On Discourse Of Human Nature In Chinese Literary Criticism From Late Qing To May 4^th Period （1897-1927）

Human nature,as a core concept of literary criticism,has run through the development of Chinese literature in the 20th Century.Even writers of different schools and different point of views may express their ideas by discussing human nature.Discourse of human nature in literary criticism refers to the following phenomenon:writers and critics sometimes construct their critical theories by probing into human nature,and there is comparatively clear development of "human nature"in Chinese literary criticism of the 20th Century.From late Qing to May 4th period,discourse of human nature in literary criticism gradually forms.This is a quite tortuous process.Since the pre-Qin period,ancient philosophers’ exploration of human nature has been basically confined to the area of philosophy or ethics.Moreover,human nature is good or evil,what is the relationship between human nature and emotion,discussion on these issues primarily leads to the conclusion that moral dominates human being,and natural emotion,physiological desire can be neglected.Therefore,in late Qing period,the change of discourse of human nature starts from a moderate affirmation of natural desire.In Kang Youwei’s philosophy system,the main concepts involved in the discussion.of human nature have been reconsidered.His main idea that there is only love and disgust in human nature,opens the prelude to natural theory of human nature and Utilitarianism ethics.What’s more,the absorption of modern western thoughts to a great extent causes a shock to the traditional discourse.Especially the theory of Evolution and Utilitarianism interweaves Chinese native resources,forming an old and new mixed situation.At this time,discourse of human nature begins to occupy a certain position in literary criticism.The New Novel theory put forward by Liang Qichao,Yan Fu,etc,provides the highest position for novel,which has been turned into a good weapon of enlightening and saving the nation.The reason why writers promote novel is that human nature is the central theme of novels of different times,besides,reading novel is rooted in human nature and has become great attraction for people,with this effect,thoughts and ideas involved in novels can be easily accepted by readers.In late Qing,discourse of human nature experiences the transformation of the way of expression,and has made an important step towards modernization.However,it must be pointed out that the new change is limited and not completed.Human nature is not the main topic in writers’ articles.Mostly,Liang Qicaho,Yan Fu discuss it in the context of national discourse,which means discourse of human nature only provides an ideal prospective to probe into national character.Even in literary criticism,human nature is not deemed as a major criterion and is on the whole marginalized.The incompleteness of the change is obviously reflected in literary criticism in early Republic of China.Once writers question the political legend of saving the nation with novel and begin to face their individual emotion and inner world,the existing discussion in late Qing is not sufficient enough to cover all the experience they have.The development of discourse of human nature regresses and contradicts.Regression refers to the following phenomenon:late Qing writers focus on people’s behaviors in public occasions and do not advocate the introduction of modern western resources in areas of personal emotion and family life,there is a nutritional imbalance in literature of early Republic of China;hence,when get back to personal life,writers cannot find an appropriate,effective way to express their ideas,but turn to traditional discourse.Besides,there is contradiction on writings of emotion between literature works and criticism at this time.On one side,writers have no intention to go beyond the traditional discourse,on the other side,their writing is led to division and contradiction under the guide of story itself,objectively conveying new ideas.Even in literature criticism itself,we can find a contradiction.There forms a vicious circle of the advocate of emotion and the fear of it.For writers of early Republic of China,it is very hard to completely transcend tradition before they obtain a new way of expressing.The modern transformation of discourse of human nature in Chinese literary criticism comes in May 4th period.Early writers of the New Youth basically probe into human nature in the perspective of Utilitarianism and theory of Evolution.From 1918 on,discourse of human nature has new development:Lu Xun,Hu Shi introduce the modern western ideas of late 19th Century,discourse of human nature begins to exceed the perspective of biology and obtain cultural significance.What’s more,the publishing of Humanistic Literature by Zhou Zuoren signals the formal appearance of discourse of human nature in Chinese literary criticism.Zhou absorbs the existing ideas influenced by the theory of Evolution,and also responds to the critique of theory of Evolution after World War I.He advocates that human beings evolve from animals,and there should be a balance between individualism and humanism.When his point of view is applied in literature,there comes the theory of humanistic literature.Zhou’s idea is widely accepted by writers in the 1920s and soon becomes one of the major concepts in literary criticism.However,in the re-interpretation of the concept,humanistic literature gradually undergoes a variation.The Literature Research Association and the Society of Creation form two key ways of changing,which addresses the humanism side and gradually turn to the advocate of popular literature.To some extent,it has indicated the second transformation of discourse of human nature.In late 1920s,the gradual rise of revolutionary literature eventually reverses the development of discourse of human nature,which again undergoes a renewal of way of expressing.For revolutionary literature,materialism brings a new theoretical foundation for discourse of human nature,with which writers tend to probe into human being in the historical context of change and from the perspective of specific class.Its discourse of human nature is extraversive and historical.The signifier of human nature because of its abstractness,gradually lose its interpretative effective in literary criticism.As for the criticism of Crescent School,Liang Shiqiu,one major member of the group,absorbs Prof.Babbit’s New Humanism,advocating "universal,fixed human nature",and deems it as the core criterion of literature.His discourse of human nature also deviates from the development line of May 4th period by focusing on the moderation of human nature instead of its specific content.Except for Crescent School and revolutionary literature,there is a group of writers like Lu Xun,Mao Dun,who retains the expression of discourse of human nature of May 4th period,and also limitedly accepts what revolutionary literature proposes.The argument among the three groups finally leads to the change of discourse of human nature.In the 1920s,human nature becomes a concept opposed to class nature.The discussion on human nature and class nature lasts for a long time,and turns into a major paradigm of Chinese literary criticism in the 20th Century.On the whole,from late Qing to May 4th period,human nature as a critic concept shows abundant connotations and diverse development directions.Between literary criticism and discourse of human nature,there forms an interaction.How to understand literature sometimes means how to understand human nature,and the answers to the question of human nature provide a theoretical support for the construct of literary criticism.