A Study Of The Confucian Origin Of Henry David Thoreau's View Of Nature In Walden

Henry David Thoreau is considered as one of the greatest transcendentalist writers in American literature. His masterpiece Walden is a wealth of thoughts. Thoreau's view of nature and living philosophy in it are arousing more and more concern. In the modern world, there is no doubt that Thoreau's thoughts are of great practical significance in awakening environmental awareness, realizing sustainable development, and promoting the harmonious relation between human society and natural world.This thesis defines Thoreau's view of nature and then probes into the relations between Thoreau's view of nature and Confucianism from the two perspectives—Thoreau's treatment of Confucian ideas in Walden and the Confucian influence on his view of nature. From the perspective of textual research, the thesis researches on the way Thoreau accepts the Confucian ideas, including absorption and integration, and misinterpretation and alteration, and comes to the conclusion that Confucian ideas play an important role in the formation of his view of nature. There are not only simple similarities between the Chinese Confucianism and Thoreau's view of nature, because the former has become an indispensable part of the latter.