Return To Childhood

Regardless of the remoteness of time and space,Laotse,one of the well-noted Chinese philosophers in Spring and Autumn Period,and Wordsworth,one of the greatest poets in the British Romantic Period,have conferred on the child with significant meanings and functions.The new-born infant in Dao De Jing and the immortal child in “Immortality Ode” share the same essential qualities and inherent instincts.The innocent newborn infant is considered as the best embodiment of Dao by Laotse and the immortal child as the “best philosopher” whose unsophisticated mind helps him to get hold of the truth of immortality.Their intense idealization of the child has fixed childhood as a permanent stage that is superior to adulthood.However,entering into adulthood,man's original nature is spoiled for Laotse and the divine splendor of early childhood is gradually lost for Wordsworth.Therefore,under that circumstance,the newborn and the immortal child function as the intermediary for the degenerating or bewildered adult to spiritually return to childhood and rediscover their roots.The thesis is constructed upon an analytical pattern beginning with a close examination of the images of child in Dao De Jing and the Ode,ending with the worthy purpose attached upon them.Chapter One delves into the images of the ideal child to look at how they are idealized respectively,how the new-born infant perfectly fits itself to the characters of Dao and why the immortal child in the Ode I s apostrophized as the “best philosopher”.Naturally,the question to be considered next is the worthy purpose or the function of the child – a means of returning to childhood.But before entering into this realm of discussion,it is necessary to be well-informed of the contexts which altogether make the situations register a strong sense of spiritual crisis and brings the necessity for the adult man to “return”.Hence Chapter Two richly mines the contexts in various aspects within the two texts to explain the very spiritual dilemma or crisis the adult man is undergoing.The major concern of Chapter Three is to give an analysis on the issue of how to fulfill the spiritual return to childhood in the contexts of the spiritual crisis.