From the 4th issue of Volume 4 (1965438+April 2008), New Youth magazine also added a column of "Random Thoughts", and successively published short essays written by Chen Duxiu, Liu Bannong, Qian and others, lashing out at the chronic diseases of feudalism. Among them, Liu Bannong's articles are full of ridicule and exaggeration when attacking the enemy. At the same time, many important newspapers and magazines have added similar columns. Weekly Review, founded in February this year, and New Life, founded in August 2009, both have "essays" columns. Many of these comments on social and cultural trends of thought are vivid, vivid and full of literary meaning, and their appearance in large numbers has promoted the development and prosperity of discussion prose.
The most incisive words in New Youth and Random Thoughts were written by Lu Xun. He sharply criticized the die-hards who boasted about the preservation of the "quintessence of the country", saying that "they are all" butchers now "("57 butchers now ") and" no culture is different from barbarians (? ) just right ("Random thoughts" 42), if we want to keep the "quintessence of Chinese culture", then the serious consequence is that "China people will be squeezed out of the" people of the world "("Random thoughts "36), which is profound and enlightening. Lu Xun also published a large number of argumentative papers, and made an incisive analysis of the feudal autocracy and its corruption and ignorance. These works are full of deep and passionate feelings, not only profound in thought, but also attractive in art, which has brought the discussion prose to an unprecedented height. He wrote this kind of argumentative prose all his life, as a weapon to attack reactionaries, old systems and old ideas, and extensively summed up the experience and laws of ideological struggle between society and culture in an original artistic form. Discussion prose is an extremely important part of Lu Xun's literary heritage. This kind of argumentative prose, which was founded and pioneered by Mr. Lu Xun, is usually called "essays" later. This style has a very important position in the history of modern prose and modern literature.
Lyric prose is often called "beautiful prose" during the May 4th Movement, and its appearance and growth are of great significance for defending and prospering new literary creation. Prove that "the argument of old literature is not that vernacular literature cannot show its self-righteous specialty" (Lu Xun's "The Crisis of Essays"). It appeared a little later than the sketch, but it developed greatly later.
Bing Xin was an early lyrical prose writer. Her Laughter, Past and For a Young Reader established her position in prose creation. The themes she often praises are maternal love, childlike innocence and beautiful natural scenery, which in itself is an impact on the cold and rigid feudal ethics. Her writing style is also beautiful, fresh and lively, which has a wide influence on readers. Compared with Bing Xin, Ye's prose creation can keep up with the development of the times. His prose collections "scabbard" (co-authored with Yu Pingbo) and "Footsteps" are accurate and practical, simple and meaningful. Some of his works after May 30th have a strong flavor of the times. Zhou Zuoren was the most powerful advocate of lyric prose during the May 4th Movement, and his article "Beautiful Writing" contributed to the creation of this kind of prose. Lyric sketches included in My Garden, Book on Rainy Days and Talking about Tigers are vigorous, simple and comfortable, and often show a fierce spirit in indifference, which has a great influence. And those works that admire plants, insects and fish, indulge in reasoning and talk about metaphysics, reveal the leisure of feudal literati.
Among the writers of the Literature Research Association, Zhu Ziqing is also an important prose writer. His style of writing is diverse, such as Qinhuai River under the shadow of oars and lights, which is beautiful and full of scenes; Moonlight on the Lotus Pond and Green use the feelings of music and color to make clever metaphors and associations. "Back" depicts the sad scene of father and son's parting with simple words; The Executive Yuan Massacre is a detailed and tortuous description of the March 18th massacre. Zhu Ziqing made a serious exploration in thought and art, and wrote many excellent essays, which contributed to the development and prosperity of modern prose in China.
Guo Moruo, the leader of the creative society, wrote about his frustrations in the world, accused the evils of society and poured out his inner grief and indignation with a stirring and rushing emotional atmosphere. Such works are collected from the collections of Starry Sky, Olive and Under the Horizon. Yu Dafu's prose has a greater influence. Chapters such as The Return of the Native, Postscript of the Return of the Native, and Nine Diaries curse the ugly society, yearn for sincere love, frankly analyze the inner anguish and indignation, and write fresh, smooth and passionate. His works written in the 1930' s, such as scars everywhere and duff's travels, are handsome, round, full of charm and momentum, and also express the pain and resentment of hating the dark reality.
Xu Zhimo, known as the "Crescent School" poet, also had a great influence on his prose in the 1920s. These works directly express his thoughts, and even more express his ideological interest as a liberal. He deliberately pursues and pays attention to tempering words in art, but some of them are frivolous, and words are too extravagant and complicated because of the pursuit of rhetoric. Most of his essays are collected in Leaves, Self-anatomy and Scale in Paris.
After the May 4th Movement, there appeared a kind of lyric prose-prose poetry, which was shorter in length, omitted more narrative factors and was more poetic. Xu Dishan's Rain on an Empty Mountain is the first large-scale collection of works of this kind. It expresses feelings and explores philosophy. It not only insists on life and condemns darkness, but also doubts this world and fears struggle. It reflected some intellectuals who pursued progress and justice at that time, but it also had a weak and secluded side. Before that, Lu Xun's soliloquy, Guo Moruo's My Prose Poems and Liu Bannong's With Xiao were the forerunners of prose poetry creation. As for Lu Xun's Wild Grass, it is a masterpiece in prose poetry creation. Some prose poems written by Wang Tongzhao at that time also moved readers with passion. In the 1930s, Li Ni and Lu Li also wrote prose poems.
Most of the prose creation before and after the May 4th Movement was full of anti-feudal thoughts and feelings, which reflected the strong demand of personality liberation. Most writers in the literary research society show this tendency, and the romanticists in the creative society naturally show more distinctiveness and prominence in this respect. With the continuous spread of the socialist ideological trend and the gradual upsurge of the revolutionary movement of workers and peasants, they all combined the requirements of individual liberation with the yearning for socialism to varying degrees.
After the United front of the May 4th New Culture Movement began to split, the essay creation that persisted in the anti-feudal struggle continued to advance. Threads Weekly (see Threads Society), which was founded in 1924, published the words "focusing on brevity and criticism" (introduction), and Mangyuan Weekly, which was founded in 1925. In addition to Lu Xun, Zhou Zuoren and Lin Yutang are also important authors of Yu Si, and they also wrote some insightful essays around the "March 18th" tragedy. But at the same time, they also began to show negative emotions of compromise and liberalism. 1927 After the failure of the Great Revolution, many revolutionary writers fought bravely and tenaciously against the cultural "encirclement and suppression" of the Kuomintang reactionaries. Left-wing or progressive literary journals attached importance to the publication of essays, and at that time, some journals mainly published essays. Lu Xun's essays in this period have been further developed. In order to break through the tight network of Kuomintang reactionaries, he had to change his pen name frequently and his writing style was more subtle and tortuous. Although it is "dancing with shackles" (the postscript to the second essay of Jie Jieting), it shows that he used this weapon to a more sophisticated and skilled degree.
Qu Qiubai first recognized the significance of Lu Xun's essays and thought that "the history of China's ideological struggle since the May 4th Movement is reflected here" (preface to Selected Works of Lu Xun's Miscellaneous Feelings), and made an incisive analysis of the causes, characteristics and social functions of Lu Xun's essays. During this period, he also wrote some essays, such as soul of china and Wang Dao Shi Hua, all of which are the quintessence of Chinese culture. Guo Moruo, Mao Dun and Yu Dafu. He also wrote many essays attacking the disadvantages of the times. Due to the extensive development of essay writing in 1930s, many successful works emerged from the works of young authors. Like Tang Tao's "TuiBei Collection" and "Haitian Collection", they are sharp and powerful; Ling Ke's "Tower Solo" is concise and profound; Xu Maoyong's Miscellaneous Notes is simple and meaningful, which adds luster to the creation of combat prose.
From the mid-1920s to 1930s, a group of lyric sketch writers with their own unique styles appeared. Feng Zikai's "Bian Tang Zawen" and "Car Club" are fluent and full of charm; Liang Yuchun's Collection of Spring Clouds and Tears and Laughter are full of life. Li Guangtian's Gallery Collection exudes the fragrance of earth and looks gorgeous and vigorous; He Qifang's Painting Dreams depicts a hazy and ethereal picture with dazzling colors. Lu Li's bamboo knives always weave a sad story in beautiful and moving scenery. Wu Boxiao's Feather Book is good at spreading a wide range of reverie from vivid images. Zhong Jingwen, Jin Yi, Li Ni and Miao Chongqun all have their own styles. Prose widely reflecting life was written by a group of famous novelists. Mao Dun's The Night Before Shanghai and Miscellanies of Hometown describe the depression and decline of urban and rural areas in China under the impact of the world economic crisis with profound and incisive words. Qu Xian 'ai's Collection Under the City angrily exposes a numb and degenerate society. Yan Lu's Donkeys and Mules and the Traveler's Heart tell a sad life in a melancholy tone. Ba Jin's journey essays and short messages angrily curse the darkness and enthusiastically pursue the light; Shen Congwen's Notes on Xiangxing presents various social scenes with Xu Shu's pastoral sentiment. Ye Zi's Nightwalk and On the Yangtze River are like whipping the corrupt and cruel old world. Xiao Hong's "Commercial Street" and "Bridge" describe her struggling in hunger and death, shining with the light of youth and ideals; Wu Zuxiang's "Dusk" and "The Scenery of Mount Tai" vividly depict various world situations, especially the outline of personality.
On the occasion of a bumper harvest of prose creation, Lin Yutang founded The Analects of Confucius in 1932, published The World in 1934, and published Cosmic Wind in 1935, advocating humor, spirit and leisure divorced from the real struggle. Left-wing writers such as Lu Xun and Mao Dun promptly criticized his bad tendency to oppose the fighting tradition of new literature and supported the work of the progressive prose publication Taibai.
Due to the needs of the times, narrative prose also came into being in the 1920s, and quickly produced more mature works, such as Qu Qiubai's A Journey to a Hungry Country and History of the Heart of Red Capital, which recorded the truth of Russia after the October Revolution, interwoven tragic historical facts, high-spirited poetry, stirring feelings and frank inner monologues into a fresh, bold and calm artistic style, and showed the author's ideal of socialism. Another example is Rain on May 30th (Ye), The Storm (Mao Dun) and After a Bloody Street (Zheng Zhenduo), which reflect the May 30th tragedy. They all described this important and unforgettable historical scene with passion.
The further prosperity of narrative prose is marked by the appearance of a large number of reportage works in the 1930s. Among them, Rou Shi's A Great Impression is a relatively successful work. With lively and powerful pen and ink, he wrote a new person who tempered the proletarian ideological consciousness in the revolutionary struggle. Tao Fen's Messages from the Past and Memories from the Past are the records of his travels in Europe. He wrote all kinds of insurmountable contradictions in the capitalist world with simple and sincere words, but affirmed its great achievements in developing production. It describes the hypocrisy and imperfection of bourgeois democracy, but thinks it has unparalleled democracy, showing a more serious and realistic style than the Kuomintang regime that has not yet got rid of feudal autocracy. His works have attracted readers' attention and are considered to have created a brand-new travel style. This shows that due to the needs of the times and society, some travel genre works have changed from lyrical essays to narrative reportage. Similarly, Liu Simu's Journey to Europe, Fan Changjiang's Northwest Corner of China and Sailing, with simple and vigorous words, exposed the darkness at that time, rendered the critical atmosphere of Japanese aggressor Qiang Bing, and inspired many readers' patriotic enthusiasm. He had a great influence on the reports of the revolutionary base areas in northern Shaanxi.
1936 is a bumper year for reportage. Among a large number of works that emerged at that time, Bonded Worker (Xia Yan) and 1936 Spring in Taiyuan (Song Zhi) are particularly prominent chapters. /kloc-Taiyuan in the spring of 0/936, with a ridiculous pen and ink and a unique structure, described the terrorist rule of Shanxi reactionary rulers who implemented "anti-* * *" measures; Through several chilling figures, Bonded Labourers exposes the crime of imperialist and feudal forces colluding with each other to squeeze and trample bonded labourers. These two works combine the authenticity of news and the literariness of reporting, and have long been the model works of reportage.