"The Slovakian literary comparatist and Sinologist Marián Gálik was one of the first scholars to point out the importance of the Christian Bible as a source for secular writing in China. In his Selected Studies, Gálik provides a panoramic view of the Bible's function in twentieth-century Chinese fiction, drama, and poetry. He analyses the different ways in which authors, such as Lu Xun, Mao Dun, Bing Xin, Gu Cheng, and Wang Meng, have appropriated the biblical text. Other themes include recent studies by Chinese scholars on the Bible and comparisons of Chinese translations of biblical texts, namely, the Psalms. Gálik focuses on questions of intertextuality and demonstrates his faith in the possibility of interreligious and intercultural understanding." --Monumenta Serica website.

Contents: IRENE EBER: "The Fountain of Living Waters." Introduction -- Part I: The "Third Covenant" and Interreligious Understanding. Confessions of an Idealist -- The Bible, Modern Chinese Literature, and Intercultural Communication -- The Old Testament of the Bible in Modern Chinese Literary Criticism and Creative Literature -- The Bible in Twentieth Century China against the Background of Psalms Translations -- The Reception of the Bible in the Peoples' Republic of China (1980-1992). Observations of a Literary Comparatist -- A Comment on Three Chinese Books on the Bible -- A Comment on Three Western Books on the Bible in Modern and Contemporary China -- Lü Zhenzhong: One of the Chinese Translators of the Bible.
Part II: The Song of Songs (Šir hašširim) and the Shijing. An Attempt in Comparative Analysis -- Mythopoeic Warrior and femme fatale: Mao Dun's Version of Samson and Delilah — Three Modern Taiwanese Woman Poets (Rongzi, Xia Yu and Siren) on Three Wisdom Books of the Bible -- Temptation of the Princess. Xiang Peiliang's Decadent Version of Biblical Amnon and Tamar -- Young Bing Xin and Her Poetry -- Gu Cheng's Novel Ying'er and the Bible -- Between the Garden of Gethsemane and Golgotha. The Last Night and Day of Jesus in Modern Chinese Literature (1921—1942)-- Matres dolorosae: Musings over Wang Duqing's "Shengmuxiang qian" and Guido Reni's La Crocifissione dei Cappucini -- Parody and Absurd Laughter in Wang Meng's Apocalypse. Musings over the Metamorphosis of the Biblical Vision in Contemporary Chinese Literature -- Epilogue -- Glossary -- References to the Biblical Passages.