China and the West

Tian, Han. Mi'erdun yu Zhongguo [ID D26345].
Tian Han schreibt : "When the storm overwhelms everything, strong weeds are desired. When the nation suffered civil unrest, loyal men are wanted. It is only natural that Wordsworth conjured Milton, because England was mired in corruption. Now allow me to recount concisely Milton's life and the relation of the man of his time. I hope that Milton's spirit, which has exerted gread remedial influences on England, might also cure today's China... to promote his idea of the three liberties, namely, religious liberty, domestic libery, and individual liberty. Domestic liberty also inclues the freedom of marriage, of education, and of expression. The three liberties are the foundation to ensure one's happiness as a member of the society. In the subsequent decade, apart from a few sonnets, Milton dedicated his pen solely to the struggle of political, religious liberty and justice. At the time, he gave up his ambition in writing a great national epic, since his aspiration for literary creativity has yielded to his concern for the troubled time !"

Huang Chia-yin : In the beginning, Tian Han quoted Wordsworth's sonnet London (1802), in which the poet invoked the spirit of Milton to save England out of political corruption and chaos. He created an analogy between the political scene in Wordsworth's England and that in the early 20th-century China, stressing the severity of corruption and turmoil in both cases. Drawing on the precedence of Wordsworth's invocation, Tian suggested Milton's potential contribution as an inspiration to China for political and social reforms.
Tian's declineation foregrounded Milton's participations in the political scene and left his literary career in the background. Although starting out with a literary ambition, hoping to compose a grand English heroic verse, Milton devoted himself to political writings when the time and the nation called for his contribution. In defense of 'liberty' against tyranny of the monarchy, he wrote abundantly in prose.
In Tian's construction, Milton was an unselfish poet who places the nation and the people before himself. In peaceful time, he prepared himself to be a national poet and to create narrative poetry that reflected the spirit of the nation. In troubled time, he willingly sacrificed his personal goals and devoted himself to defend freedom and justice for the people. He considered liberty the foundation of human society, the basis of all happiness. Only when religious liberty, domestic liberty, and individual liberty werde proteced could one live happily and freely as a member of the society.