A Study On The Evolution Of Jin Xingyao’s “Dao”

Jin Xingyao is a prolific author on prose writing.His pen name “Wen Zaidao”,which in Chinese means “literature is for the truth”,reveals that the significance of “Dao”,the truth,is laid great emphasis on among his literary works and arguments.He believes that literature has its own “function”,regarding “Wen Yi Zai Dao”,which means literature is created for illustrating the truth,as the main theme of prose creation.What’s more,at different stages of his prose creation,the meaning of “Dao” changed.During the period of “Isolated Island”,the “Dao” he sought was utilitarian,pragmatic and quick-responsive,which played a decisive role in his joining in school of “Lu Xun Feng”.Due to this,literary form of satirical essay came to be the main carrier of “Dao” at that time.Then during early days of War of Resistance Against Japan,in the literary field,he made active contribution to satirical essay of “Lu Xun Feng”,acting as a chief editor of magazine Lu Xun Feng and Xiao Xiao.Thus,he gradually rose to fame.From the perspective of literary school,he was a successor in writing satirical essay in Lu Xun’s style,but he also remained his own characteristics in creating satirical essay.At that time,the main focus of satirical essay in literary form and style is the connection of “emotion”and “skill”.When Shanghai was occupied by Japanese,Jin Xingyao was deeply influenced by Zhou Zuoren and authors of magazine Ancient and Modern Times.He began to realize that life is multifaceted.“Dao” not only meant striving for progress in the revolution,but also meant enjoying natural scenery.During this period,the content of“Dao” was passive and evasive.Authors evaded the reality and hid into nostalgia,regarding themselves as survivors of the old nation.They took part in editing magazine Ancient and Modern Times and Literary and History.As a result,they were labeled as“authors with the inverse” for their literary activities in the occupied area.In this period,Jin Xingyao made great efforts to present “ancient flavor” and “elegance” in his familiare ssays,and also carried forward Zhou Zuoren’s style of “Xian Hua Feng”,which means writing casually in prose creation.It was a symbol that his lyric prose was gradually maturing.In the 1980 s and 1990 s,Jin Xingyao,as a scholar studying literature and history who entered his late years,introduced general knowledge and lessons of Chinese culture to ordinary readers.His essay were reasonable as well as interesting during the period,telling truth that is beneficial to readers,which could be another form of “Dao”.The main focus was that,for authors,it is of great significance to “know themselves” and merge literary behavior and personal interests into one;for articles,a “peaceful and understanding” image should be presented by combining “literary”,“history” and“poetry” together.In this paper,three literary forms applied by Jin Xingyao in three periods are taken as the entry point.Meanwhile,textual research,analysis and comparison from vertical perspective of literary tradition and parallel perspective of literary schools are to be applied.Based on text,this paper,with literary form as core,aims to present a more comprehensive study on Jing Xingyao’s prose.