Imaginal Thinking (Xiangsiwei) in Comparative Perspectives of China and the West

“Imaginal thinking” epitomizes the ba-sic contents and characteristics of the tradi-tional mode of thinking in China. It is deter-mined by the property of non-substantiality,which was the highest concept in Chinesethought and culture. Unlike the Westernmode of conceptual thought featuring ratio-nality and logic determined by the substanti-ality of its highest conception, the imaginalthinking is not a target-oriented and ready-made mode of thoughts of duality contain-ing the opposites of sub…