Introduction

The history of Chinese literature in the 20^th century can be described as a series of challenges posed by its writers to its readers and to each other: to view the past as a burden that impedes a creative response to the present; to view China’s modernisation as an opportunity to contribute to the country’s modernity; to view the present as a disastrous retreat from the glorious culture and civilisation of the past two millennia; to seize a unique moment in China’s history for self-development and literary experiment; to take advantage of the fact that the present, like the past, provides the educated elite with a salaried office from which to exercise social and moral leadership.

When the

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Published 21 August 2006

Citation: McDougall, Bonnie S.. "Chinese Literature, 1900 to the present". The Literary Encyclopedia. 21 August 2006.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1676, accessed 9 February 2010.]