The Extra-Cognitive Imagination In The Science Fiction During The Late Qing Dynasty

Science fiction of the late Qing Dynasty,which combines scientific nature and literariness,is one of the fiction genres introduced to China in early 20 th century and becomes popular in modern China.It present the modern forms of Chinese people’s cognition,views and scientific knowledge,and reveals the new changes in Chinese people’s views on world,geography,cosmology,space-time and the state in the process of exchange,collision and integration between western civilization and Chinese civilization.It also partly generates the scientific consciousness,ideology and dynamics of change in the modern transformation of Chinese society with enlightened significance.The fiction opens up the world and universal cognition from three dimensions of time,space and civilization.Time and space structure the basic dimension of the extraterritorial new world,while the discussion of civilization is the collective response of people in the face of modern civilization.In terms of the dimension of time,the fiction focuses on the "future-oriented",reflecting the increasing objectivity and scientific nature of the people’s cognition of time.In terms of the dimension of space,the introduction of science and technology made the flat world and the three-dimensional universe "demystified".Nevertheless,due to the unsystematic scientific theories and overly inherited national cultural emotions of the novelists,the SF presents a complex picture of tradition and modernity.In terms of the dimension of civilization,the modern variation of the "Yixia distinction" and "universalism" affects the "repositioning" of the fiction on Chinese civilization and world civilization.The SF of late Qing deduces many idealistic civilization patterns with exposing the anxiety and desire which are melted in the imagined civilization dialogue platform built in future world when Chinese civilization faces world and universal civilizations.With China of the late Qing Dynasty as the origin and the extraterritorial cognitive imagination which is combined with three dimensions of time,space and civilization as the three-dimensional coordinate system,the SF of late Qing draws an extraterritorial cognitive map: the map takes the real world map as the base,adding the surreal fantasy factor and new scientific knowledge.The novelists have to abandon pure scientific imagination because of the real crisis of the country.The current situation is reflected in the fictional world of the stories,thus the flat world completed mixes strong political significance and national emotions.In the design of the cosmic map,the interstellar adventure of the SF continues to extend outward with the breadth and depth of people’s knowledge of the universe in the real world,and finally forms a dynamic map of the universe that limited within the solar system.The advancement of modern technology enables human beings’ imagination to be projected into a wider space,and the discourse of space exploration changes as a result.The driving force of travel shifts from sightseeing to exploration.Writers reconstitute a new order of the world to maintain the self-respect of national civilization with the passion to rejuvenate the nation.The means of transportation in the SF such as flying cars,airships,trams,electric fins are not only tools for explorers to reach their destinations,but also a presentation of science.They have both velocity and entertainment,and are put into practice by means of scientific and technological strength.Some of the texts choose to use "invisible energy" such as electricity,soul and spirit as the meta-kinetic energy of space exploration,in which embodies the ultimate ideal of scholars of late Qing Dynasty—travel through space by abandoning all external objects.The value of the extraterritorial narratives of the late Qing Dynasty science fiction is reflected in the systematically-constructed imagination of the new China.Based on the changing perception of the concept of "state" in modern times,the perception of the nation-state and the central imperial consciousness overlap and repeat in the fiction,showing the anxiety and anticipation of the people when facing the fall of the empire and the rise of the modern nation-state.The fiction reveals the torn choice of the future Chinese state system.In the texts,the novelists experiment with the political system,hover between autocracy and civil rights,and try to find the most suitable civilized system for China,expecting to replace the increasingly rigid late Qing Chinese political system and realize the political ideal of national rejuvenation.In the SF of late Qing,Chinese modern scientific consciousness burst in the realm of literature and the new world cognition pattern is depicted,which cast enlightening significance.Through the enlightenment of science and democracy in the novels,the SF of late Qing completes the renewal of the group concept and the discovery of “man”.