从『京华烟云』的女性形象看林语堂的东西文化观

Abstract

This paper investigates Lin Yutang’s cultural vision through the female figures in Moment in Peking (1938–1939). Set against the historical backdrop from the Boxer Uprising to the Anti-Japanese War, the novel traces the fortunes of the Yao, Zeng, and Niu families while simultaneously introducing Chinese culture to the West and reflecting on the modernization of tradition. The study focuses on three representative women. Yao Mulan, embodying a synthesis of Daoist naturalism, Confucian duty, and Western education, represents the archetype of the modern Chinese woman who balances familial responsibility with intellectual independence. Mo Chou, as a practitioner of Confucian ethics, demonstrates the enduring relevance of traditional feminine virtues in sustaining the household. In contrast, Man-niang, bound by rigid ideals of chastity and obedience, becomes a tragic victim of feudal morality, exposing Lin’s critique of patriarchal oppression. Lin’s cultural stance is characterized by both inheritance and reflection. He upheld Daoist harmony and Confucian responsibility while rejecting oppressive customs, and he emphasized the positive role of Western education in enabling women to develop independent thought and agency. Ultimately, he advanced the ideal of he er bu tong—“harmony without uniformity”—not as eclecticism but as a human-centered synthesis of East and West. By adopting narrative structures accessible to Western readers and creating characters such as Mulan who“root themselves in the East while aspiring toward modernity,”Lin challenged Orientalist stereotypes and proposed a dialectical unity of tradition and modernity.