| This thesis aims to fill the gap of studying contemporary Chinese writers from a quantitative analysis perspective. By using computer-aided qualitative data analysis, the thesis examines the characteristics, development history, and geographical distribution of writers of the Chinese Writers' Association (CWA) from the founding of the People's Republic of China in October 1949 to the end of the twentieth century (1999). Issues covered include number, gender, ethnicity, age, educational background, first publication, age of joining the CWA, writers who were sent to the countryside during the Rustication Movement and professional writers, as well as the impact of political movements on the above.;The data were collected from 15 books. The reports conclude that by 1999, there were 6950 contemporary Chinese writers with 38 ethnic groups. Male and Han writers were the majority. In the Mao Zedong era, the Cultural Revolution hindered the development of writers. In the Deng Xiaoping era, writers were in bloom. Writers who were condemned in 1957 and writers who were sent to the countryside during the Rustication Movement played dominant roles in the era. In the post-Tian'anmen era, the cultural position of writers began to change. The geographical distribution of writers was uneven and the number of writers declined from east to west and from south to north (by their birthplaces). |
