The Practice of Literary Chinese and the Emergence of Modern Chinese Literature

Exploring the emergence of Modern Chinese Literature from the perspective of literary Chinese practice, that is, returning to the fundamental basis of literature (which is language), discussing the emergence of Modern Chinese Literature, and deliberating the emergence of literature in the process of language practice, is the most reasonable and effective internal mode to reveal the emergence of Modern Chinese Literature. The practice of literary Chinese is carried out along the three dimensions of literary Chinese: Chinese pattern, subject consciousness and literary form. Chinese pattern refers to the “grammar”(“理”) of literary Chinese, the practical subject refers to the “sentiment”(“情”) of literary Chinese, and the literary form points to the “genre”(“文”) of literary Chinese. Chinese pattern changes the structure of “grammar” between classical Chinese and vernacular, Chinese and Europeanized vernacular, standard language and dialect; the subject of practice is stirring the development of “sentiment” in the relationship between Chinese traditional values and western modern values, as well as the relationship between nation, nationals and individuals; literary forms promote the evolution of “genre” in the relationship between western literature and Chinese traditional literature, classical-form poetry and vernacular poetry, classical Chinese and vernacular, classical Chinese novels and vernacular novels, vernacular novels in late Qing Dynasty and new vernacular novels. When “grammar”, “sentiment” and “genre” have the characteristic of modernity, and are unified in literary Chinese, the rebirth of a certain genre is realized. Through the development of the language practice of writers such as Huang Zunxian, Yan Fu, Liang Qichao, Lin Shu, Zhang Taiyan, Wang Guowei and Wu Zhihui, Modern Chinese Literature was finally completed in the literary Chinese practice of Hu Shi, Lu Xun and Zhou Zuoren.