中国人からの手紙 : オリヴァー・ゴールドスミスの『世界市民』にみる中国

抄録

This paper treats Oliver Goldsmith′s image of China, especially in The Citizen of The World(1762)which is the pseudo-correspondence between Lien Chi Altangi, a disciple of Confucius, in London and his teacher in Peking. In the work, Goldsmith never admires England nor China depicting every nation has both merits and demerits. He expresses sharp criticism to European and English expansionism and considers Chinese society as not stagnant but stable. Like William Temple who published "An Essay upon the Ancient and Modern Learning"(1690)maintaining the superiority of the ancients and the Chinese in all fields, he takes a pessimistic view of the English future improving Nature without cultivating inner nature. But he has the same view of China losing slowly the ancient power and glory. He never aspires to ancient civilization and the East, but depicts contemporary English society humorously or sarcastically in comparison with Chinese society. In the current trend of thought, Goldsmith′s attitude toward China in The Citizen of The World is very exceptional. In the long run, controversy between the ancients and the moderns provoked by William Temple engendered the idea of progress, at least among the supporters of the moderns. With the spread of the idea of progress, considering China as stagnant became dominant in the latter half of the eighteenth century. The pessimistic view of the contemporary English expansionism turned to nostalgic return to the home and family, and further to the English soil in retreat from the world. After the Chinese, "noble savage" from South Pacific became popular by criticising European civilisation.