The Reflection Of Modern History And Culture

Since1990s, chinese culture has appeared diffreent development directions. TangHaoming’s historical novels just right in this period which written from1987to2002.But his historical novels were different from popular novels that has private orplayfulwind trend, and also different from contemporary writer Er Yuehe’s folk standand Ling Li’s feminist. He stood on the intellectuals’ elite position to review historyand rethink profoundly on culture. The origin was historian’s objective spirit fromchinese classical culture.He used multiple composite view of history as a guide to dig out a real man ZengGguofan from old files with the spirit of restoring the truth of history to justified theman and re-analysis causes of the man’s tragic fate. Finding dual identity includedConfucian scholar and reformer in implement reform territory on Zhang Zhidong, andreviewing at him between personal and career. Gazing at YangDu on institutionalreform territory, reinterpreting intellectuals’ choice and anxiety during the period ofchange. In short, he sought to show the full merits and demerits of historical figuresand analysis or evaluate figures from multiple perspectives, and never decisive.Eventually these figures were brought into the group of intellectuals.In the creation, he insisted on using varied historical Narration. Dingging updeep social decay of feudal society and naked ambition of western colonists in desirenarration, and developping it into full play through numbers, Buddhist temples andprostitutes. We could see fatuous and hubris of feudal society when it encounter dualinvasion between Western material and culture through conflicting narration betweeneasten and westen. Narration of modern city showed the contradiction betweenurbanization and intellectual loving of aerial farming. We could see modern people’sNostalgia through scholar’s choice of wayback into farming. We also could see thepure history about classical chinese poetry. He wanted to dig essence of traditionalculture again by cultural conservation which could be widely used. History Metaphortried to digging the reason of men’s tragic fate through the relation between person and his times.No matter which angle we studied, the end point of Tang Haoming’s historicalnovels was ‘Reflection of modern history and culture’. All history is contemporaryhistory and all history should be objectively evaluated. It requires us to use rationalthinking to review it and not to evaluate it unilaterally. We also need to find thecontemporary human value and meaning through it. Providing social benefit was ouroption.Historical tide caused by Tang Haoming receded, but its values needed someoneto evaluate. when we approach the scholar who nearly seventy years old, reviewinghis editing career and life history, experiencing his frustrated encounter and historyideologism, standing on the commanding height of the times, throughout thedevelopment of China literature, and then we can evaluate him and his writingobjectively and calmly.