고려대학교

초록/요약

Zhang Ziping (張資平, 1893~1959) is a popular writer who represents the Chinese literary world; accordingly, most of his novels are utilizing popular romance as a major plot. Here, one thing for us to note is that many of his works have religious colors, but over the past several years, we have not carefully examined the religious issues appearing in his works, since they have been veiled by these affection depictions. The Christian elements appearing in Zhang Ziping’s first short story of “The River Jordan” and his later work of God’s Children. Zhang Ziping’s perception on Christianity has shown the aspect as complicated as his lifelong. However, it is definitely true that he showed a high interest and completion degree as a Christian literature in comparison with contemporary authors. He has experienced Christianity by the influence from his father since childhood and been steadily establishing his perception on religion while studying abroad and even after returning home through the background of Christian life. His first short story of “The River Jordan”, which has been published since then, he shows a positive perception of Christianity. In particular, unlike “The River Jordan”, in his later work of God’s children, the strict voice of the author is embodied which plies in the corrupt reality of Christianity and the dark side of it. Moreover, Zhang Ziping developed the actions and events of characters against the Christian ethics in the religious aspect, more plainly exhibiting the desire and decadence of human beings revealed in it through the naturalistic creative method. However, as the God’s Children is overlapped with “The River Jordan” at the ending, we could find that his perception of religion is not consistent, through which we could examine how the author’s acceptance of Christianity is expressed in the age and personal conditions by showing the perception of ‘positive → negative → positive’. However, the reason why the author went back into God’s arms at the ending of the work could be said that it came from the ambivalent feelings about his father which was developed in the religious life that he could not rebel from his childhood or the longing for him later. In other words, the ambivalent feeling on his father caused the author’s internal conflicts on religion and complicated Christian consciousness. In addition, in this article, we interpreted it as the author needed Christianity to find the Absolute to depend on in the absence of his father and longed for devotion to God in order to wash away the guilt on his father later.