JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY (HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES)

浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版)


	Home \| About Journal \| \| Instruction \| \| Subscriptions \| Contacts Us \| Back Issues of Onlinefirst \| \| Chinese

Office

Quick Search

Adv Search

　· Online Submission

　· Manuscript Tracking

　· Peer Review

　· Editor Work

　· Office Work

　· Editor-in-chief

Journal

　· Forthcoming Articles

　· Current Issue

　· Next Issue

　· Archive

　· Advanced Search

　· Archive By Volume

　· Archive By Subject

　· Read Articles

　· Download Articles

　· Email Alert

Download

　· Instruction

　· Template

　· Copyright Agreement

More>>

	JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY 2026 Vol.56 Number 2
	2026, Vol.56 Num.2
	Online: 2026-04-10

	Article

Article

	5	Cheng Le, Gong Xuan

		A Logical Inquiry into Artificial Intelligence Governance on the Path of Humanism ^Hot!
		In the era of large language models (LLMs), the relentless advancement of intelligence and generalization capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) models is catalyzing the emergence of a brand-new type of intelligent entity, thereby establishing a species-level antagonism with human collectives. In this context, the philosophical theory of humanism has been endowed with richer theoretical connotations, reflecting the dynamics of the intrinsic needs and value aspirations of the human society. AI models are characterized by emergent properties, enabling the transference of model performance across diverse societal domains and stimulating extensive digital transformation. Concurrently, the proactive deployment of AI generates a spectrum of ancillary challenges, leading to a disjunction between existing social expectations and governance anticipations.This paper endeavors to interrogate the logical dilemmas inherent in the governance of AI from the viewpoint of social values, exploring the capacity of humanism to elucidate the tensions arising from disparate societal values within the framework of technological governance. Overall, the governance of AI not only grapples with an imbalance between technological advancement and technological security but also confronts the contradictions between the demand for proactive governance and the unpredictability of AI technology. Consequently, there is an imperative to conduct reliable predictions of technological trajectories to facilitate a harmonious synthesis of technological development and security. Moreover, the establishment of a composite governance framework for AI rooted in humanistic principles is also essential. Specifically, the value-related dilemmas and governance challenges posed by AI can be systematically categorized into four dimensions: geographical, technical, ethical, and legal. By engaging humanistic theory to dissect the value conflicts pertinent to these dimensions, the conceptual foundations and implications in contemporary humanistic discourse can be further enriched and lead to the theories of “digital humanism”.To be specific, firstly, at the geographical level, the intensifying competition in AI technology among regions has unveiled intrinsic incompatibilities in the governance strategies employed by various stakeholders, thereby creating a discordant relationship with the imperatives for collaborative and integrated AI governance framework. In this light, it is important to advocate for the principle of inclusive and reciprocity to foster cross-regional cooperation in AI research and application, which is able to further facilitate the establishment of a cohesive international governance framework. Secondly, at the technical level, the pronounced incomprehensibility and uncontrollability associated with AI present fundamental challenges to effective AI governance. It is imperative to uphold the humanistic tenet of “technology for good”, thereby enhancing the explainability and controllability of AI models through the deployment of sound governance mechanisms and technological interventions. Thirdly, at the ethical level, the risks posed by multifaceted biases in AI may lead to significant algorithmic discrimination, undermining foundational values such as social equity and justice. Moreover, the advancements in AI models’ sophistication and realism could engender novel human-machine relationships that disrupt existing ethical paradigms. Consequently, the governance of AI ethics should emphasize a human-centered framework to ensure that AI prioritizes human welfare. Finally, at the legal dimension, the continuous evolution of social values in the digital age engenders tensions with the requisite stability of the legal systems. The potential catastrophic risks associated with AI may also transcend the governance capacities of the existing legal frameworks. To mitigate these challenges, it is vital to enhance the adaptability of the legal system through “democratic dynamism” and to expand the applicability and regulatory potency of the legal framework to achieve effective AI governance.
		2026 Vol. 56 (2): 5-22 [Abstract] ( 4 ) [HTML 1KB] [PDF 884KB] ( 7 )

	23	Xiong Bingwan

		Contracts of Topping-up and Rewarding for Live-streaming by Minors ^Hot!
		Minors tipping during live streaming has brought about hard legal issues regarding the validity of such act and the legal consequences therefor. It is necessary to make a divide between the stage of recharging and that of tipping so as to better address such issues. The two stages are distinct in nature and contain two independent civil juristic acts. In the absence of statutory grounds for regulating standard clauses, the People’s Courts shall honor the distinction between the “recharge service contract” and the “tipping contract” as arranged by the parties. The tipping contract is, by nature, akin to a service contract of online performances, with a clear attribute of remunerative service. The object and consideration of such service are determined through continuous interaction between the streamer and the user. And both the rights to set prices and make payments fall into the hands of the service recipient. Where there is evidence that a minor used the user account or payment account of the parents’ to conduct tipping, the minor itself should be recognized as the contracting party of such tipping contract. The recharging act and tipping act fall respectively into the two-dimensional contractual relationships between “user and platform” and “user and streamer”. Judging the validity of the two acts separately serves better to address the claims for restitution and compensation arising from the validity defects of the recharging contract and tipping contract. A minor’s recharging act can be rendered ineffective due to the excess of recharging amount, in which case the live streaming platform is liable to refund the minor the virtual assets unconsumed yet. The validity of tipping act in the business model of “savings-tipping” has a weaker connection to that of recharging act, whereas a stronger connection thereto in the model of “instant payment-tipping”. The People’s Courts shall consider whether the parties have agreed upon such connection when judging the validity of recharging and tipping acts and the legal consequences therefor. In the absence of agreement on such connection in “instant payment-tipping”, the platform’s acceptance of recharging can be regarded as assisting the streamer in receiving tips. Thus, the user can request not only the streamer to return the tipped items but also the platform, which assisted in receiving the tips, to refund. Nonetheless, be it in “savings-tipping” or in “instant payment-tipping” where the parties have agreed on a distinction between recharging and tipping, the People’s Courts shall determine the validity of tipping acts and the legal consequences therefor and those of recharging acts in a separate manner. When the tipping contract is rendered ineffective or void due to the excess of the amount of tipped items, the streamer is liable to return the tipped items to the minor’s virtual asset pool. However, the streamer can seek compensation for its loss of performance service from the at-fault parties, with comparative negligence applied if the streamer is also at fault. When the tipping contract is void due to violation of public order or good morals, the user can merely request the streamer to return the tipped items to the user’s virtual asset pool, but not to make a refund. The platform or streamer can seek compensation for losses from the at-fault guardian of the minor, prioritizing payment from the minor’s assets, and claim offsets for the corresponding part. The adjudication of hard legal issues arising from the platform economy shall neither rigidly adhere to traditions and rush to simple conclusions, nor overstate the changes and establish new rules rashly. Instead, we should patiently test and fully utilize the normative functions of existing legal rules, implanting the medium of platform when necessary, to better seek consensus in rules and theories.
		2026 Vol. 56 (2): 23-38 [Abstract] ( 4 ) [HTML 1KB] [PDF 782KB] ( 6 )

	39	Wang Jue, Li Wen

		Will the Carbon Emissions Trading Policies Advance New Productive Forces? — A Study Based on a Quasi-natural Experiment ^Hot!
		In the context of the global response to climate change and China’s promotion of high-quality economic development, how to cultivate the New Productive Forces has become a key issue. Carbon emission trading policy is the main market incentive environmental regulation. Its impact on the development of the New Productive Forces has attracted much attention. This paper takes the panel data of prefecture-level cities in China from 2010 to 2019 as the starting point, takes the carbon emission trading policy as the natural experiment, and uses the multi-time-point difference-difference model to deeply explore the impact, heterogeneity and internal mechanism of the policy on the New Productive Forces.It is found that the implementation of carbon emission trading policy has a significant effect on the improvement of the development level of urban New Productive Forces, and carbon emission trading policy will promote the development of urban New Productive Forces through the upgrading of industrial structure and financial deepening effects, among which financial development scale and financial innovation ability have more significant promoting effects than financial development efficiency. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the policy has a stronger promoting effect on the development of the New Productive Forces in the eastern cities, central cities with high administrative levels and non-resource-based cities. In terms of quota allocation mode, free allocation mode and free allocation plus auction mode have a significant positive effect on the New Productive Forces of the city, while the allocation mode including free allocation, auction and price sale has no significant impact. Moreover, the higher the carbon price, the stronger the policy’s promotion of the New Productive Forces. Mechanism test shows that carbon emission trading policy mainly promotes the development of the New Productive Forces through industrial structure upgrading and financial deepening effects. In terms of industrial structure, policy implementation has improved the quality of inter-industry convergence and coordination and the ability to effectively use resources, and promoted the transfer of labor- and resource-intensive industries to technology- and digital-intensive industries. In terms of financial deepening, policies promote the increase in the scale of urban financial development and the improvement of financial innovation capacity, provide capital support for low-carbon industries, and reduce the financing friction of new forms of business. However, due to institutional constraints such as the supervision of the loan-to-deposit ratio, financial development efficiency plays a small role in promoting the development of the New Productive Forces. Compared with existing researches, this paper has the following three aspects of innovation. First, it expands the research scope of carbon emission trading policy, focuses on its impact on the New Productive Forces, and provides a new policy perspective for the development of the New Productive Forces. The second is an in-depth analysis of the influence mechanism, from the dual perspective of industrial structure upgrading and financial development to analyze the policy transmission path, deepening the understanding of the development mechanism of the New Productive Forces. Third, a comprehensive heterogeneity analysis was carried out from five dimensions: urban administrative level, resource endowment, geographical location, quota allocation mode and carbon emission rights transaction price, to provide a basis for the accurate implementation of policies. Finally, in terms of policy recommendations, this paper proposes that China needs to form policy synergy in the construction of carbon market system, upgrading of industrial structure, and optimization of financial system, and steadily promote the development of the New Productive Forces by stages and regions.
		2026 Vol. 56 (2): 39-56 [Abstract] ( 3 ) [HTML 1KB] [PDF 846KB] ( 2 )

	57	Yu Ying, Yao Meifang, Wang Yixuan

		A Study of the Optimization of Fiscal Policy Behavior under the Synergistic Goal of Green Development and Macro-stability ^Hot!
		Green development and macro-stability are not an either-or relationship, and most of the time, green transformation and macro-stable growth need to coexist. The economic society has different weight preferences for the two goals in different economic situations in different periods, that is, macro-control policies need to consider the synergy of the two goals. In this context, coordinating the relationship between green development and macro stability plays a vital role in the smooth transition of economic structure and the healthy and stable development of the long-term economy.In this paper, we construct the rules of fiscal policy behavior, which focus on market factors and climate factors, and based on this, we expand the dynamic structure model with heterogeneous sectors, green development and macro-stability collaborative goals, and then adopt Bayesian method to estimate the model and conduct numerical simulation to investigate the optimization of fiscal policy behavior under different preferences of green development and macro-stability goals.The innovation of this paper mainly lies in on the one hand, it constructs a theoretical model of the nature of green finance, which can investigate the transmission mechanism of fiscal policy behavior to green development and macro-stability more deeply than previous empirical researches, and has certain reference value for subsequent related research. On the other hand, it is of great reference significance for the financial department to weigh the relationship between green development and macro-stability by simulating the optimization of fiscal policy behavior under the condition of camera choice between green development and macro-stability. The research finds that First, different fiscal policy behaviors have obvious differentiated effects on green development and macro-stability, and financial subsidy policy behaviors have greater regulatory effects on macro-stability, and have relatively long-term effects. Tax preferential policy behavior has a greater regulatory effect on green development, and has a relatively long-term effect. Second, different policy preference behaviors have obvious differentiated effects on green development and macro-stability. Green development is sensitive to climate factors and is increasing, which requires fiscal policy to have greater response weight to climate factors. Macro-stability is sensitive to market factors, and it is increasing, which requires fiscal policy to have greater reaction weight to market factors.
		2026 Vol. 56 (2): 57-73 [Abstract] ( 3 ) [HTML 1KB] [PDF 2433KB] ( 3 )

	74	Yao Mingming, Li Xinxin

		An Interpretation of the Knowledge Society from the Perspective of the Materialist Conception of History ^Hot!
		This article offers a comprehensive analysis of the knowledge society from three interconnected dimensions: conceptual clarification, operational mechanisms, and developmental effects. Conceptually, a knowledge society is constituted by three foundational elements: knowledge workers, knowledge resources, and knowledge productive forces. Its intrinsic characteristics—teleology and regularity, abstraction and concreteness, necessity and contingency—remain firmly situated within the analytical horizon of Marxist theory. Mechanistically, the article demonstrates that the operational logic of the knowledge society is governed by the essential laws of the Materialist Conception of History. Its systemic functioning hinges on the dialectical interplay of its core elements: the subject-object relationship between knowledge workers and knowledge resources; the relations of production between knowledge workers and knowledge productive forces; and the transformative relation between knowledge resources and knowledge productive forces. In terms of developmental effects, the knowledge society represents a salient stage-specific tendency in contemporary social evolution. It engenders far-reaching transformations in material production and social life, yet simultaneously faces challenges such as technological alienation, erosion of subjectivity, and institutional lag. While existing theoretical researches on the Knowledge Society provides useful insights for China’s ongoing development, substantial theoretical space for further elaboration remains.The theoretical contribution of this study lies in its deployment of the Materialist Conception of History as a primary analytical lens to conduct an in-depth analysis of the constitutive elements, operating logic, and developmental implications of the knowledge society. This approach not only elucidates the knowledge society as a salient transitional feature in the trajectory of modern social formations but also extends the three elements theory of productive forces in the Materialist Conception of History by foregrounding the triadic structure of knowledge workers, knowledge resources, and knowledge productive forces, thereby enriching Marxist accounts of social development and productive-force evolution. Practically, anchored in the concrete conditions of China’s shift from high-speed to high-quality development, this study offers conceptual and strategic guidance for harnessing the opportunities and addressing the risks posed by the emerging knowledge society—particularly those associated with technological alienation—and thus contributes to the broader exploration of the Chinese path to modernization.The article’s innovations can be summarized in three aspects. First, at the level of theoretical architecture, it moves beyond conventional understandings of the three essential elements of the productive forces by expanding the connotation of the Materialist Conception of History through the categories of knowledge workers, knowledge resources, and knowledge productive forces, and by reaffirming that the knowledge society does not transcend but rather unfolds within the Marxist analytical framework, thereby laying a solid theoretical foundation. Second, methodologically, it establishes a tripartite analytical model—“conceptual determination-operational mechanisms-developmental effects”—which clarifies the essential attributes of each core element, explicates their dialectical relations, and identifies both transformative impacts and latent challenges, thereby overcoming the limitations of one-dimensional analyses. Third, in terms of research orientation, the analysis of the knowledge society’s elements, characteristics, and mechanisms is grounded in the Materialist Conception of History and closely integrated with the practical agenda of socialism with Chinese characteristics, thereby formulating practical insights for China in navigating the opportunities and risks of the knowledge society and enabling a precise alignment between theoretical reflection and China’s developmental imperatives. Future research may further refine the analysis of operational mechanisms by incorporating complexity theory, and may broaden the analytical horizon to include perspectives such as genetic epistemology or emergent issues arising from the ongoing evolution of the knowledge society.
		2026 Vol. 56 (2): 74-83 [Abstract] ( 3 ) [HTML 1KB] [PDF 606KB] ( 4 )

	84	Lei Xiao

		An Initial Exploration of the Characteristics of Medieval Graphic Variant Specialization ^Hot!
		Variants in Chinese characters can be categorized into two types based on their origins: structural differences (异构) and graphic variations (异写). At the level of functional differentiation, a hierarchical distinction exists between the overarching category of variant-based functional allocation (异体分工) and its two sub-types: structural variant functionalization (异构分工) and graphic variant specialization (异写分工). The so-called graphic variant specialization refers to the deliberate creation or utilization of graphic variants that differ from the original character only in minor strokes, which are then assigned distinct functions to represent different phonetic or semantic values of the original character. This constitutes a crucial mechanism for the functional adjustment of Chinese characters. As a term grounded in character usage, graphic variant specialization encompasses two key aspects: (1) the differentiation of a character’s functional roles by assigning distinct phonetic or semantic values to the original character and its minor-stroke variants; (2) the distribution of multiple phonetic or semantic values originally borne by a single character into independent graphic forms, thereby achieving functional specialization.The phenomenon of graphic variant specialization dates back to the oracle bone inscriptions, though it was limited to certain scribal groups and is thus often subsumed under the broader category of graphic variant specialization in scholarship. During the medieval period, Chinese scripts underwent a transition from clerical and seal script to regular script, with character structure and form gradually stabilized. Consequently, graphic variant specialization became more pronounced than in ancient writing systems. However, prior studies have inadequately addressed this deliberate graphic differentiation, lacking systematic discussion from the perspective of character usage history.This article examines five case studies of graphic variations pairs— vs.否、 vs.荼、 vs. 、乹 vs.乾、刁 vs.刀—analyzing their functional differentiation processes in detail. Building on this analysis, the study reveals that medieval graphic variant specialization follows multiple developmental trajectories. Specifically, distinct patterns emerge among different character groups: an incipient type (where differentiation begins but halts prematurely), a transitional type (temporary stabilization followed by regression), and a completed type (successful reallocation of phonetic-semantic relationships). The characteristics of medieval graphic variant specialization include period-specificity, instability, and latent manifestation.Investigating medieval graphic variant specialization carries both theoretical and practical significance. For the advancement of Chinese paleography, it bridges the gap between ancient and early modern character systems. In terms of medieval character usage theory, systematically tracing functional differentiation processes elucidates the self-regulating mechanisms of the Chinese writing system. For textual studies, clarifying subtle orthographic variations across periods aids in dating and authenticating excavated manuscripts while enabling more accurate collation of transmitted texts.
		2026 Vol. 56 (2): 84-99 [Abstract] ( 3 ) [HTML 1KB] [PDF 1597KB] ( 4 )

	100	Kong Linghong

	Ziran" as the Core Category and Its Manifestation of the Distinctive Features of Taoist Philosophy[J]. Journal of Zhejiang University (Humanities and Social Science), 2026,56(2): 100-111>')" href="#">	"Ziran" as the Core Category and Its Manifestation of the Distinctive Features of Taoist Philosophy ^Hot!
		In recent years, Chinese philosophers have been advocating a departure from the practice of comparing philosophy with Western philosophy, focusing instead on the exploration and systematic organization of the original concepts and categories of Chinese philosophy, and emphasizing the construction of an autonomous discourse system in the field of humanities and social sciences. Against this background, the concept of “ziran” (自然, nature) in Chinese philosophy has attracted the attention of scholars and hundreds of papers have been published. Some scholars have pointed out that “ziran” possesses rich philosophical implications within the context of a philosophical system, but it lacks specific elaboration. This paper attempts to explore its implications. The connotation of “ziran” in Taoist philosophy can be summarized as by itself, naturally; inherently; usually so, always; normally; naturally occurring; inevitable; certainly. Unlike the established academic discussion of it, this paper argues that it is not an ordinary concept of the Taoist philosophical system, but rather one of the core categories, holding significance that runs through the entire system. In Taoism, ontology is the category that explains everything in the philosophical system without proof, and “ziran” is one of the four fundamental properties of ontology and occupies a central position in it, connecting metaphysical and physical realm, manifesting itself as absoluteness in the metaphysical realm and in the physical realm as relativity. In the theory of disposition, “ziran” refers to the original state in an unconscious condition. Within the realm of values, “ziran” signifies the recognition and evaluation of one’s inherent state, which serves both descriptive and normative functions. Things are the basis of one’s own value, and do not need to be measured against external standards of other things, and are thus necessarily self-recognized and self-affirmed. Taoist relative “ziran” is primarily a recognition of and respect for a plurality of knowledge and values. In practice theory, “ziran” is transformed by value theory into practice theory and then presented as the principle of human behavior—wuwei (non-action). The use of “ziran” in practice theory mainly involves managing the relationship between humans and the external world as well as addressing the internal relationship between body and mind within individuals. The domain concerning the former is the theory of objects, the core of which is to follow the internal nature of things, and there are two kinds of specific approaches：by following the natural course of things, and by guiding and assisting the natural development of things; the latter pertains to the realms of ethical and political philosophy. The core of Taoist ethical philosophy is virtue, and the original meaning of virtue is not to destroy the “ziran” of others and other things. Taoist political philosophy takes “ziran” as its basic value. In dealing with the internal relationship between mind and body within human beings, Taoism advocates maintaining the “ziran” of the mind, and the manifestation of “ziran”-based values is the ideal personality. The result of knowledge and practice is expressed in the realm of the individual. “ziran” is the basic value that guides the construction and enhancement of the realm. Accordingly, the realm can be divided into four levels from low to high: “ziran” of freedom, “ziran” of self-activity, “ziran” of inaction, and “ziran” of self-cause. “Freedom” is the external manifestation of the individual in the state of “ziran” and the way in which the individual realizes “ziran” , according to which the realm can be categorized into non-freedom, relative freedom and absolute freedom. “ziran” highlights the characteristics of Taoism’s philosophy of non-substantiality from the internal aspect, but also from the external aspect, in contrast with Confucianism and Buddhism, and it is also an ideological clue for sorting out the history of Taoism’s interaction with Confucianism and Buddhism. In short, “ziran” is one of the important categories of Taoist philosophy and Chinese philosophy. The elaboration of the “systematic meaning” of “ziran” has undoubtedly enriched the connotation of Taoist philosophy, and it has also provided an opportunity to continue the ancient Taoist philosophy “downward”, to make a global comparison of Chinese and Western philosophies in the contemporary era, and to make Taoist thought “ancient for modern use” for the future. It also provides an alternative path for the construction of a new Taoist philosophical system by “applying the ancient to the modern”.
		2026 Vol. 56 (2): 100-111 [Abstract] ( 2 ) [HTML 1KB] [PDF 775KB] ( 3 )

	112	Gao Fen, Zhang Pengfei

		Investigation and Analysis of Virginia Woolf Studies in English-Speaking Countries in the 21st Century (2000-2024) ^Hot!
		Virginia Woolf studies in English-speaking countries have flourished in the 21st century, achieving significant progress in five key areas. First, form and ideology studies have deepened, evolving from technical analysis to ideological exploration, moving from limited perspectives to diverse approaches, and expanding from the particular to the universal. Modernist studies have transcended mere formal technique analysis, forging interdisciplinary paths through explorations of lyrical style, mathematical form, and the cognitive aspects of technique. Philosophical studies, leveraging Woolf’s connections with philosophers, interpret her thought through diverse lenses including ethics, epistemology, philosophy of language, theories of the Other, hermeneutics, and historical materialism. Psychological studies have shifted from psychoanalysis towards the analysis of creative psychology, expanding into multi-angled examinations of trauma aesthetics, life writing, and artistic creativity. Second, social context studies reveal Woolf’s political thought, cultural leanings, and social critique through perspectives of gender, space, science/technology, economics, and war. Feminist studies employ a “feminist-plus” critical model, probing political thought and gender implications within multiple frameworks: women and political movements, women and everyday objects, women and cutting-edge theories, and female relationships. Spatial studies employ micro-spatial analysis and literary geography criticism to deeply elucidate Woolf’s political-cultural thought and critique of modernity. Scientific and technological studies demonstrate Woolf’s absorption of and response to the technological revolution, and the organic fusion of science and literature. Economic studies examine the connections, dialogues, and critiques between Woolf’s works and the public sphere, market economy, and cultural industries. War studies explore the elements of war and anti-war thought within her oeuvre. Third, historical and archival studies scrutinize Woolf’s inheritance and transcendence of the Euro-American literary legacy and historical consciousness, alongside the intellectual value of her manuscript archives. Historical researches focus on her innovative inheritance of the 19th-century literature and context, her transformative engagement with the Greek tradition, and her eclectic borrowing from historiography and historical views, revealing the deep roots of her literary innovation. Studies of diaries, manuscripts, and archives not only continue to evaluate their evidentiary roles but also elevate them as objects of study, opening up new research fields by exploring issues of style, theme, version, originality, and editing. Fourth, ecological, the non-human, and the Anthropocene studies investigate ecological forms and poetics, non-human animals, plants and materials, and climate writing and themes in Woolf’s works, revealing the prescient and futuristic nature of her thought. Aligning with cutting-edge environmental issues and Western literary theories, these studies reflect Woolf’s advanced foresight and speculative capacity regarding the human-nature relationship, signifying the contemporary value and future significance of Woolf scholarship. Fifth, transmedial and cross-cultural studies highlight Woolf’s openness, influence, and vitality from aesthetic, reception, adaptation, and comparative perspectives. Woolf’s interaction with transmedial arts and artists, the diverse global construction and contemporary reimagining of her image and works, and the trans-epochal and interdisciplinary nature of comparative literature studies of Woolf all demonstrate significant prospects for civilizational exchanges. Overall, Woolf studies in the Anglosphere in the 21st century are characterized by a systemic approach balancing text and context, integrating the dimensions of present, past, and future, and combining transmediality with cross-culturalism. They exhibit a strong interdisciplinarity, merging literary research with science/technology, economics, war, history, archives, ecology, animals, materiality, ethics, media, and communication. Furthermore, they demonstrate a significant intensification in depth and complexity. Collectively, these features mark the maturity and advancement of Woolf studies and point towards the potential directions for future researches. Thoroughly examining and analyzing the new findings, historical materials, and methodologies of the 21st-century Woolf studies will benefit the flourishing development of Woolf scholarship worldwide.
		2026 Vol. 56 (2): 112-125 [Abstract] ( 6 ) [HTML 1KB] [PDF 812KB] ( 5 )

	126	Qiu Shi

		Misalignment in the Canonization Process of the Orchid Pavilion Poems ^Hot!
		It has been believed for a long time that the Orchid Pavilion Poems, which were considered playing a significant role in the pivotal shift in the history of poetry, maintained their original appearance in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In reality, this proposition is actually based on a misunderstanding of the textual appearance. Only by re-examining the development process and internal causes of the changes of these poems can we reveal their true nature and reassess their significance in literary history. The earliest existing manuscript is The Orchid Pavilion Poems attributed to the Tang Dynasty calligrapher Liu Gongquan. It transcribes 37 poems by 26 authors, with each poem consisting of either 4 or 8 lines. As noted in the manuscript, its purpose was to “select the best lines”, and thus it is not a complete representation. The most complete single version that exists today is the Five-Character Orchid Pavilion Poem by Wang Xizhi, attributed to the Tang Dynasty calligrapher Lu Jianzhi. It consists of 5 chapters with a total of 52 lines, and its original manuscript is likely a copy of Wang Xizhi’s original work.During the process of copying and transmission, as the medium of the manuscript changed, the original information was subject to additions and deletions. This led to misunderstandings and biases in the understanding of the Orchid Pavilion Poems. Representative works in this regard include A Collection of Local Works in Kuaiji (《会稽掇英总集》) and An Investigation Around Orchid Pavilion (《兰亭考》) in the Song Dynasty. The Orchid Pavilion Poems included in these works are essentially consistent with the version attributed to Liu Gongquan, but they differ in order and have relatively more accurate wording. In fact, both are the results of reorganizing the text attributed to Liu Gongquan. There are instances where annotations have been inserted into the main text, and the textual contradictions thus created have not been completely eliminated even after revisions.Beyond textual correction, the adjustment and expansion of “paratextual” elements such as author information and the order of poems and prefaces have made the new texts appear even more ancient and reliable. By examining the age of Wang Xianzhi, who was newly added and considered not to have written poetry, as well as the titles of the authors Xie An and Sun Tong, it can be determined that the information about the attendees recorded in the A Collection of Local Works in Kuaiji and An Investigation Around Orchid Pavilion did not originate from the old collections of the Jin Dynasty, but rather was fabricated by people from the Tang and Song Dynasties. Such textual forgery and pseudographia were common during the Song Dynasty. However, regardless of this, the information about the authors, together with the preface and the poetic texts, has created a complete new cultural memory of the “Orchid Pavilion Poetry Collection”. This has become an important basis for Song and Yuan literati to reconstruct the literature and culture of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In the realm of art, the 42 figures, including those who were pseudographically added, became the main subjects of paintings themed on the Orchid Pavilion. In literature, the “Continued Orchid Pavilion Gathering” presided over by Liu Renben in the Yuan Dynasty and the poems inscribed in Zhao Zhong’s Orchid Pavilion Painting demonstrated a close imitation of the textual structure and discourse of the Orchid Pavilion poems that had been established since the Song Dynasty. This directly reflects that the misperception of the appearance of the Orchid Pavilion Poems was fully solidified during this period and has continued to influence to this day.The phrase文多, which appears twice in the annotations of the manuscript attributed to Liu Gongquan, is used to explain the reason for the excerpt. By examining the meaning in its historical context, it is clear that it specifically refers to the abundance of literary expressions. From this, it can be inferred that the original form of the Orchid Pavilion Poems should not be far from the 52-line structure of Wang Xizhi’s Five-Character Orchid Pavilion Poems attributed to Lu Jianzhi, rather than the 4-line or 8-line versions. Given the strong correlation between the forms of poems in the context of gift-giving and poetic exchanges during the medieval period, the structure of the 52-line work can serve as a benchmark to attempt a reconstruction of the positions of the existing Orchid Pavilion Poems within their original compositions.Overall, the literary historical significance of the Orchid Pavilion Poems in poetics, especially in terms of poetic form, does not point to the era in which they were created, but rather to the era in which they were received.
		2026 Vol. 56 (2): 126-137 [Abstract] ( 4 ) [HTML 1KB] [PDF 863KB] ( 5 )

	138	Zhang Bingyu, Khor Boon Eng

		Home-leaving Versus Homecoming: A Study of the Historical Construction of “New Woman” in China and the Interactive Relationship with Female Characters in Hei Ying’s Literary Works ^Hot!
		In the literary works of the returned overseas Chinese writer Hei Ying, his attentiveness to women’s issues had long been noted by earlier scholars. Yet previous studies have tended to focus either on his affiliation with the so-called “new sensationists” or on the stylistic shift from modernism” to realism in his creative practice. Such scholarship generally approaches the left-leaning trajectory within his oeuvre through a lens of linear progression, without truly returning to the historical milieu of the 1930s Shanghai, where discourses on the construction of “New Woman” were emerging. What is thereby overlooked is the contingent, affectively charged aesthetic orientation that arose from the writer’s own lived emotions. At the same time, although the contrasting tensions—manifested in Hei Ying’s cross-regional experience between China and Nanyang (the South Seas / Southeast Asia)—in shaping the female characters in his works have been proposed, the reification of the concept of “New Woman” in his oeuvre has yet to be examined in depth.In the 1930s Shanghai, discourses on the “New Woman” were multifaceted and mutable. From this perspective, one can discern the interactive relationship between Hei Ying and the historical context. During this period, the construction of the “New Woman” in Shanghai oscillated among urban culture, media representations (often manipulated by political and economic factors), and social ethics, forming a dialectical configuration that reconciled the new-style female’s home-leaving with homecoming. Hei Ying keenly perceived the dialectical configuration and transformed it into the underlying logic guiding his portrayal of female characters, continually using the ups and downs of these female characters in his literary texts to articulate the dialogue between the individual and the collective within the homeland-nation imagination.The dialectical configuration of home-leaving vs. homecoming was instantiated differently across the writer’s early, middle, and late creative phases, revealing distinct chronological variations in its development. Upon Hei Ying’s initial arrival in Shanghai, his close personal acquaintance with Mu Shiying influenced the depiction of “New Woman” characters in his early works, which were shaped mainly by neo-sensationalism and often displayed a seductive, sensually uninhibited urban modernity. Concurrently, he also emulated Mao Dun’s characterization of the “New Woman”, typically fashioning the home-leaving women who, due to the structural constraints of their temporal and spatial context, either swiftly reverted or met with their demise. The year 1934 marked a pivotal turning point in Hei Ying’s style of portraying “New Woman” characters. Disappointments in love, coupled with his regret over the personal and creative decline of his friend Mu Shiying, meant that Mao Dun’s criticism of Hei Ying’s literary style in 1933 and, that same year, Ye Zi’s encouragement to focus more on experiences in Nanyang (which was then under colonial domination) were fully realized in Hei Ying’s texts. Thus, unlike writers native to China, Hei Ying’s cross-regional experience between China and Nanyang endowed the “New Woman” characters in his works with highly individualized aesthetic types. In the middle and later phase of Hei Ying’s oeuvre, the “New Woman” characters he constructs increasingly underscore the twofold perspective and the distinctive qualities of mobility: home-leaving, in Hei Ying’s works, gradually develops into a literary image that establishes a clear intertextual relationship with his political ideals and homeland-nation imagination, while the female characters consequently exhibit more explicit value judgments; correspondingly, homecoming does not focus on a simple return to the “original” home, but rather on the reshaping of identity entangled with cross-regional experiences. In the process of constructing “New Woman” characters in Hei Ying’s literary works, the concepts of home-leaving and homecoming no longer function as a simple binary opposition, but rather operate as a mutually referential paradox. This paradox is employed to articulate the affective folds between diaspora and return among transnational Chinese, as well as to bridge the cultural gaps generated by their cross-regional experiences.To put it in a nutshell, the dialectical configuration of home-leaving vs homecoming operates as a key device by which Hei Ying’s boundary-crossing identity experience is translated into the emergence of the distinctive “New Woman” characters in his literary works. In the same way as the “New Woman” characters shaped by Hei Ying are continually constructed, deconstructed, and reconstructed, so too is that Hei Ying’s sense of homeland and nation forged only through repeated cycles of home-leaving and homecoming.
		2026 Vol. 56 (2): 138-152 [Abstract] ( 5 ) [HTML 1KB] [PDF 992KB] ( 4 )

JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY

More>>

· CNKI
· Wamfangdata

More>>