Modern Chinese Poetry: Late Qing To The May Fourth Movement

How did the vernacularized and free-verse styled new verse which in one of the modern Chinese poetry genre (its early form is free verse written in the vernacular) emerge? Its immanent reasons still have not been explained sufficiently. How did the poetry go through language and form transference during the transition period from late Qing Dynasty to the May 4th Movement of 1919.Poetry is a special way of expression. It does not satisfy human' s direct desire of meaning and not reflect reality straightly. It indirectly presents experienced reality with concrete linguistic form and specific form mechanism. When we discuss the emergence of modern poetry, we must consider some modern factors, such as specific historical context, the modernist object of intellectuals etc. At the same time, it is written in Chinese, therefore, we must take the influence on poetry exerted by the change of Chinese into account. Furthermore, whether the old-style poetry or the new verse, we can not neglect the ontic characteristics of the poetry.From the perspective of these three indispensable factors, this article replaces the traditional "new verse" with "modern Chinese poetry" concept to investigate the historical continuity, characteristics of Chinese and the ontic characteristics of the poetry within the evolvement of poetry. Starting off from the "the agreement of language and expression" pursuit of late-Qing intellectuals and concrete poetry creation to the flourish of free verse written in vernacular during the May 4th Movement of 1919, the article reviews the complex genesic intertwinement and concrete view of modern Chinese poetry from the interactive angle of experience, language and form.