The Important Value of Traditional Chinese Virtues: An Ethical Literary Analysis of The Touch

Set within a realistic narrative of traditional Chinese ethic in the latter half of 20th in China and British, The Touch by Liu Hong in 2005 can be regarded as a masterpiece to represent traditional Chinese virtues. This essay applies Nie Zhenzhao’s ethical literary criticism to analyze how different Chinese people in different periods of contemporary China to make the choices for the others for good to develop the whole narration of this novel. Traditional Chinese virtues embodied in the heroes of The Touch are self-devotion, forbearance, fortitude and tolerance, etc. The analysis reveals that Liu Hong provides a new writing to comprehend the traditional Chinese virtues. By applying the elements of traditional Chinese virtues, the novel actually builds up the new image of Chinese people in contemporary China and British. It proves that it is the function of traditional Chinese virtues that ensures Chinese people live in harmony with themselves and foreigners.