Family Ethics And Literature Narrative

In Chinese tradition and culture, family is the field of feudal rules and ethical cultivation. The thoughts of "integration of family and state" and "families regulated, the states well governed" in Confucianism root deeply in Chinese family ethics and moral codes. However, with the introduction of western thoughts, Chinese traditional family hierarchy has been doubted since Late Qing dynasty, which was pointed out by many Chinese modern intellectuals, Tan Sitong, Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, as the fundamental problems in China. During the period of May Fourth Movement, new intellectuals even attacked the traditional Chinese family institution more fiercely. The concept of "nuclear family"(小家庭), which is in the centre of western bourgeois rules and civilization, has been introduced in China as an access to Chinese social reform. Similarly, family problem is also one of the motif in the modern Chinese literature. In the literary works of the20th century, many writers began to think about family issues in their literature, for example, Lu Xun, Mao Dun, Ba Jin, Eileen Chang and Qian Zhongshu.The thesis mainly studies family ethics views and literature works in the period of May Fourth Movement, aiming to discuss relationship between family ethics, enlightenment and literature works.Chapter One mainly focus on the discussion of family ethics literature reviews in the period of May Fourth Movement, which aims to provide a clear background.Chapter Two studies on the feminist literature review. From the individual point of view, it discusses Ibsenism by Hu Shi and A Doll’s House by Henrik J. Ibsen.Chapter Three studies on the interactive relationship between Chinese family formation (traditional family and "nuclear family") and the society in the period of May Fourth Movement. To be specific, on one hand "the traditional family’’has been regarded as a criticized social phenomenon. On the other hand, disadvantages and reflection are needed in the bourgeois nuclear family for the young female and male.