Aestheticism in Chinese Narratives: On the Transcultural Adaptation of Le Pavillon sur l'eau from He Ying Lou

Théophile Gautier’s novella Le Pavillon sur l'eau serves as a transcultural adaptation of Li Yu's vernacular novel He Ying Lou, based on translations provided by sinologists. The author's adaptation strategy was influenced by his personal preferences and literary theory. His fascination with exoticism drove him to extensively incorporate Chinese elements into the work, metaphorically expressing his "nostalgia" for the exotic East. Guided by the aesthetic principle of "l'art pour l'art", Gautier artistically refined the language, plot, and characters of the story. Le Pavillon sur l’eau reignited the 19th-century French enthusiasm for Chinese themes, and the process of translating and adapting from He Ying Lou to Le Pavillon sur l’eau served as a comprehensive demonstration of the early integration of Chinese literature into the global literary paradigm.