history of Zou Tao’s literary background, including the turning point for him to leave Wuxi, his hometown, for Shanghai, and the experiences of his integration and social-development into the scholar community in Shanghai. In addition, the researcher gives a thorough compilation and analysis of a large quantity of his works. Second, the researcher discusses Zou Tao’s guide books series on tourist attractions and prostitutes, such as “You Hu Bi Ji”, “Chun Jiang Hua Shi”, and “Chun Jiang Deng Shi lu”. The researcher tries to analyze the similarities and differences between the content and arrangement of his works with others mentioned by the predecessors, in order to depict the lineage of the development of guide books series on tourist attractions and prostitutes in the late Qing Dynasty. Third, the researcher focus on discussing the formation and inheritance of Zou Tao’s take on western literatures, and tries to analyzes his books in the series of world history and geography in depth, as to outstand the irreplaceable position of his work in many western geography books in the late Qing Dynasty. Fourth, in order to fully present Zou Tao’s outstanding talents, the researcher analyzes and reviews his literary achievements, focusing on the novel “Jiao Chou Ji”, the long chapters of the novel “Hai Shang Chen Tian Ying”, and other works like ” Xiao Xiang Guan Bi Ji” and “Zhu Yin Suo Yan”, which were seldom discussed by others.
Finally, in chapter six, the researcher states the lesser-known achievements of Zou Tao’s literary education and cultural enlightenment, which indicates the painstaking efforts of Zou Tao in preserving traditional culture and engage in education. This paper intends to thoroughly analyze Zou Tao’s works based on the above mentioned issues to expound the four key aspects of Zou Tao’s work, which including city, western studies, literature, and education. The researcher tries to summarize the contribution and value of Zou Tao’s books, in order to re-present the fruitful thoughts of scholars in the modern transition period, and the multicultural picture in social transition period between the late Qin and early Republic. | en_US |