The Aesthetics of “Hope for Dying in the War” and “Human Bomb”: The Development of the “Bushido” Literature in the Late Qing Dynasty

Title

The Aesthetics of “Hope for Dying in the War” and “Human Bomb”: The Development of the “Bushido” Literature in the Late Qing Dynasty

Author

Hsin-I CHU

Page

131-176

DOI

10.6163/TJEAS.202106_18(1).0004

Abstract

In the late Qing Dynasty, the exchanges between Japan and China were diverse and complex. This article will take the late Qing Dynasty translated novel, “Record of Lushun Combat - a Human Bomb", which is full of the spirit of Japanese Bushido as the starting point, as well as discussing other novels containing Bushido spirit, including “Application and Farewell”, “Pray for Dying in the War”, “Long Live the Army, Long Live Empire”, “The Future of the China War” and “Broken Novel”, to excavate the transformation of “Bushido” in the narrative methods as the Bushido spirit spreads from Japan to China. For example, the novels esteem the spirit of “Hope for Dying in the War” – the spirit of “sacrifice” and seeing death as the only way for warriors in every war; or the novel contains a lot of scenes of death and blood, as well as the burst of artillery shells on the battlefield, the damaging of human bodies, and the sounds of impact, which are the aesthetics of the human bombs, and have very high literary meanings. In addition, when China selected and absorbed “Bushido”, it applied its characteristics to the conscription works, and re-given the meaning of “Chinese Bushido”.

Keyword

Bushido, human bomb, pray for dying in the war, late Qing Dynasty novel, Chinese Bushido

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