Chinese Language and Literature Reform in The Beginning of The 20th Century

Abstract

It is difficult not to mention language reform when referring to Chinese literature modernization between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Language played a critical role in facilitating the escape of Chinese literature from Chinese medieval literary works in order to integrate into world literature. The language reform not only laid a foundation for modern literature but also contributed considerably to the grand social transformation of China in the early days of the 20th century. Chinese new-born literature was a literature created by spoken language; in Chinese terms, it was considered as a literature focusing on “dialectal speech” instead of “classical Chinese” used in the past. In international terms, it can be named as living language literature which was used to replace classic literary language in ancient books – a kind of dead language. This article will analyze how language reform impacted Chinese modern literature at the beginning of the 20th century.