The Origin of Academic Genealogy of Modern Chinese Literary Theory: From the Perspective of Integrity and Spirituality of Zhang Xuecheng’s Wenshi Tongyi

Abstract: In the contemporary context of post-theory, Zhang Xuecheng’s Wenshi Tongyi (《文史通义》, The General Theory of Literature and History) is examined from the perspective of literary theory in the context of the “spiritual genealogy” or “academic origin” of the East and West, which shows the integrity and spirituality of the spiritual genealogy in the pre-modern period. The interpretation of the “three-person-in-a-room” character of the “Tao” and the pursuit of the “unity of the Tao and the vessel” in Wenshi Tongyi, there trospective on (“道”) the “historical virtue”, the “literary virtue” and the “rhetoric of great texts ”, and the refinement and reinvigoration of the spirit, such as Yi (“易”) , Qi (“气”) , Reason (“理”) , Emotion (“情”) and Nature (“性”) , all of these theories have laid a profound foundation for the continuation of the history of Chinese literary theory and the history of academic spirit in modern age.