Mou Zongsan's Translation of Hölderlin's "Withdrawal of God" and His Political Utopia

Steven Chang

Mou Zongsan's Translation of Hölderlin's "Withdrawal of God" and His Political Utopia

Steven Chang

Abstract

In the essay Lun Shangdi Yintui [On the Withdrawal of God], Mou Zongsan (1909-1995) recontexulized the concept of “withdrawal of God,” a constant theme repeatedly appearing in Hölderlin’s writing, within a set of Confucian literary and cultural parameters, thus inventing for this concept new readers and challenging the long established Confucian tradition of “tian ren he yi” [the unity of heaven and man]. This transformation has important bearing on Mou’s political philosophy. Though recognized by many scholars as a political utopia, Mou’s political philosophy embodies a utopian impulse that goes beyond the realizable and actualizable in order to bring a fantastic power of transgressing limiting boundaries. In this sense, we find Mou’s political philosophy a plausible one and certainly worthy of our reexamination.

Published

2017-10-09

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 3 (2017): Fall 2017

Section

Articles

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