The Study On The Preface And Postscripts Of Zhou Zuoren

Prefaces and postscripts are an important literary form of Zhou Zuoren’s creation, and they, like his essays, expresse his free nature, which corresponds with his literary creation ideal and aesthetic pursuits. Therefore, his prefaces and postscripts, together with his essays, construct Zhou Zuoren’s spiritual world and his artistic pursuits. They are very important to understand and study Zhou Zuoren’s literary thoughts and writings. This article sorts out all Zhou Zuoren’s prefaces and postscripts, and makes a research by categorizing them into prefaces and postscripts for essays, prefaces and postscripts for novels, prefaces and postscripts for poems and folk literary works,and prefaces and postscripts for translations. By using the social historical criticism method and associating the writer’s life experiences and viewpoints, this article comprehensively interprets Zhou Zuoren’s profound thinking and the deep connotations in different prefaces and postscripts in different times, and investigates his literary outlook and his self-expressing consciousness embodied in the prefaces and postscripts.This article elaborates the rich contents and profound significance of Zhou Zuoren’s prefaces and postscripts mainly from the following three aspects:Firstly, the prefaces and postscripts Zhou Zuoren wrote for his own works. This part mainly probes Zhou Zuoren’s self consciousness and the change of his thoughts.Secondly, the prefaces and postscripts Zhou Zuoren wrote for other Chinese writers’novels, poems and essays. In this part, Zhou Zuoren’s literary critical viewpoints are reflected. After analysis this part comes to the conclusion that "humanity" and "freedom" are important principles of Zhou Zuoren’s literary criticism.Finally, the prefaces and postscripts Zhou Zuoren wrote for foreign works, including Greek literary works, Japanese literary works and collections of many foreign countries’folk literary works. It concludes that being inspired by the Oriental and Western cultures, especially by the features of individualism and pursuit of nature in Greek mythology, Zhou Zuoren exhibits the following characteristics:ideologically he pursues freedom and individuality and advocates learning and reason; artistically he absorbs imaginative elements and "adept at imitating", the artistic conducive factors in Japanese culture. Zhou Zuoren tried to save Chinese literature and art by introducing foreign new culture and discarding our Chinese old culture.