Category and Discourse of Purusa in Ancient Indian Literary and Art Criticism

Abstract

The image of Purusa, derived from Rgveda, had a profound influence on culture and people’s ways of thinking in India. And it also had been constantly interpreted by philosophers and literary theorists. This thesis will mainly focus on the origin and development of the concept of Purusa, explore it in ancient Indian literary and art criticism, and try to understand the Purusa concept embodying the features of ancient Indian literary and art criticism and the Indian nation.