The Sphinx factor symbolises the duality characteristic of a human who faces an ethical choice. Borrowed from Greek mythology, the Sphinx, that epitome of post-primeval universality, is transformed by Nie in the analysis of key works of world literature into a universal mechanism for explaining the coexistence of good and evil. The book brings up the Confucius factor, with its ritual self-discipline, by referring to the traditions of American ethical criticism, thus enabling a reversed Confucian interpretation of the classical canon. Nie’s work illustrates the methodological choice of Chinese ethical criticism, itself a product of the interaction between Chinese ethical philosophy and the theories and concepts defining the knowledge generated by scholars of the humanities across the globe. Familiar plotlines coalesce into an ethical map of the world.