Transcendentalism and the Walden2011级英语三班万龙201103010318 2014/6/16AbstractAs the precursor of American Transcendentalism, Thoreau spared no effort to take his provoking thoughts into practice, which presented vividly in his noted book Walden. The transcendentalists think the university could be divided into two essential parts, soul and nature. In the first place, they place emphasis on spirit, or the oversoul, as the most important thing in universe; secondly, the transcendentalists stress the importance of individual; thirdly, they offer a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the spirit of God. Thus, Thoreau had special ways of understanding solitude and he never felt lonely because all the materials in the world are alive and can have communications.Key wordsTranscendentalism, Walden, Thoreau, oversoul, individual, solitude1 Brief introduction for transcendentalism and its influenceNew England transcendentalism is an American political, spiritual, philosophical, and literary movement of the early 19th century. Although it’s limited in time from the mid 1830s to the late 1840s in space to eastern Massachusetts, its influences continue to spread through American culture. Its beginning is marked by the publication of Emerson’s Nature which utters a new voice “The universe is composed of nature and the soul”. Transcendentalism begins as a radical religious movement, opposing to the conservative rationalism of Unitarianism. It queries the already established cultural forms, tries to reintegrate spirit and matter and help to push American Romanticism into a new phase.The transcendentalists think the university could be divided into two essential parts, soul and nature. A belief in the human conscience is a fundamental transcendentalist principle, which is based upon the creed of the indwelling of God in the soul of the individual. “We see God around us, because he dwells within us,”wrote William Ellery Channing. The transcendentalists believe in the importance of a direct relationship with God and with nature. Emerson wrote in his essay Nature that “The foregoing generations beheld God and Nature face to face; we—through their eyes. Why should not we also enjoy an original relation to the universe?”Inspired by transcendentalism, Thoreau went to live at Walden Pond in 1845 to experience nature directly and intensely and to test his transcendental outlook in the concrete physical world. In the chapter of his book Walden titled “Solitude,” he wrote of his connection with nature as a very intimate, two-way relationship.Thoreau was just one of the excellent transcendentalists. In the last chapter of Walden, he told us again that one attraction in coming to the woods to live was that he should have leisure and opportunity to see the spring coming in. The arrival of spring symbolized a reawakening of the self. He also said he wanted to “live sincerely”, and “to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could learnwhat it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived” In the 2nd chapter, Thoreau suggested that we spend one day as deliberately as nature, and not be thrown off by the track by every nutshell and mosquito’s wing that falls on the rails. We can see that transcendental ideas draw Thoreau close to nature and provide him a new understanding of the relationship between nature and human beings, which contributes a lot to the development of his views on life and loneliness.2 Transcendental WaldenNature is a platform and solitude is the excellent condition for Thoreau’s transcendental contemplations. In the 2nd chapter, “where I lived, and what I lived for”. Thoreau described the environment around Walden, but the descriptions of the physical environment are soon pulled down by metaphysical expressions. For example, Thoreau’s first detailed description of the pond concluded with a transcendental gesture, “Both places and time were changed, and I dwelt nearer to those parts of the universe and to those eras in history which had most attracted me. Where I lived was as far off as many a region viewed nightly by astronomers”. What’s more, the physical environment is once again concluded at the end of the chapter with a statement that reflected the author’s concerns for the self. So we can see that Thoreau focused on his spiritual life and cared about the spiritual development.In the chapter “solitude”, we see no words expressing his inner loneliness. In Thoreau’s view, he was definitely not solitude because living upon the Walden; he had more access to communicating directly with the nature and God. So he never thought close neighbors were necessary. Furthermore, in the chapter of “The pond”, the descriptions of the pond are metaphor. Here, we are presented with Thoreau’s interior landscape rather than the natural pond: inviting, mystical, refreshing and secluded (Buell, 1995). The metaphoric description of Walden represented something eternal, sounding the deep bottom of human thought. And all the nature are equal to human beings, the pond is just like a beautiful lady. Thoreau will never feel lonely if she (the pond) accompanies with him. Transcendental Walden affirms that the physical environment can be a guide to inner exploration, and has significance only as a framework for exploration of the self. It also affirms that life on the peaceful and quiet Walden is actually very colorful and lively.3 Thoreau’s thought of solitude generated from Emerson’s transcendentalismTranscendentalists call on men’s attention to self-improvement as they find that men’s spiritual cultivation does not keep pace with their accumulation of wealth, even falling behind in the economic development. Thoreau is, undoubtedly, the practitioner of transcendentalists’discipline. With Emerson’s permission, he went to live in the Walden Pond, only carrying an ax, building a hut by his won. It was coincidence that it was July 4, Independence Day in America when Thoreau moved in the Walden Pond. He then led two years’ life there, the simplest life in sharp contrast to the rushes and bustles of American social life outside, and finally finished his masterpiece Walden.Thoreau’s Walden actually acts out Emerson’s transcendental theory. In Walden, there are various aspects radiating from Emerson’s theoretical system. Thoreau says he “go and come with a strange liberty in Nature, a part of herself” and his “nearestneighbor is a mile distant, and no house is visible from any place but the hill-tops within half a mile of my town”. In the pond alone, he affords himself by sowing beans, and spends plenty of time in thinking about life and doing his academic creation. Thoreau’s self-reliance reveals mainly in chapters of “The Bean-Field”and “House-warming” and his self-promotion of human nature in chapters of “Solitude”and “Higher Laws”. Poor material life he leads, he’s rich in possessing abundant spiritual wealth and he’s not lonely at all, since he cultivates his inner field and receives a large mental harvest.4 Thoreau’s transcendental views in WaldenFirst of all, as romantic idealism, Thoreau thought spirit is the most important thing. He held the view that man want to find the real truth of life only to ignore the material benefit. As for simplicity, there are two aspects, on the one hand, Thoreau urges people to give up their greedy desire for materials, and on the other hand, he encourages people to pursue rich spiritual development.Secondly, as a pure lover of nature, Thoreau takes the nature as a good and intimate friend. Returning to harmony with nature and deeming nature alive is an everlasting theme and an important connotation of ecoliterature. It’s the premise of a harmonious coexistence with nature. The present estranged and tense relationship between man and nature is due to traditional man-centered view. So we human beings have to amend the wrongdoings by ceasing his rapacious exploration of nature, treating everything on the earth equally and believing nature has emotions and feelings and can make communication with us.Based on the above views, Thoreau advocates regarding ourselves as part of nature and try to seek for a complete harmony with nature.5 Conclusion: the practical meaning of Thoreau’s transcendental views in WaldenObviously, Thoreau had realized the contradiction between nature and the modern industrial civilization. Thus, he set his mind to give enlightenment to raise people’s awareness of environmental protection and encourage them to live a simple life, which is accordance with the belief of our Chinese humanism. Reading Walden is like having an in tranquil steam floe through my heart, washing the dust in my mind. It teaches us how to keep a pure spirit in the more and more complex society. The real life is to make every complicate thing to be simple and enrich our heart and soul. That is to say, we should pay more attention to self-spiritual development rather than greedily pursuing material abundance. In a word, all the views Thoreau revealed in Walden can be deemed as guidance to build a spiritual civilized society.6 Bibliographies梭罗瓦尔登湖, 延边人民出版社，2013常耀信美国文学简史，南开大学出版社，2002王名楷爱默生，梭罗及其现代性，四川外语学院学报第三期马会娟，管兴忠译，罗伯特·米尔德著，重塑梭罗，北京东方出版社，2002。