Ding Ling In The View Of Anarchism (1927-1942)

Ding Ling is one of the most remarkable women writers in the history of Chinese modern literature. Although past research on Ding Ling is quite abundant, but not much is from the perspective of anarchism. The existing ones which involve anarchism’s influence on Ding Ling still lack a focus and in-depth discussions. At the end of the 19 th century the beginning of 20 th century, the idea of anarchism came into China. In the special historical situation, it quickly started to enjoy a vigorous development in the country. Ding Ling was wrapped by the rising wave of anarchism from a youth to an adult. She made acquaintance with many anarchism followers and therefore anarchic ideas were brought into her literary works. This paper analyses Ding Ling’s pre-1942 works from the perspective of anarchism. It is based on the historical background of Chinese revolution, Ding Ling’s early life experience,and her literary texts in different time periods. The question of how anarchic ideas and spirits have deeply affected Ding Ling in a long term is well discussed. The paper refers to anarchism as a root and accordingly explores Ding Ling’s life path and her change of writing styles. The aim is to make connections with past research on Ding Ling.This paper is mainly divided into three parts. The first chapter analyses anarchism’s birth and demise in the early-20-century China. It points out how Ding Ling was influenced under this background by her school, friends, the society, and how she accepted the ideas of anarchism. The second chapter is based on Ding Ling’s life experience and writing style during 1927 and 1942. It reveals Ding Ling’s inheritance and transform of anarchic-critical spirit. Works like Lady Shafei’s Journal, A mao obviously contain anarchic elements, which distinguish her from other writers who are famous for individualism and humanitarianism.However, her works in 1930 s shows the “transform” part. Works like Wei Hu and 1930’s Spring Shanghai indicate her reflection on anarchism’s feature of illusion. At Yan’an, she studied Proletariat’s Revolutionary Discourse and started to question the value of “person”, in which way she finally rejected anarchism. The third chapter refers to the agreements and disagreements between National Discourse and anarchism. It explains why Ding wasconverted from an anarchism follower to a communism believer-- how she could have balanced the two thought trends on the concept of “person” and even mix the two in her personal values.