1985, Han Shaogong declared for the first time in a programmatic paper "The Roots of Literature": "Literature has roots, and the roots of literature should be deeply rooted in the cultural soil of national traditions." He proposed that we should "base ourselves on reality and transcend the real world at the same time, and reveal some mysteries that determine the development of the country and the survival of mankind."

Under this theory, writers began to create, which is called "root-seeking school" in theoretical circles.

Extended data:

Genre division of root-seeking literature

1, the root of urban culture

There are not a few writers exploring urban culture. For example, Liu described the feelings of ordinary and colorful people in contemporary Beijing in Bell and Drum Tower. In Three-Inch Golden Lotus, Feng Jicai reproduces the discrimination and banter of men against women in China. Among these writers, He Lu is outstanding and can be called "two outstanding writers in the North and South".

2. Find the root of rural culture

Compared with the former "root-seeking literature", there are more works that tend to show the rustic and even humble state of the countryside, and the fields of performance are wider. For example, Wang Zengqi represents the traditional life of "Peach Blossom Garden", Zhang Chengzhi's Dark Horse, Lu Yao's description of the intersection of urban and rural areas, and Mo Yan's account of the secret history of ancestors' life in Gaomi Northeast Township.

Baidu encyclopedia-root-seeking literature