When the self dissolves into causes and conditions: Reading Soul Mountain through Abhidharmakośabhāṣya

Abstract

This study examined the profound intersection between Buddhist philosophy and contemporary literature by investigating Gao Xingjian’s novel Soul Mountain through the lens of Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośabhāṣya. While previous scholarship frequently regarded Buddhist elements as mere external motifs, this research recognized the critical need to address how foundational scholastic frameworks could function as a structural and ontological methodology for interpreting narrative mechanics and the dissolution of the self. By employing a comparative and structural-ontological approach that integrated Abhidharma scholasticism with modern narratological frameworks, the research analyzed the novel’s spatial symbolism, narrative temporality, and ego-effaced character configurations. The findings demonstrated that the textual representation of sacred spaces and fractured identities dynamically mirrored the universal law of dependent origination and impermanence, wherein psychological crises and suffering emerged from complex causal networks of mental formations. Furthermore, the shifting narrative voices reflected the dissolution of a unitary ego into a continuous stream of psycho-physical aggregates. The study concluded that Soul Mountain transcended conventional narrative forms by embodying complex philosophical ontology, offering a transformative spiritual path where inner contemplation and the realization of dependent origination provided an ethical resolution to modern existential alienation.