Modern literature of China

Modern Chinese literature has origins going back to the Qing period (1895-1911). The late period of the Qing dynasty was a time of intellectual crisis, when Chinese intellectuals began to fell that the solution of China's problems had to be found outside its own tradition. For this purpose, they began to work on translations of Western literature, which opened new windows of thought for Chinese readers, and exotic cultures were now lying at their feet. Most famous translators were Yan Fu (1864-1921) famous for introducing Western thoughts to China, including Darwin's idea of natural selection, and Lin Shu (1852-1924) the famous translator who introduced many Western literary works to China, while he himself did not speak any foreign languages. Fictional literature experienced a boom during this period. This was especially noted after the civil service examination was abolished in 1905, and literary scholars tried to form new social and cultural roles for themselves. A few important novelists emerged, like Wo Woyao (1866-1910), Liu E (1857-1909), Li Boyuan (1867-1906) and Zeng Pu (1872-1935).

Poetry also experienced a rejuvenation, and experimentation with new forms was welcomed. Traditional schools however, were still dominant on the cultural scene, especially with poets of the Tongguang School, such as Chen Yan, Zheng Xiaoxu, Chen Sanli and Shen Zenghzi, who wrote in a Song style. New Culturalist poets, like Hu Shi, would treat this type of poetry with hostility, saying that it was artificial and divorced from reality, and they favored something more socially relevant. The late Qing period also saw the emergence of a new "civilized drama", a kind of mixture of Western spoken drama and Chinese opera. The first years of the Republic of China, from 1911 onward, were a period of popular love stories, written in both the vernacular and the classical Chinese. This popular type of fiction was later labeled by the more serious critics of the New Cultural movement as Mandarin Ducks and Butterfly. This type of literature, however, would reach more readers than the progressive, high-literary type.

The New Culture Movement (1917-1923) solidified the changes which began to occur in previous years - vernacular language pushed out classical Chinese in all areas of writing and literature. Not only that, but classical Chinese was officially pronounced dead by literary reformers like Chen Duxiu (1880-1942) and Hu Shi  (1891-1962). A famous statement on the issue was given by Hu Shi: "A dead language can never produce a living literature." New writers, masters of the vernacular style, like Lu Xun (1881-1936), who is widely considered to be the founder of baihua, or vernacular literature, began to dominate the literary scene. Poets embraced experimentation in a manner similar to prose writers, trying out free verse and sonnet forms. Modern Chinese poetry flourished during the 1930s with poets like Dai Wangshu, Zhu Xiang, Li Jinfa and Wen Yiduo.

The period of 1920s and 1930s was a time of great creativity in literature, and literary journals were established and literary societies, such as the League of Left-Wing Writers, were created on virtually every corner. Major writers of this period were Guo Moruo (1892-1978), historian, essayist, critic and poet; Mao Dun (1896-1981) influential novelist and cultural critic, one of the best modern novelists in China, he was also its Minister of Culture from 1949 to 1965; Ba Jin (1904-2005) novelist influenced by Russian writers, particularly by Ivan Turgenev; and Lao She (1899-1966) a noted satirist both in novel and drama form, was one of the most significant figures of 20th century Chinese literature, famous for his novel Camel Xiangzi or Rickshaw Boy. Under Western influence, spoken drama also emerged during this period. Most gifted playwrights were Ouyuang Yuqian, Tian Han, Hong Shen and Cao Yu. Peking Opera was more popular however, than Western drama, under guidance of such figures as Mei Lanfang (1894-1961) one of the most famous Beijing opera artists in modern history.  A prominent influence on literary ideas was the League of Left-Wing Writers. Around 1932 it espoused most of the doctrines of the Soviet socialist realist thinkers, with their insistence on art reflecting current events in a realistic manner. This type of literary theory was later to become a wheel for Communist ideology. There were, however, other movements that stabilized the literary field, such as the New Sensationists - writers from the Shanghai area who wrote under the influence of Western and Japanese modernism. They provided a counterpart to the utilitarians by writing fiction that was concerned with the unconscious and with aesthetics rather than with political and social problems. Most significant writers of this movement were Mu Shiying (1912-1940), Liu Na'ou and Shi Zhecun (1905-2003). A similar type of protest to utilitiarian notions of literature was provided by such writers as Shen Congwen (1902-1988) and Fei Ming, who opposed such literature by writing lyrical depictions of the countryside.

Literature under Mao's rule

In 1942 Mao gave a series of lectures called Talks at the Yan'an Forum on Art and Literature, in which he made literature subservient to politics through what is known as the Yan'an Rectification Movement. This was an ideological ploy to 'rectify' all thinking according to the demands of the Communist Party. The document that was issued became a sort of national guideline for any question on culture in the People's Republic of China. The publishing industry was revolutionized with the Communists' advent on the literary scene - book distribution was centralized, writers were controlled through the Writers Union and a rigorous system of censorship was established. Writers were obliged to take up the ideology of socialist realism, which soon became the dominant style of writing. This unnatural state of affairs did not last very long, and conflict between writers and the government appeared very soon. The Communist government no longer had any need for writers who were able to satirize and criticize contemporary society, which they favored before coming to power, and now insisted that writers take up the subjects which the government proposed as relevant. The summit of this conflict was the Hundred Flowers Campaign (1956-57), a period when the Communist Party encouraged different views and solutions, under the slogan: "Let a hundred flowers bloom, let the hundred schools of thought contend." The apparent permission by Mao to engage in any form of social criticism later proved just another tactic by the Communist Party, meant to purify unwanted society members.

As hard as this period was for the writers, they still managed to produce literary works of high quality. One of the better known examples of this socialist literature is the Song of Youth, a novel still widely read by China's young readers. The political restrictions and various measures of control discouraged many writers from writing. In 1962, for example, only 42 novels were published, a devastating statistic for China's culture. This atmosphere of fear was extended to the Cultural Revolution period, when Mao's fourth wife, Jiang Qing, managed to extinguish virtually all cultural activity, except for a few operas and heroic novels, through various tactics of repression and intimidation.

Literature after Mao

The new era in literature began after the Gang of Four, as Mao's accomplices were known, were arrested in 1976. During these liberating years, writers discussed the monstrous abuses of power under the previous regime, and especially during the Cultural Revolution. Chinese cultural life needed to be rebuilt, and artistic talent had to be encouraged and given new life. The literature of this period, often called "the literature of the wounded", employed cynicism toward political leadership which caused so much damage to the country. They often went beyond the limits of productive criticism, by blaming entire periods or systems for everything that was wrong with society. Novels and short stories were produced in abundance during this period. Literary magazines were reestablished, and there was a special interest in foreign literature. Linguists were employed to translate recent Western works, and literary magazines which published foreign short stories became very popular among the young.

The cultural scene was divided. On one side there was the government, which tried to fight the intrusion of Western liberal ideas with such campaigns as Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign in 1983. On the other side were the new writers who experimented with new and unconventional styles, and were not afraid to approach delicate nationalist issues, and give them an ironic treatment. Notable writers of this period are Wang Meng, Zong Pu and Zhang Xinxin, and dramatists like Gao Xingjian, a French Chinese emigre novelist and dramatist, the first Chinese recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2000. Another group of writers appeared, who were said to comprise the Roots movement, sought to reconnect modern literature and culture with the Chinese tradition, pointing out that a century of iconoclasm and disrespect of classical literature had done much harm to China. The best writers of this type are Mo Yan (born 1955) often described as "one of the most famous, oft-banned and widely pirated of all Chinese writers", Han Shaogong  and A Cheng. Avant-garde forms of writing also emerged, led by such figures as Yu Hua, Su Tong and Ge Fei.

After the Tiananmen massacre of 1989, literature and culture in general became more commercial and escapist. A notable example is Wang Shuo, also known as a "hooligan" writer, whose novels have been translated into French, English, Italian, Japanese and many other languages, and who now enjoys the status of a cultural icon in China. Noted for his hooligan style of writing, using vivid language, particularly in Beijing dialect, he describes the confused generation of young people after the Cultural Revolution. He is described by some traditional Chinese commentators as a "spiritual pollutant", a reference to the slogan of the Communist Party. A proof of his fame is given in a comment about him by one of the bestselling American contemporary authors, Stephen King, who once said: "Every word Wang says will become the hit on the street tomorrow. He is the most influential icon in China." A little statistic will also show how influential he is: his latest novel sold at three dollars per character, a total of 3.65 RMB, a record in Chinese publishing history. 

There are also, of course, non-commercial types of writing. Many writers try to expose social problems in their work. Yan Lianke explores the agonies of HIV-AIDS sufferers in his novel Dreams of Ding Village. Women writers are establishing themselves, and feminist concepts are more present in China's literature than ever before. Notable examples are Wei Hui, Chen Ran, Wang Anyi and Hong Ying. Writers such as Chi Li, Fang Fang and Liu Heng, belong to the neo-realist school. Contemporary literature in the PRC is varied, and cannot be reduced to one school or type. Another one of those literary icons is the author Louis Cha (born 1924) writing under pen name Jin Yong. At the moment he is the best-selling Chinese author alive. He co-founded the Hong Kong daily Ming Pao, and was its first editor until 1993, when he retired. Known as perhaps the finest wuxia (martial arts and chivalry) writer today, he has sold over 100 million copies of his works worldwide. On the whole, Chinese literature is in the ascendancy - owing greatly to the fact that China is the largest publisher of books in the world. Literature in Chinese is published in abundance in the diaspora, a great portion of it in the United States and Europe. There are over 600 literary journals in the country, and every year some 120 -130 thousand books are published in China.

Seeing it is impossible to treat every single author, but not wanting to leave anyone out, here is a short list of modern Chinese writers, for those who want to read further:

Wang Tao (1828-1897)

Yan Fu (1853-1924)

Liang Qichao (1873-1929)

Liu E (1857-1909)

Hu Shih (1891-1962)

Wang Guowei (1877-1927)

Lu Xun (1881-1936)

Su Manshu (1894-1918)

Xu Dishan (1893-1941)

Liang Shih-Chiu (1903-1987)

Ye Shengtao (1894-1988)

Mao Dun (1896-1981)

Lin Yutang (1895-1976)

Yu Dafu (1896-1945)

Xu Zhimo (1896-1945)

Wang Tongzhao (1897-1957)

Lao She (1897-1966)

Guo Moruo (1892-1978)

Tian Han (1898-1968)

Zhu Ziqing (1898-1948)

Feng Zikai (1898-1975)

Bing Xin (1900-1999)

Wen Yiduo (1899-1946)

Ba Jin (1904-2005)

Shen Congwen (1902-1988)

Qian Zhongshu (1910-1988)

Cao Yu (1905-1996)

He Qifang (1912-1977)

Eileen Chang (1920-1995)

Lin Haiyin (1918-2001)

Wang Zengqi (1920-1997)

Wang Xiaobo (1952-1997)

Bei Dao (1949-)

Bai Xianyong (1937-)

Jinyong, or Louis Cha (1924-)

Cong Weixi (1933-)

Su Tong (1963-)

Mo Yan (1955-)

Tie Ning (1957-)

Ma Jian (1953-)

Gao Xingjian (1936-) first winner of Nobel Prize in Literature in 2000

Chiung Yao (1938-)

Zhang Xianliang (1936-)

Chen Zhongshi (1942-)