A Discussion On The Generation Of Modern Chinese Literary Current

From the present study of the Chinese modern literary current, the arising of the literary movement is usually regarded as the generation of the literary current. For this reason, few researchers have paid due attention to the generation of modern literary current in China as they have neglected the fact that Chinese literary enlightenment has rather great influence and restraint in the modern literary current. In fact, if people acknowledge that the cultural nature of the Chinese enlightenment has been evolved from the study of Confucian classics to that of literature, the influence of thought of the Chinese literary enlightenment has triggered the emergence of modern literary current, which has facilitated the arising of modern literary movement. At the same time, it must be recognized that the demand of ideology reconstruction for the Chinese literary enlightenment has restricted the full arising of the literary movement with the medium of the modern literary current. This is why the arising of modern Chinese literary movement requires the theory precedes literary creation, but unavoidably causes the biased result of the literary movement.The present study of the literary enlightenment and the modern literary current has two characteristics: one is the study of literary enlightenment and currents by dividing the modern era into two periods; the other is the study of them by separating the traditional influence of native culture from the modern influence of foreign culture. The first characteristic has initiated the second characteristic, and the second characteristic has strengthened the first characteristic. Thus it results in a quite influential study paradigm which focuses on one period with traditionalinfluence or that with modern influence. However, in terms of the research tendency, there are also two major characteristics: the first characteristic is the research for the mentioned in the long period of time in history, the second is the synthetic research for modern transformation above mentioned. The first characteristic has facilitated the second characteristic, and the second characteristic has promoted the first one. Therefore, the synthetic research based on the long period of time has become a more and more influential study method. And only in this way, can we expand our research and make a more in-depth discussion on the Chinese literary enlightenment and the generating of modern literary current so as to grasp the multiple relationships between them.The origin of the Chinese literary enlightenment can not be separated from the Chinese enlightenment. First, the Chinese enlightenment is a kind of cultural enlightenment with historicity and totality. It is both modern and traditional. It has caused the interaction and compatibility of the modern orientation and the tradition continuation in the cultural enlightenment. How to avoid the dual opposition of understanding the cultural nature of the Chinese enlightenment also needs to refer to the theoretic thinking about cultural nature of the European enlightenment. Next, from the enlightenment of the study of Confucian classics to the literature, we can see that the evolution of the enlightenment mode in the Chinese enlightenment was undoubtedly happened under the historical background of the Chinese cultural development. Whether it is individual interpretation of the study of Confucian classics or the individual writing of literature will have relevant change with the cultural development. Therefore, the thought enlightenment,which has changed the individual choice from the study of Confucian classics to literature writing,has also showed process of thought evolution in the cultural enlightenment.Finally, the literary enlightenment specifically presents the modern orientation led by literary renovation. With the revitalizing of the enlightenment of the study of Confucian classics during the end of Qing Dynasty, the enlightenment mode has evolved from the study of Confucian classics to that of literature. Not only the enlightening grouphas been expanding from the scholars to writers, and the enlightening object from gentlemen to people, but also the mission of saving the nation from subjugation has been developed from the domestic revolution to the international anti-imperialism. Thus it has finally formed to the cultural tradition of enlightenment as saving the nation from subjugation.The initiation of modern literary current cannot be separated from the Chinese modernization. First, early in 1933, some people started to discuss "the issue of the Chinese modernization", which revealed the basic question that we had to solve for the Chinese modernization: the relations between the modern and tradition. The literary enlightenment is a traditional continuation of native culture based on the renovation of the cultural consciousness so that it can be adapted to the modern orientation of the foreign culture.This cultural characteristic of the Chinese modernization displays not only in the literary enlightenment, but also in the literature modernization.Next,there is an intrinsic relation between the literary enlightenment in China and drastically political change in China. After 1900, the Qing government had carried out a series of system transplanting which was objectively helpful to the social modernization, especially the modernization of the man in China.lt facilitated not only the formation of independent thought, but also the disintegration of the ideological despotism to a certain degree. The man has come into the actual process of modernization as human beings. In conclusion, the generating of modern literary current in China has at the beginning maintained the intrinsic consistency with the literary enlightenment. The real outspread of literary enlightenment is inseparable from the modern renovation of the literary current.The transformation of literary idea has become the modern beginning of the self-enlightenment for the Chinese literary current.The whole revolution of the Chinese literature and the phased development of the literary enlightenment supplement each other. First, the wholeness of literature has experienced the complete evolution of the essential literary factors such as theme, genre, style and language, etc. By the end of Qing Dynasty, various kinds ofinsufficiencies that appeared in the beginning of the literary revolution in various circles, has directly affected the whole evolution of literature and exhibited the same nature. Both the literary thought resources and the ways of literary expressing have been mostly taken from the native traditional literature.Meanwhile, the literary revolution of various circles by the end of Qing Dynasty also displays the non-uniformity. The thought enlightenment of poetry and prose is restricted within the social elites, but the thought enlightenment of novel opens to the social populace. From revolution in the novel circle to the literary revolution, there is literary continuity that occurs on the level of essential literary factors between them. It has indicated that there exists homogeneity of the modern development of literature between the revolution of the novel circle by the end of Qing Dynasty and the literary revolution at the beginning of the Republic of China.Finally, the relationship between language and literature is fundamentally a cultural relationship. This relationship exists in human's language use from the whole process of literature writing to accepting. Therefore, the literary revolution is a creating process in which man gives life to literature by renewing language. The use of the word revolution has undoubtedly proved that the word may impel the language revolution of literature, and move to the thought revolution of enlightenment subsequently.There would be no individual prescience in literary enlightenment without the modern transformation of Chinese education. Firstly, the renovation of the Chinese education system started in 1901, and cleaned the path for the widespread of modern thought from other cultures. It has facilitated individual to make an independent choice in the literary enlightenment, and brought up the prescience community and the national community of enlightenment object. Thus it has effectively guaranteed the literary enlightenment in China.Secondly, the modern thought dissemination with overseas students as the medium, has become the basic premise for the full development of literary enlightenment in the course of cultural exchange between China and the West. This indicates that the generation of modern Chinese literary current derives from the absorption of the west learning. Due to the dissemination ofmodern thought generation after generation of the overseas students, the Chinese literary revolution is influenced in every respect. Finally, the prescient people made literary retrospection with the characteristic of pure thinking in the literary revolution of various circles at the end of Qing Dynasty, while in the literary revolution at the beginning of the Republic of China, they faced the requirement of reality and engaged in individual pondering. Thus, they have confirmed aesthetic essence of literature and determined modern development of literature. They promoted thorough outspread of the literary enlightenment, and facilitated the generation of modern Chinese literary current at the same time.The "literature of human" which becomes the main literary current has accepted the dissemination and the influence from the humanism. First, the native culture towards the traditional view of human is embodied by the consciousness of citizenship as "the people are the foundation of the state". During the process of literary enlightenment, the prescience takes humanism of the taking men as the center. The Chinese humanist ideal starts its construction through the modern transformation of the cultural consciousness from the consciousness of the citizenship to that of humanism. Next, the influence of native culture holds a strong position in the literary revolution of various circles at the end of Qing Dynasty. The traditional influence of the consciousness of citizenship has strengthened the political utilitarian nature of literary enlightenment, which causes the literature of "renewing people" to take a dominant position through the political teaching in the literary current. Finally, with the influence of the external culture became strong, the "literature of human" which is deeply influenced with humanism has become the mainstream during the generation of the modern Chinese literary current. But in the literary revolution movement," the life art school" gradually occupied the dominant position of the literary current. The occurrence of literature utilization might cause literature tending to be a practical tool.Thus, from the generation of modern Chinese literary current, the main literary current has turned from the literature of "renewing people" to the "literature ofhuman", as the literary revolution of various circles during the end of Qing turned to the literary revolution at the beginning of the Republic of China at the same time.Therefore. no matter it is the thought enlightenment in the literary enlightenment or the literary modernization in the literary vicissitude, either one has direct influence in the generation of the modern literary current. It has brought the Chinese phenomenon which the literary ideas evolution from old to new prior to the whole evolution of essential literary factors. This phenomenon not only indicates the consistent relationship between the evolution of literary ideas from old to new and the literary enlightenment, but also proves certain realistic inevitability that the individual thinking of literary theory takes precedence of the individual writing of literary creation during the generative process of the modern literary current. It is necessary as reasonable to the presciences in literary enlightenment. This can explain why the theory initiative has advanced in the movement of the literary revolution in China. So, the literary current may surge to facilitate the arising of literary movement. In this sense, the literary revolution in China is a literary war that is initiated by a number of people to subvert the tyrant's-like literary kingdom.Of course, we should not neglect the fact that it is the existence of the thought enlightenment of literary enlightenment in China that displays an constrained influence in the generation of the literary current, and triggers the self-enlightening of the prescience from culture to literature. Therefore, it is not a kind of historical inevitability to the literary vicissitude in China that the precedence of initiating literary theory over the writing of literary creation. It needs to study widely and deeply in future.