Literary Revolution and the Literature at That Time
2 min readLiterary Revolution and the Literature at That Time
The literary revolution launched as part of the New Culture Movement marked the end of classical literature and the arrival of modern literature to the stage.
In 1917，Hu Shi and Chen Duxiu published their articles，“On the Reforms of Literature”and“On Literary Revolution”respectively，in the literary journal New Youth，the battlefield of the New Culture Movement.They explained their views on literary and language reforms from a theoretical point of view，criticizing feudal literature in terms of content and form，and making clear their resolute stand in the revolution of literature.However，in a society where thinking was shackled，these pioneers always felt isolated and their advocacy of literary revolution failed to cause much social response.Therefore，Qian Xuantong，an editor of New Youth，published an article against new literature，in the tone of an old intellectual，under the pen name Wang Jingxuan.Later，another leader of the New Literature Movement，Liu Bannong published“A Reply to Wang Jingxuan”，in which he made critical comments on Wang’s letter sentence by sentence.A1l this drew a great deal of attention across the country.This was the famous incident in the New Culture Movement known as “letters of two men.”After that，the literary revolution gradually began having an influence on people’s minds.In 1920，the Ministry of Education of the time stated that the vernacular should be adopted in the Chinese classes in the lower grades of primary schools.
Thus，the vernacular finally replaced the classical language that had ruled the Chinese intellectual world for several thousand years.This was definitely one of the achievements of the literary revolution.
Besides，the literary revolution brought about big achievements in the creation of new literature.Under the influence of the enlightenment of the May Fourth Movement，literature in this period displayed a strong aspect of rational criticism.With the help of science and democracy，people examined traditional values again，made critical comments on social reality，and regarded literature as the tool of enlightenment.At the same time，the May Fourth Movement was the period when “people were awakened，”and literary works of this period were filled with the spirits of self-emancipation and had a strong personal color.Therefore，the literary works of the May Fourth Movement were often written in a natural，simple，yet bold style.
