The Preparation Of The Rise Of Modern Chinese Novel

Modern Chinese novels (1840~1911)are known for their remarkable quantity, variety of styles and numerous scattered original materials. As what is listed in Chronicle of Modern Chinese Novel by Prof. Dakang Chen, East China Normal University, Shanghai, there are 2682 extant novels produced during 72 years from 1840 to 1911, in the last 17 years of which 2532 novels were produced, occupying 94.4% of the total, and thus formed the "boom of late Qing novel" named by researchers. In the first 8 years of these 17 years(1895-1902), 155 novels were produced, which equals to the total output of the past 55 years, and in the following 9 years , novel production reached an altiplano, with a quantity of 2377, which is nearly eight times of the total output of the past 63 years. From this point, the period of 1895-1902 is a preparation of the rise of Chinese novel in late Qing. That novel began rising in these 8 years in late Qing is profited from the inheritance of the traditional Chinese novel, the efforts made by the western missionaries, the commercialization of modern newspapering, the permeation of western education and study overseas and the objectively convenient political environment. At the beginning of these 8 years, British missionary John Fryer received a positive reply to his advertisement of requisition of novel, and celebrities in the near future like Youwei, Kang and Qichao, Liang, set foot in novel. At the end of these 8 years, Qichao Liang's essay The Relationship Between Novel And Democracy. Tao Wang, Bangqing Han and other masters were already very active before 1895, and during these 8 years, there were Shu Lin, Baojia Li, Fu Yan, Qichao Liang and other famous writers and translators. After 1902, many new writers such as Jinhan Chen, Tianxiao Bao, Jianren Wu and Zuoren Zhou started their literary life, which led to the boom of modern Chinese novel.