Continuity and Change in Modern Chinese Literature

The Chinese Literary Revolution of 1917, origi nally concerned with the problem of replacing the classical lan guage with the living language of the people as a medium for written communication, introduced a period of rapid change and experimentation in Chinese literature. During the 1920's and 1930's, political as well as literary issues were involved in the debates over literary theory and practice. Nationalism and realism were dominant themes, and left-wing influence grew steadily. The Chinese Communist approach to literature, specifically defined by Mao Tse-tung in 1942, was translated into a nationwide program for the writers with the Communist victory in 1949. Since then, "socialist realism" has been the guiding principle for all writing although Communist policy has selectively accepted certain segments of the Chinese literary heritage which meet their political criteria. While the wide spread use of new forms, techniques, and emphases resulting from the Western impact on China has been a notable feature of modern literature, nevertheless the element of "realism" has definite historical antecedents in Chinese literary history. Thus both continuity and radical change have been present in the stream of modern Chinese literature.