GUEST EDITOR’S PREFACE

Abstract

As part of the “Chinese Classics” initiative of the UTSA Eastern Asian Institute, the “2018 UTSA International Symposium on Chinese Four Literature Masterpieces and Classics”—A Dream of Red Mansions, the History of Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, and The Water Marsh—was successfully held at the UTSA 1604 campus on October 26-27, 2018. I hope that the success of this project will inspire more interest and enthusiasm for other projects in the initiative. I am grateful that the Journal of East-West Thought has devoted a special issue: Chinese Literature Masterpieces and Humanities' Studies to publish five select papers from the symposium and honored to have the opportunity to be its guest editor. Dr. Nathan’s paper discusses the complementary relationship between humanities studies by reading classical Chinese literatures and modern survey studies. Dr. Chen’s paper reads A Dream of Red Mansions philosophically. Dr. He’s article also addresses the varied philosophical aspects of the classic A Dream of Red Mansions. Dr. Zhang’s treatise reads another classic, Journey to the West, as a literary paradigm of illustration for a special mind theory. Dr. Li discusses the hermeneutic movement in literary commentaries on novels in Ming-Qing dynasties. It would be perfect if a paper on teaching Chinese literature classics were part of the symposium and part of this volume.