Discerning Modern/Traditional Perspectives

This essay focuses on two writers, Lu Xun and Zhang Henshui. By analysing and comparing their experiences and literary works, the author would like to reconsider ho w modern andtraditional cultural followings have influenced China’s Modernisation si nce the Cultural Revolution and discuss how these two different types of intellectuale xploration influence national salvation and societal improvement, as well as try to disc uss two different types of intellectualexploration of national salvation and improveme nt of national society.This paper consists of six chapters, which are based on Lu Xun and Zhang Hensh ui’s personal experience, literary creations, the image of intellectuals and women in th e literature, the native complex and the narrative structure of works, making a compre hensive and in-depth comparative analysis of Lu Xun who embodies the creative achievements of the new literature and Zhang Henshui who is entitled the master of p opular literature.Chapters one and two delineate in more detail the personal experiences and cultu ral backgrounds of Lu Xun and Zhang Henshui before they beat their literary paths. M oreover, the universality, individuality and different writing intentions of the two write rs’ literature works in their respective literature groups are studied and the possible ca use of emerging of the two distinctive intellectuals is explored.The third chapter further compares the structure, narration and style in writing of their literature on the basis of previous discussion of the two different writing concepts, so as to analyse the cause of the difference between elegance and commonplace. Further, the social impacts of these two different literature works will be re-examined.The fourth chapter focuses on the images of intellectuals shaped in their literature works. It examines Lu Xun, as the representative of modern intellectual and his intellectual characters and Zhang Henshui, as the representative of "half-new-half-old" intellectual due to the change of the society and his characters. Moreover, it intends to discuss the two different phycology--accepting Enlightenment, resisting tradition and denial of tradition. Therefore, it evaluates the different impacts of new literature and traditional literature on the modern society.Chapter five depicts Lu Xun and Zhang Henshui’s description of the rural society in their literature works and distinguishes their different perceptions and sentiments to wards ruralism. Also, it rethinks the influences of new literature and traditional literat ure with regards to farmers through literary works analysis, so that it examines the ne w literature and traditional literature’s impacts under the modern enlightenment backg round.Chapter six focuses their woman characters and depicts how struggled women as the liberation focus between tradition and modern is written in new literature and tradi tional woks during the New Literature Movement. These two different descriptions ref lect the dissonance appeared when the New Literature Movement tries to further the modern society development. This dissonance becomes the uncertainty of women’s f uture in new literature and inclination to tradition in traditional works.However, the development of modernisation is inevitable. Therefore, although there are two different literature approaches, they try to solve the problems that women are facing in the modernisation progress.Since the New Literature Movement, Chinese literature developed into "proposition and opposition" modes, the new literature and traditional literature. Traditional literature cherishes triton and suspects the new society. New literature inclines to criticise tradition and has expectation of the new society. These differences are illustrated in various literature forms. The difference between new literature and traditional literature is always highly regarded by the Institute of Literature and has greatly attracted the public’s attention. This leads to the debate over elegance and commonplace. This essay selects two significant writers, Lu Xun and Zhang Henshui successively from new literature group and traditional literature group. From the text type, various angles, several places, it studied the debate of modernisation and tradition. Hence, it explains the problems of new literature and traditional literature during China modernisation. This is the real value of this essay.