International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.1, 2026

Worlding East Asian Chinese Fu: Centering on the Eastward Transmission and Westward Introduction of the Fu Genre

(Abstract)

Wang Sihao

The Fu genre, with its “Chinese institutional framework” characteristic of structuring the state and embellishing grand achievements, became the classical Chinese literary genre that best embodies the splendor of the Chinese state. The institutional power of Chinese civilization was the key driving force behind the transmission of the Fu genre to the East Asian Sinosphere, including the Korean Peninsula, Japan, and northern Indochina Peninsula. The splendor of the Chinese state shaped the East Asian tradition of “envoys composing Fu,” which was the ultimate aim for Fu writers to depict the spiritual geography of various countries with a world sentiment. The overseas translation and textual rebirth of Chinese Fu writings served as a crucial guide for East Asian Chinese Fu to embark on a path toward world literature. From the perspective of worlding, East Asian Chinese Fu becomes a super-text integrating history, geography, politics, and lyricism. The concept of “holistic research on East Asian Chinese Fu” aims to transcend the limitations of national literary histories, systematically tracing the millennium-long journey of the classical Fu genre from its eastward transmission and reception to its westward translation and introduction. This approach provides a crucial case study and theoretical paradigm for establishing the canonical status of non-Western classics within a global context.