A Comparative Analysis of Human-Nature Harmony in Walden Lake and Chinese Heaven-Human Integrity

Abstract

Walden Lake was the classic representative work of famous American writer Henry David Thoreau. It is a pioneering work of transcendentalism as well. The descriptions of the collection of essays were about the integration of nature life and the process of a man rebuilding himself and advocating the harmony between human and nature. The idea was very rare in that industrial revolution. It provided a guidance of environmentalism and ecological thought for the post-industrial era. Thoreau’s thought on man and nature was very close to the ancient Chinese outlook about human-nature integrity. Why do the two points of view have so many connections throughout different places and times? What are the differences and similarities between them? It is worth our further exploration.

This paper is a comparative study between Thoreau’s thought and Chinese traditional cultures. This thesis firstly elaborates Thoreau's view of nature and the traditional Chinese concept of human-nature integrity. Then it tries to find the similarities between the two thoughts and the differences between the two ideas, including the different understanding of “heaven” and “person”, the political purpose in human-nature integrity of traditional China culture and the vision of Thoreau’s ecocriticism in Walden Lake. A summary of the important content of two thoughts helps to carry forward the good part of traditional Chinese culture, and provide a better guidance for the practice of today’s society.


Key words: ecocriticisim, human-nature integrity, transcendentalism, Confucianism