Contemporary Interpretation of Ancient Chinese Literary Theory: The Path from Death to Life

The issue of the obsolescence of ancient Chinese literary theory in contemporary academic and cultural contexts has long been recognized, and the assertion that "ancient Chinese literary theory is dead in contemporary times" has even become a kind of unspoken consensus in academia. The proposition of "modern transformation of ancient Chinese literary theory" proposed by the academic community in the 1990s failed to revive it and instead further relegated it to the archive. The path of disciplining, systematizing, and scientific "conversion and interpretation" is precisely the crux of the problem that leads to the gradual loss of vitality of the ancient literary theories of autonomy and self-activity. Based on profound reflection on this, this paper reconsiders the contemporary interpretative paths of ancient literary theory. It will start from three aspects: the "through"——the contemporary interpretative validity of ancient literary theory, the "change"——the Sinicization of Western literary theory, and the reexamination of the significance of the modernity of ancient literary theories——Chinese ancient literary theories going to the world, in an attempt to revitalize the vitality of ancient literary theories in the contemporary era and the path of life from death.