本文的目的是從視覺研究的角度出發，探討十六世紀末至十九世紀末自西方傳入中國的視覺裝置―特別是望遠鏡、照相機與X光―如何在小說與報章雜誌報導等敘事文類中再現，藉以追溯中國現代視覺經驗的起源與其生成脈絡。視覺研究已經成為近十年來清代與民國時期文學與文化史研究中極為重要的主題，並且已經獲致了相當豐碩的成果。相對於過去研究主要側重新的視覺裝置所產生的視覺經驗對於中國傳統視覺經驗的衝擊，以此探究某種具有普遍意義的視覺現代性問題，本文則藉由分析這些視覺裝置在敘事中被再現與想像的方式的源頭與變化過程，描述中國現代視覺經驗的形塑過程背後所牽涉到的傳統隱喻元素以及認知框架的運作方式。本文試圖說明，在二十世紀初中國救亡圖存的政治社會語境之下，「鏡」是如何以其穿透時間與空間阻礙的古老隱喻結構提供了知識分子對於現實處境的反思與對未來可能性的投射的思考框架。

The current study aims to describe how the cultural metaphor has taken effect in the visual experiences of various literary texts since the introduction of Western visual devices such as cameras and movies to China in the late 16th century. Visual modernity, highly related to the Western visual devices, has become an important issue in the studies within the past decade of early Republic literature and culture. Past scholars have focused mainly on how the visual experiences brought by the new visual devices have impacted on the traditional visual experience in China, and how this impact has influenced literature and culture. These studies only imply that there is one universal idea of visual modernity and that new visual experiences are completely rejected as incompatible or completely replace outdated modes of visual experience. However, it is known from the perspective of cultural translation that a new concept can be accepted after interpreted through a known epistemological framework, which will connect the concept with the given historical environment. In view of this, this study explores the traditional metaphoric elements and the epistemological framework behind the formulation of Chinese visual modernity and analyzes the origin and the process of the reappearance and creation of the visual devices in narrative texts of the 16th and 19th centuries.