Study On History Of Chinese Literature By Su Xuelin

Su Xuelin, a female writer of the20th Century,has dedicated all her lifetime to academic studies. Her work, The History of the Chinese Literature,originally are teaching materials,has waited for nearly forty years to be published. This paper is trying to study The History of the Chinese Literature and to reveal its academic values. It contains the writing process of this book, the comparison of its different versions,and Su’s perspective of literature and of the history of literature.The introduction part briefly introduces the situation of the academic studies on this book, and shows the value of the studies.The first chapter deals with the writing process of this book. First, it trys to discusses the influences of the curriculum schedule on Su’s writing of this book, given the teachings of the history of the Chinese literature then in Wuhan University. Second, it trys to explore Su’s state of mind in the writing of this book. As a young female writer, Su is an outsider of the Chinese Literature Department to some extent. This, together with her heavy teaching task and the indifferent reactions to her teachings, will exert some influences on her writing of this book.The second chapter deals with the comparison of the different versions of this book, and the differences between this book and Lu Kanru’s A Concise History of the Chinese Literature. Su’s book has three versions:the teaching materials(1934edition)，A Brief History of the Chinese Literature (1938edition), and The History of the Chinese Literature (1970edition).The1934edition has an introduction and is not a complete history of the Chinese literature, merely from the Pre-Qin literature to the Ci of the Song Dynasty. The1938edition has got rid of the introduction and is a relatively complete history of the Chinese literature, from the literature of the Shang Dynasty to the contemporary literature. The1970edition is a combination of the two former editions. The comparison of the different versions will be helpful to explore the intention of the writer in her modification of the book. At the same time, Su’s book has many references to Lu’s book, and the comparison of the two books will help us to understand the characteristics of Su’s book. The third chapter discusses Su’s perspective of the Chinese literature, and of the history of the literature. It also interpret the characteristics and the values of this book.