Studies On Novel Times

Novel Times was published during the period of late Qing dynasty and early Republic of China. It was founded by the boss of Youzheng Publishing House, Di Chuqing. Chen Jinghan and Bao Tianxiao were the editors in chief, and later, Bi Yihong also participated in the edit works. This magazine was very popular in its nine-year life. It' s the most famous literary magazine among those magazines which have relationships with China Times. It' s very valuable in the studies on literary history.The "Studies on Novel Times" which titled this paper means that this research was based on the whole magazine. It' s in the light of the being of the magazine, and the research will cover the foundation, printing, issuance, pattern, system, editors, authors and readers of the magazine. The goals of this paper are as follows: first, make some breakthrough on the collection, classification and textual research of the research materials; complete the catalog of illustrations, authors, different types of literature and the brief introductions of the authors. These are very useful for other researchers who want to know the context and search the literatures. Secondly, through the studies on the texts of Novel Times, estimate its achievements on novel, drama, note and poetry; and the author hopes that this paper will provide a clue for the rewriting of 20th century Chinese literary history. Finally, through the analysis on the novel, drama, note and poetry as a whole and studies on the cover, illustration, advertisement, balaam and printing issuance, edit, the author hopes make some basic estimations on the orientation and style of the magazine, and revalue the status of the magazine in the literary history and culture history.On the studies of the research materials, this paper regards the traditional textual research ways as criterion, and regards the statistics as an important tool. The author thought that the text material and the text material, the text material and the extant cultural relic (including ruins, relic) can prove mutually. The author also thought that the statistical data has the important reference value regarding literature phenomenon's showing; But, in textual research, because the particularity of the magazine, the author thought that the modern narrative theory is valuable for reference, and the traditional theories of poetry, prose and novel have the rationality to explain the native literary works. Therefore, the author took an attitude that the above two methods should be used suitably in the analysis of the texts. As for the research on the magazine' s integrity, the author used the cultural study theory for reference to a certain extent. The author thought that the utensils and texts, the literature production context and the literature consumption context are very important factors in research. And through this way, the author hopes study the orientation and style of the magazine.As a literary magazine which was published during the period of late Qing dynasty and early Republic of China, and gave priority to the novel publishing, it had outstanding historical characteristics: not newly or old, half newly and half old. The author thought: if we just inquire into the modernity of this magazine, it is very easy to fall into the trap which was set by logic and reality. But if we just regard this magazine as a carrier of the old literature, as a traditional literary magazine, it also appears farfetched. Therefore, the author tries best to avoid this myth, and hopes show the complexity of the magazine which contains western and eastern, new and old factors. The author didn't want to be like Columbus to make a great judgment. Therefore, the "Studies on Novel Times" in this paper should be regarded as a study that wants to "return to the scene" (words used by Mrs. Xia Xiaohong ). The conclusion of this paper was in history itself, and it is not the annotation or evidence of the victory of some specific idea or theory.