Chanting or Silent Reading?A Comparison Study on Medium Bias of Chinese Traditional Reading Methods——Taking Zhu Xi and Xue Xuan as Examples
In ancient China,two distinct approaches to the act of reading were observed,which were chanting and silent reading.This article examines Zhu Xi's method of chanting and Xue Xuan's method of silent reading from the perspective of the history of reading to compare the unique characteristics of reading methods based on media bias of sound and vision.The discrepancies between the two in their particular reading methodologies were predicated on divergences in philosophical tenets and the historical milieu.Zhu Xi proposed chanting as a means of addressing the deficiencies of the prevailing learning style.By contrast,Xue Xuan introduced a visual bias of silent reading,aiming to offset the rigidity of the memorization and recitation methods.Through the analysis of the selection of different reading methods in specific historical situations,this paper attempts to use the historical data of diachronic changes in reading methods to explain and enrich the historical dimension of McLuhan's thesis of"the medium is an extension of the human beings".The medium can alter the ratio of the human senses and provide a specific degree of accessibility to the subject's actions.But it cannot be ignored that people are in a historical context and existential sense,and they can perceive the extension of the medium and the environment to introduce a mutual complementary media bias to balance the senses.In the process of media change,the interaction between media and people should be ontological and historical.Looking back on the historical situations of the two reading methods,this paper aims to sympathize with the context and characteristics of Chinese traditional reading methods and open up a perspective of investigating history through media.
the history of readingchantsilent readingmedium bias
万方数据
