From Folk Ideal To Social Reality

As one of the most important writers in the history of Chinese literature, Shen Congwen paid persistent attention on the modern civilization by his overall literary writing, thus became the first writer who reflected on the modern civilization profoundly at the beginning of its development. His literary creation, with its firm literary pursuit, unique reflection position and lasting humanistic care, especially for its attention for the survival of humanity in modern civilization, stayed away from the mainstream of Chinese modern literature which was dominated by the "enlightenment and modernization" in the20th century. But later, because of social and historical and other external factors, and his failure of saving Chinese modern civilization by simple ideal of Xiangxi, Shen Congwen had to change his cultural standpoint from the folk ideal to social reality. Thus he also began to reflect on the modern civilization from another angle. My article tries to expound the writer is how to express the reflection on modern civilization through his literary creation, then forms a powerful complement to the one-sided praise of the20th century Chinese enlightenment and revolution literary mainstream on the modern civilization from the folk ideal viewpoint, and also opens another ideological dimension of Shen Congwen’s modern awareness in Chinese literature history from the angle of social reality. Furthermore, I try to clarify:in Shen Congwen’s literary creation, the description of Xiangxi world and the irony to modern urban civilization based on the folk ideal in fact is the salvation and criticism to modern civilization; the critical thoughts from ancient and modern history is the ideological source of his reflection; accepting the modern spirit and political construction after "Xiangxi ideal" is broken, and coming into the social reality with the changed cultural position, is his another dimension of reflection on modern civilization.