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In this paper, we will focus on Chinese literary works that quote the Chinese texts in Mori Ogai’s early literary criticism “The Poetry of Critics in 22nd year of the Meiji era”. The purpose is to clarify how Ogai read Chinese literature in the literary criticism of this period. Compared with the Chinese citations of professional literary critics who were active in the Japanese literary world in 1887 and mentioned in Ogai’s literary criticism. Analyzing the characteristics of Chinese literary works quoted in “The Poetry of Critics in 22nd year of the Meiji era” and the time when they were imported into Japan. We will also consider Ogai’s writings found in the cited Chinese literary works. We will also consider Ogai’s notes in the cited Chinese literary works. In the early literary criticism, we will consider the method of quoting Chinese literature from Ogai, and consider the view of Chinese literature in Ogai during this period through the genre of criticism.

Ogai Mori's novel The Wild Goose (1911-13) is set during the early Meiji period. Two pieces of Chinese literature are mentioned in the novel: i.e., the Yuchu novels and The Golden Lotus. Previous studies discussing the meaning of Chinese literature in The Wild Goose mainly focused on the similarities of figures and story lines between novels. This study aims to research the changes in figures and descriptions in The Wild Goose, beginning with a study of the changes in the heroine, which imply the ending of The Wild Goose. The connection between the depiction of the two worlds of medical students and civilians in The Wild Goose and The Golden Lotus is also examined.

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