Author ｜
Yueh-chang Tsai
Abstract ｜
This article analyzes Junyi Tang’s early philosophical system centered on gantong 感通 (affective resonance), examining its metaphysical interpretation of Chinese lyrical expression and its theoretical significance for the “modern lyrical tradition” in Sinophone literature. As early as the 1930s, Tang argued that literature and art are not merely outlets for personal emotion but the natural outflow of human nature and feelings (xingqing 性情), mediated by the mutual resonance of qi 氣 and xin 心. This Confucian model grounds lyricism in cosmology and ethical practice, offering a metaphysical foundation for aesthetics. Tracing shifts in conceptual emphasis—especially before and after his 1949 relocation to Hong Kong—the paper shows how Tang’s focus moved from a cosmology of qi-transformation to a cultural philosophy centered on the “spiritually perceptive mind” and the affective nature of gantong. By reconfiguring key concepts such as body, qi, xingqing, and virtue, Tang recasts lyricism as a comprehensive framework linking ethics, aesthetics, and cosmology. Contrasted with the politicized lyricism institutionalized after the Yan’an Forum, Tang’s thought articulates a Confucian alternative that transcends Western Romantic subjectivity and bridges philosophy, literature, being, and history. The paper argues that gantong constitutes the metaphysical foundation of the Chinese lyrical tradition and provides a rigorous resource for both critical and creative engagement in contemporary Sinophone discourse.
keywords ｜
Junyi Tang, affective resonance, lyrical tradition, human nature and emotions, qi theory