This study aims to reconsider the gnomonic life of Farrington in "Counterparts" by re-reading the short story in the light of Pre-Chin Dynasty Confucianism. This attempt is based on the diverse possibilities of interpretation provided by the theme of gnomon, an incomplete parallelogram with a small part missing. In fact Joyce himself has never stated in any part of his works that `the dear dirty Dublin` should be transformed into a specific aspect. Rather, he eagerly wishes the `gratefully-oppressed` Irish to retrospect their present situation in shock, and reveal the causes of the paralysis at the root such as political, social and religious oppressions and their immorality. However, a more careful re-reading of "Counterparts" will remind the Eastern reader of the concept of `Zhong-shu`(õ÷ßð), which is a main element of `Ren`(ìÒ), one of the major concepts of the Pre-Chin Dynasty philosophy. Along with the concept of `Xios-ti`(üøðª), which means the familial love, the concept of Zhong-shu, which emphasizes the individual faithfulness and altruistic generosity in a rough sense, functions as a complement in perfecting the concept of `Ren`. In Dubliners, such characters as Little Chandler in "A Little Cloud" and Farrington in "Counterparts" are found frustrated in achieving any individual or social improvement. Those people tend to suffer from the sense of humiliation in the oppressive social structure, which limits their freedom, instead of recognizing their `otherness` in the society and attempting to resist. And it is the concept of `Zhong-shu` that they desperately need in such a situation. Thus, with the concept of `Zhong-shu`, such a helpless person as Farrington might be able to reconsider the situations of his wife and son as well as those of himself being in others` shoes, and that might be a step forward to the moral history of Dublin in a true sense, which Joyce himself rhetorically describes in his work. |