“Optical” Narration in Science Novels in the Late Qing Dynasty and Its Significance of Modernity

There are many narratives about “optics” in the science novels of the late Qing Dynasty. The emergence of optical narrative is based on the historical background of the spread of Western learning to the East, especially closely related to the dissemination of Western optical knowledge and related instruments. It is mainly presented in two forms in science novels: one is as a knowledge performance, which lays the corresponding theoretical foundation for the optical writing of novelists in the late Qing Dynasty; the other is embodied as a series of optical strange mirrors with different functions, which vividly forms the echo of modern visual technology from the West in the local context. The former form of “knowledge” reflects the established historical fact that Western optics was imported into China in the late Qing Dynasty, and thus plays a significant role in scientific enlightenment. The latter form of “utensils” which contains not only the creators’ sincere service to the western visual technology symbolizing the power of science, but also the methodological representation of their participation in the imaginative expression and construction of modern visual culture. They have the same important significance of modernity.