Oriental Philosophy and Thoreau’s Thoughts in Walden

王玢詩

【Abstract】It is necessary to have a general knowledge of the sources of Thoreaus thoughts before attempting to analyze his mode of life at Walden and his sharing of Chinese concept of nature in Walden. It is generally believed that Thoreau is indebted to Oriental philosophy which is the source of inspiration for his thoughts that he expressed in Walden and other works.

【Key words】Thoreau； Walden； Oriental philosophy

Thoreau devoted all his life to the research on nature and the relationship between nature and human beings， advocating the worship of “Natures God” or a return to nature as a way of finding truth. His masterwork Walden reflects his life style and his ideas about nature and humans. His ideas are much influenced by Oriental philosophy.

Just as Arthur Christy points out， for the American Transcendentalists， the Orient was the home of the oldest philosophical truths . Like Emerson， Thoreau was also indebted to Oriental philosophy as embodied in such Hindu works as Upanishads and Bhagavad-gita and to the doctrine and philosophy of the Chinese sages like Confucius and Mencius. To some extent， it was the fascination of Oriental philosophy that inspired Thoreau to practice his transcendental ideal by leading a life in the woods. His experiments in the woods midwifed his thoughts， enabling him to acquire a deeper understanding of the mode of human being's existence than Emerson. This paper will mainly concentrate on Chinese ancient philosophy that Thoreau may have had access to and its influence on him.

The rise of English and French Oriental Societies in Europe sponsored many translations of Oriental literature. It was mainly through the translations by the European Orientalists that American transcendentalists began to know the Oriental philosophy. Emerson began to show his interest in Chinese philosophy in 1836 when he obtained The Works of Confucius translated by Joshua Marshman. According to Franklin Benjamin Sanborn， friend and biographer of Thoreau， Emerson and Thoreau became acquainted in 1837. And it was Emerson who first introduced the literature of the Orient to Thoreau. And Thoreau had read Emersons Nature during his senior year at Harvard. In the ensuing years， Emerson served as Thoreaus intellectual mentor， opening his library to him. Christy says that in Emersons library Thoreau was thirsty for the Orientals and in the last two decades of his life “Thoreau read avidly from these books and his comments on them became more penetrating” . Thoreaus enthusiasm was shown in his extravagant praise for Oriental philosophy： “How thrilling a noble sentiment in the oldest books， —in Homer，the Zendavesta， or Confucius！ It is a strain of music wafted down to us on the breeze of time， through the aisles of innumerable ages. By its very nobleness it is made near and audible to us.”

According to Arthur Christy， Thoreau found two ancient Chinese classics in Emersons library when he first lived in Emerson's house： The Works of Confucius translated by Joshua Marshman and The Four Books translated by David Collie. According to Chen Chang fang， Thoreau began to know Confucius thought through English and French translations. The quotations from The Four Books in Walden are not from the same version but three， two of which are in English while the third one is in French. The two English versions are what Arthur Christy mentioned above. The third one is Confucius et Mencius， Les Quatre Livres de Philosophie Morale et Politique de la Chine translated by the French sinologist M. G. Pauthier in 1840 . Among these three， Thoreau liked Collies translation best， praised Collies version as a significant contribution to understanding Chinese literature.

After Emerson took over the editorship of The Dial， he and Thoreau worked in collaboration to select some maxims from the sacred scriptures of the East for the magazines “Ethical Scriptures” section which they had just established. In the April， 1843 issue， there were twenty-one Confucian sayings from The Analects translated by Joshua Marshman . Walter Harding points out that Thoreau edited the issue all by himself in the absence of Emerson. The October， 1843 issue carried forty-two quotations from Confucianist writings. For this time， Thoreau not only drew on The Analects， but also The Doctrine of the Mean， and Memoirs of Mencius. The quotations were listed under the title The Chinese Classic Works. One thing is notable that The Great Learning was ignored here.

Arthur Christy， who pays more attention to the Indian influence on Thoreau and only deals with Chinese influence on Thoreau briefly， claims that Thoreau is a yogi. After examining the Indian and the Chinese references in Walden， Christy states that there was nothing essentially Confucian in Thoreaus temperament . He argues that Thoreau was a practical exponent of civil disobedience， whereas Emerson， Confucius， and Mencius all agreed on conformity and Thoreau never tired to read mystical divinity into the Chinese. The reason is evident that Confucius is close to metaphysics and therefore to profound religious thought. Christys statements sounds reasonable， but the help of ancient Chinese philosophy to Thoreau can never be denied. When he lived in the woods， he was inspired by Confucianism and used direct Chinese references in Walden. It proves that Thoreau must have been impressed by the ideas of Confucian propriety， cultivation of mind， high value of justice above material gains and perfection within the earthly realm. Besides， Thoreaus emphasis on intuition and illumination is quite similar to the epistemology of Zen Buddhism. His view on nature and life style is akin to the idea of the unity of nature and human beings in Taoism.

References：

[1]Christy，Arthur，The Oriental in American Transcendentalism：A study of Emerson，Thoreau and Alcott.（New York：Columbia University Press，1932），50.