Preface I have found myself incurably interested in topics related to the relations between God/ gods and humans since I was disciplined to succeed my father as a farmer. Oftentimes, I looked up to the sky, pondering why this year there was a lack of water and an upcoming loss of crops to face, and also why a harvest came without any special or extra efforts. During the apprenticeship with my father, I was kept away from my full-time teaching job, working on a rented farm instead on a meager income.As a scholar farmer, I still read books, not just for my dissertation, but to find reasons as to why my farming neighbors deemed their lack of harvest as nothing more than heaven’s will. “There were times when we had a harvest, and there were also times when we didn’t. Heaven will have a final say about whether we will reap as we sow or hope to get,” as this is often uttered like a life lesson to me.Harvest to my neighboring farmers is a gift from heaven, and they believe they would not feel want from Heaven or Nature, though they never expect to grow rich on their land. Dr. Ching-chung Hsu Dr. Hsu was once a full-time farmer for more than five years, but is currently an assistant Professor at National Chiayi University, teaching literature in the Department of Foreign Languages. He graduated from National Taiwan University as a bachelor with the double major in English and Chinese literature. He earned his master’s degree from NSYSU, his Ph.D. from NKNU, specializing in English novels.The present book is based on his Ph.D. dissertation, a book that is worth the westerner’s perusal because of its profound discovery about possible application of Eastern philosophy into western literature. Preface Foreword Introduction Journey towards Aristos: Novelization, Godgames, and Wu-wei in John Fowles’s Early Works Chapter One Classical Heritage of the West: Gods’ Disappearance in Classical Literature and Conflicts as Ever-lasting Tensions Chapter Two From Godgames and Plays to Truth in The Magus Chapter Three Novelization of Narrative and Hazard in The French Lieutenant’s Woman Chapter Four Initiation from You-wei to Wu-wei in The Magus and The French Lieutenant’s Woman Conclusion Building toward Nothingness: Wu-wei as the Way to Aristos Works Cited About the author ISBN: 9789574458394 書林書號: 70000016