Abstract
This chapter sets out the conceptual imperative and cultural and political consistency of the language reform movement since premodern times and argues that the modern Chinese language is not a natural development of classical Chinese but is a Westernized language in terms of its ideological implications, concept nouns, and discursive structure. The chapter concludes that classical and modern Chinese are two language systems, which predetermine the antiquity and modern quality of classical and modern Chinese literature respectively. It also touches on the relation between language reform and the transformation of contemporary Chinese literature.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Works Cited
Anonymous. (1920, January 14). Suggestions for Using the National Language in Primary Schools. Morning Post.
Chen Duxiu. (1917). A Reply to Hu Shi. The New Youth, 3.
Chen Duxiu. (1935). On Literary Revolution. In Anthology of New Chinese Literature: Theory Construction. Shanghai: Liangyou Book Company.
Chen Duxiu. (1991). A Word to the Youth. In Ren Jianshu, Zhang Tongmo, and Wu Zhongxin (Eds.), Selected Works of Chen Duxiu (Vol. 1). Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House.
Chen Duxiu. What Is the New Culture Movement? Vol. 2.
Chen Duxiu. Why Do We Need to Promote Baihua? A Speech Delivered in Wenhua University of Wuchang. Vol. 2.
Chen Wanxiong. (1997). The Origin of the May Fourth New Culture. Shanghai: SDX Joint Publishing Company.
Chen Xiaoming. (1993). Foreword. In Sun Ganlu (Ed.), Absolute Writing. Wuhan: Changjiang Literature and Art Press.
Dai Shaoming. (1996). Introduction to Cultural Linguistics. Beijing: Language and Culture Press.
Du Shuying. (1998). Reflections on the Literature and Art in the New Period. Literary Criticism, 5.
Fairbank, J., and Witchett, D. (Eds.). (1994). Republican China 1912–1949 Part I. In The Cambridge History of China (Vol. 12). Beijing: China Social Sciences Press.
Feng Guifen. (1959). A Reply to Zhuang Weisheng. In Guo Shaoyu & Luo Genze (Eds.), Selected Literary Theories in Recent Era in China (Vol. 1). Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House.
Hu Shi. (1935). On Building up a Literary Revolution. In Anthology of New Chinese Literature: Theory Construction. Shanghai: Liangyou Book Company.
Hu Shi. (1993). A Preliminary Proposal for Literary Reform. In Collected Academic Papers of Hu Shi: New Literature Movement. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company.
Hu Shi. (1998). Forced to Join the Liangshan Rebels: Beginning of the Literature Revolution. In Ouyang Zhesheng (Ed.), Collected Works of Hu Shi (Vol. 1). Beijing: Beijing University Press.
Huang Zunxian. (2001). Japanese Studies. Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Book Publishing House.
Humboldt Wilhelm. (1999). On Language: On the Diversity of Human Language Construction and Its Influence on the Mental Development of the Human Species (Ed. M. Losonsky, Trans. P. Heath, Intro. H. Aarsleff). London: Cambridge University Press.
Lee Leo Ou-fan. (1978). The Cambridge History of China (J. Fairbank & D. Witchett, Eds., Vol. 13). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Liang Qichao. (1989). On the Relationship Between Novels and the Control of the Public. In The Ice Chamber Anthology (Vol. 10). Shanghai: Zhonghua Book Company.
Lin Yu-sheng. (1988). The Creative Transformation of Chinese Tradition. Shanghai: SDX Joint Publishing Company.
Liu Na. (1998). 1912–1919: Ending and Beginning. Modern Chinese Literature Studies, 1.
Liu Weimin. (1997). “Mr Science” and the May Fourth New Culture. Jinan: Shangdong University Press.
Liu Xiaofeng. (1997). The Western ‘Cultural Revolution’ During the Modernization Evolution. Chengdu: Sichuan People’s Press.
Liu Xinwu, and Qiu Huadong. (1995, July 30). The Diversity of Contemporary Literature in China. China Youth Daily.
Lu Xun. (1981). How I Came to Write Stories? In The Memorial Board of Lu Xun (Ed.), The Complete Works of Lu Xun (Vol. 4). Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House.
Qian Zhongshu. (1985). Linshu’s Translation. In New Selected Writings (p. 80). Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Book Publishing House.
Qiu Tingliang. (1959). Baihua: The Key to Literary Reform. In Guo Shaoyu & Luo Genze (Eds.), Selected Literary Theories in Recent Era in China (Vol. 1). Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House.
Qu Qiubai. (1953). A War Outside the Gate of Hell. In Collected Works of Qu Qiubai (Vol. 2). Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House.
Ren Hongjun. (1915). On the Reason for the Lack of Science in China. Science, 1.
Shi Zhanjun. (1998). Ethic Awareness and the Two Transformations of Chinese Literature in the 20th Century. Criticism and Creation (1 and 2).
Wang Guowei. (1997). On the Academic Circles in Recent Years. In Selected Works of Wang Guowei (Vol. 3). Beijing: Yanshan Publishing House.
Wang Li. (1985). On the Chinese Language. In Collected Works of Wang Li (Vol. 3). Jinan: Shangdong Education Press.
Wang Tao. (1998). Introduction. In Selected Articles of My Own. Zhengzhou: Zhongzhou Ancient Book Publishing House.
Wen Yiduo. (1993). The Spirit of ‘Goddess’. In Complete Works of Wen Yiduo (Vol. 2). Wuhan: Hubei Education Press.
Ye Jiaying. (1997). Wang Guowei and His Literary Criticism. Shijiazhuang: Hebei Education Press.
Zhang Jiong. (1998). The Vision of Literature in the New Period. Xi’an: Shaanxi People’s Education Press.
Zhang Yiwu. (1997). From Modernity to Post-modernity. Nanning: Guangxi Education Press.
Zhang Zhongxing. (1995). Wenyan and Baihua. In Selected Works of Zhang Zhongxing (Vol. 1). Beijing: China Social Sciences Press.
Zhou Zuoren. (1935). Ideological Revolution. In Anthology of New Chinese Literature: Theory Construction. Shanghai: Liangyou Book Company.
Zhou Zuoren. (1996). The Origin of New Chinese Literature. Shanghai: East China Normal University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gao, Y. (2018). Language Reform and the Transformation of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature. In: The Birth of Twentieth-Century Chinese Literature. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55936-4_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55936-4_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-56529-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-55936-4
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)