Abstract: As a painter, poet, and critic, Hermann Hesse had extensive contacts with Expressionist artists and got involved in their movement during the first two decades of the 20^th century. The influence he had received from Expressionism is reflected, in a focalized way, in Klingsors letzter Sommer, the most “innovative” novella written in the early period of his career. The work not only uses synaesthesia to express the strong inner tension and explore the post-war shift of the internal introspection from collective duty to individual responsibility in a way that embodies “turning inward” —the “new spirit” of Expressionism endorsed by Hesse, but also embraces the idea of turning eastward, thus transforming the image of the “miserable,” “melancholy,” and aberrant Li Bai into a kind of representational mode of Expressionism.

Key words: Hesse, Expressionism, Li Bai, "inward", "eastward"