Retrospection Of Chinese Travel Literature In The 20^th Century

As an old saying goes "you travel ten thoudand miles while reading ten thoudsand books is the exact life", "travel" factor has been deeply impressed into the main spirit of Chinese literature. Travel literature develops from the writings produced by the literati since the creation of the Book of Songs, which express the writers' ideas, emotions and their appreciation of beauty on their journeys.In the retrospection of travel literature in the 20th century, we know that it has described splendid senery along journey, expressed rich emotion towards traveling, presented cultural collision and melting, and reproduced historic changes. Up to now, the study of the aspects above as a whole has been rarely done by other sholars. But from the perspective of literature history and the cross-disciplinary significance , the review and the analysis of travel literature are of great value. This thesis attempts to make a relatively systematic study of this literature phenomenon from three aspects including artistic changes, themes of creation and introspection into history .Travel literature in the 20th century has gone through complicated artistic changes. Around the time of 5.4 Movement, travel notes about foreign countries flourished and a great number of beautiful articles were created pursuing culture enlightenment and individuality freedom and unfolding the delicacy and elegance of the vernacular Before and after anti-Japanese war, travel notes, written by those who determined to revive the nation and drive off the enemies, took national conditions and war as their theme with a fervent and melancholic voice. During seventeen years, the works created to eugolize socialist revolution and construction possessed both praising mood and poetic conception. Since 1980s, travel literature boomed again and probed into history and culture.With multi historical themes , travel literature in the 20th century, on one hand, was always together with a theme that was a quartet composed of enlightenment, saving the nation from extinction, singing for being master of the nation, searching for cultural root, and conveyed a solemn and lofty voice from the mass. On the other hand, it was traveler's solo of personal journey which made the beauty of traveling life, cultural experience and true feelings read and understood in vagrant's lament for solitute and being away from hometown, in people's chant in leisure,in hermit's sigh for escaping from human society, and also in pilgrim's scriptures for cleaning up the secular desires.Chinese travle literature are charaterized by the fact that while traveling activity became less popular among eunuches, more and more ordinary people became fond of it; the fact that though the words carrying morals of main stream were prevailing, the development of the unpopular words expressing individual ambition did not lag behind ;the fact that tradition of poetic grace and alienation of civilization were co-existing; the fact as mountian and river did not appeal to travelers as before, culture began to grip their minds. In an introspection of Chinese travel literature in the 20th century, we become more aware of the rapid changes of travel culture.Though the popularity of Chinese travel literature in the 20th century has become a history now, we would from time to time ponder over the further and everlasting meaing of life it has conveyed to us, the plentiful and unique search for art it has made, those historical data it has provided with the value of exploring and discovering history.