Recent scholarship has revisited the so-called distinction between Hua and Yi (hua–yi zhi bian) and the ethos of Hua–Yi differentiation, noting that beneath this seemingly rigid boundary lies the potential for transformation and intermixture (hua–yi zhi bian as change). Taking this issue as its point of departure, this article turns to representations of alterity in Six Dynasties zhiguai narratives. It focus on depictions of foreign peoples, foreign individuals, and foreign lands, moving beyond mere textual compilation to examine the multiple layers and internal logic of “otherness.”
The discussion is organized as follows. It first analyzes portrayal of temperament and corporeality attributed to foreign peoples and individuals, along with the symbolic mechanisms of abjection and stigmatization they entail. It then considers representations of foreign lands and heterotopic spaces in contrast to normative, ordinary spatial orders. Given the fragmentary, concise, and stylistically accessible nature of zhiguai anecdotes, this study employs key concepts from contemporary sociology and philosophy—such as abjection, stigma, and heterotopia—to reinterpret these texts from a modern theoretical perspective.
In its analytical framework, the article seeks not only to address binary divisions such as Hu and Han or Hua and Yi, but also to foreground internal differentiations among “foreign” groups—such as Man, Yi, Wu, and Southerners—constructed at various levels of subjectivity. This approach underscores the fluidity of boundaries between distinction and transformation, interior and exterior. While the dictum “those not of our kind must differ in mind” posits a clear demarcation, the processes by which alterity defined, by which parts of the self are rendered other, or by which the other is assimilated into the self, constitute the central problematic this study aims to clarify.
The discussion is organized as follows. It first analyzes portrayal of temperament and corporeality attributed to foreign peoples and individuals, along with the symbolic mechanisms of abjection and stigmatization they entail. It then considers representations of foreign lands and heterotopic spaces in contrast to normative, ordinary spatial orders. Given the fragmentary, concise, and stylistically accessible nature of zhiguai anecdotes, this study employs key concepts from contemporary sociology and philosophy—such as abjection, stigma, and heterotopia—to reinterpret these texts from a modern theoretical perspective.
In its analytical framework, the article seeks not only to address binary divisions such as Hu and Han or Hua and Yi, but also to foreground internal differentiations among “foreign” groups—such as Man, Yi, Wu, and Southerners—constructed at various levels of subjectivity. This approach underscores the fluidity of boundaries between distinction and transformation, interior and exterior. While the dictum “those not of our kind must differ in mind” posits a clear demarcation, the processes by which alterity defined, by which parts of the self are rendered other, or by which the other is assimilated into the self, constitute the central problematic this study aims to clarify.
Page：
117-150
Keywords：
Six Dynasty zhiguai, foreign peoples, abjection, stigma, heterotopia
