Consideration of the Existence of Shangri—La in Lost Horizon

雷蕎宇

【Abstract】Lost Horizon is a magnum opus of a famous English novelist James Hilton. Based on the original version of Lost Horizon， this thesis firstly studies the historical background of Lost Horizon and the authors life before analyzing the reason for writing the novel. At last， this thesis analyzes the image of Shangri-La by associating it with Utopianism. Finally， here comes the conclusion that the author successfully built a peaceful and harmonious land which is far away from the real world. The intention of describing of the main character Conway is to encourage people to pursue what they want， to pursue serenity and satisfaction with both material and mental environments. At the meantime， Shangri-La can be a mirror for people to introspect themselves whether their behavior is good for environment and society.

【Key words】Lost Horizon； Shangri-La； culture； Utopianism

1. Consideration of the existence of Shangri-La

1.1 Historical background

1.1.1 About the author

James Hilton （September 9， 1900 – December 20， 1954） was born in Lancashire， England. Jamess parents were both teachers， which made it possible for him to have a well-educated background. Meanwhile， this background also had a strong effect on` Jamess writing works. His fathers passion for music impressed James so much that music as an image appeared in his works every now and then.

James Hiltons high school life began at 1915 and ended up in 1918， almost the same time as the World War One. The atmosphere of war suffused the society， especially the high school， because every student nowadays might become a soldier tomorrow. Some of Jamess later short stories were also permeated with antiwar emotion. High school life wasnt only about violence. In Leys School， Cambridge， James met his classic literature teacher， Mr. W .H. Balgarnie， who was an intelligent and kind teacher， and was greatly enlightened and profoundly influenced.

James Hilton graduated from Christs College， Cambridge where he gained double degrees in History and English. After his graduation， he stayed in Cambridge as a teacher. And at the same time， James began his writing career， too.

James Hilton was an English novelist best remembered for several best-sellers， including Lost Horizon and Goodbye， Mr. Chips. The coming out of Lost Horizon led to his winning of Hawthornden Prize in 1934.

1.1.2 Historical background of the writing

The United Kingdom was on her way to go downhill. The UK， along with France， Russia and （after 1917） the US， fought against Germany and its allies in the First World War （1914–18）. The UK armed forces were engaged across much of the British Empire and in several regions of Europe， particularly on the Western front. The high fatalities of trench warfare caused the loss of much of a generation of men， with lasting social effects on the nation and a great disruption to the social order.endprint

After the war， the UK received the League of Nations mandate over a number of former German and Ottoman colonies. The British Empire reached its greatest extent， covering a fifth of the worlds land surface and a quarter of its population. However， the UK had suffered 2.5 million casualties and finished the war with a huge national debt.

The Irish Free State became independent with Dominion status in 1922. Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom. A wave of strikes in the mid-1920s culminated in the UK General Strike of 1926.

The UK had still not recovered from the effects of the war when the Great Depression （1929–32） occurred. In 1930s， the time when the Lost Horizon was published， the capitalist world was suffering in the biggest economic crisis ever. On October 29th， 1929， the stock market in New York crashed down and every capitalist country was greatly affected. International trade was shrinking and the price of primary production was keeping down. This led to considerable unemployment and hardship in the old industrial areas， as well as political and social unrest in the 1930s， with rising membership in communist and socialist parties.

1.1.3 Influence of Lost Horizon

Lost Horizon was published in 1933 by one press named Macmillan and the other one named William Morrow. Both were famed press at that time. So， we can conjecture that the success of Lost Horizon cant be coincidence. In the later 10 years， the book was translated into several different languages. Before Jamess death in 1950， Shangri-La had become a familiar word as utopia.

However， some readers found it much more attractive at the end of the story because the author left us imaginary space. They didnt forget about the philosophical implication of the great work. They agreed that Lost Horizon was a fantasy， and no matter whether “Shangri-La” existed or not， it showed us an attractive and wonderful paradise. The author of this book was great at description and imagination.

1.2 Association between Shangri-La and Utopianism

As known， the main feature of Utopianism is that the world it described is supposed to be an imaginary world. Thats the reason why Hilton put Shangri-La in Tibet， a mysterious plateau which is hard to get to， and many places of which are still undiscovered. The other feature of Utopianism is that people can lead a happy and comfortable life if they work for it. In the imaginary world Shangri-La， there are all kinds of resources to support local people. On this wonderful land， human beings can get the power that helps them to resist getting old. Humans are peaceful and have got rid of unhealthy emotion. They all obey the principle of the valley. And Shangri-La is such a civilized place that it has countless famed literatures， all kinds of instruments， and plenty of antiques. In Shangri-La， one has access to the life he dreams of. No one can tell which one is good or bad. This is another factor that makes Shangri-La such a harmonious place.endprint

1.3 Comparison between Shangri-La and Peach-Blossom Spring

Tao Yuanming is a typical poet with the yearning for a utopian society in ancient China. He created “the Peach-Blossom Spring”， a lovely and mysterious village. Same as Lost Horizon， Peach-Blossom Spring was written in turbulent time. There were wars around the world. The politics was corrupt， and peoples life was miserable. Both James Hilton and Tao Yuanming wanted to express the hope for a peaceful and better world by writing their works. Also， both Shangri-La and the Peach-Blossom Spring were far away from the civilized world， and the local people were satisfied with their lives and friendly to visitors.

However， the differences are also significant. The Peach-Blossom Spring is remote and unenlightened. In the Peach-Blossom Spring， people resist having connection with outer world. They are plain but poor. Lacking in education， they make a living by farming or fishing. On the contrary， people in Shangri-La accept advanced theories and tools， and keep up with the modern world. They make best use of advanced items and improve their living conditions. Whats more， people in Shangri-La have religions convictions， which in many ways can make a person stronger and more intelligent. The faith that people in Shangri-La have is a kind of Chinese traditional thought. Its a wisdom of being moderate towards others and also towards ones own life. In other words， people in the Peach-Blossom Spring are isolated while people in Shangri-La consider themselves as one part of the world and they are willing to shoulder the obligation to inherit the splendid treasures of human kind if wars in the outer world destroy the civilization.

2. Conclusion

This thesis analyzes the image of Shangri-La by studying the background of the writing associating it with Utopianism and comparing it with Peach-Blossom Spring.

As the fancy world James Hilton wanted， Shangri-La contains beautiful natural views and is far away from violence and impurity. It has become the model of the society people are going to build， where people care about the natural environment and the spiritual world. In Lost Horizon， Conway was arranged to arrive at Shangri-La and become fascinated with its peaceful and moderate atmosphere.It implies that people in the real life always want to escape from the present situation and desire for a non-existing place. When Conway recovered from his memory loss， he was regretful for his decision to leave Shangri-La， and was determined to go back.This time he was willing to search for Shangri-La and stay there instead of being subjected to the High Lama. At last， Conway started his journey to get back there. What Conway did coincide with what Shangri-La represented：seeking for a new life， giving up the past experiences and fighting for the ideal world.endprint

In conclusion， the author successfully built a peaceful and harmonious land which was far away from the real world. The intention describing of the main character Conway is to encourage people to pursue what they want， to pursue serenity and satisfaction with both material and mental environments. At the meantime， Shangri-La can be a mirror for people to introspect themselves that whether their behavior is good for environment and society.

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