"new Moon": Paper Salon

The Crescent Periodical was the most important historical literature in the history of the CrescentSchool. It symbolized that the Crescent School began to enter the literary world independently. TheCrescent Periodical was different from other organs and commercial publications. The scope itinfected was very small. Actually, it was more like a small salon. The Crescent Periodical was a"public space" or a "cultural living room" of the members of Crescent School.The formation of the Salon cultural character had its cultural origin. The coteries of the CrescentSchool held many social and cultural activities in their early dinner parties, the Crescent School and"the Num. Seven Club". All of the activities represented the unique temperament of the Crescentmembers who were influenced by the occident culture. Undoubtedly, these activities would recur inShanghai. At the same time, the "Morning Newspaper supplement" and the "Play Publication"enlarged the domain of the Crescent School. As the extended salon of the Crescent Salon, they becamethe headstream of the Salon cultural character.The Salon cultural character of the Crescent School represented in three aspects: Firstly, as far as thepublication concerned, the Crescent Periodical carried out the "turn-and-turn-about" system. Itemphasized the solemn attitude of the publication. They believed literature was a very "serious" matter.Secondly, the members of the Crescent Periodical were degage gentlemen, they had the erudite andglorious status. Therefore, they all paid attention to the saprogenic aesthetic activates and pursued theartistic living. Thirdly, the idiographic texts of the Crescent Periodical also have many characteristics.For example, the political comments were aristocratic. And the literary papers were rational andorthodox. In the Crescent Periodical, poems were published in almost every issue. Besides, there weremany novels and plays published in the magazine. We may brightly feel the spirit of the salon culturefrom these articles.There are some more deep-seated reasons for the formation of the salon culture character. TheCrescent Periodical was actually an intellectual coterie periodical. It was small numerous media. Thecoteries of the Crescent School declared themselves and realized their identities in this "public space".The purpose of them was not commercial or political. Their educational background, their status andthe experiences made them yearn towards the salon culture. They persisted in the belles-lettres, thoughthis kind of guard was out of time.