History and Theory of the Modernist Poetry Wave in Modern China

Author: Sun Yushi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Starting with the study of Wild Grass in 1981, Professor Sun Yushi has dedicated himself to the research of Symbolism and Modernist poetry in modern literature (which faced considerable resistance at the time, yet also reflected Peking University's academic tradition of "freedom of thought" and "inclusive tolerance"). He has successively published The Study of Wild Grass (1982), The Study of Early Chinese Symbolist Poetry (1983), An Introduction to Chinese Modernist Poetry (1917-1938) (1990, co-authored), and The Art of Chinese Modernist Poetry (1992). Recently, he has also published A Historical Study of the Chinese Modernist Poetry Tide (1999). It should be noted that the aforementioned works, whether focusing on school studies, period studies, or case studies, are all part of the research on Chinese modernist poetry and, in a sense, lay the foundation for each subsequent work. This also reflects Professor Zhu Ziqing's scholarly style of "starting small but aiming high": his textual analysis serves as preparation for the imagined history of criticism or poetry. It is worth mentioning that Sun's aforementioned research was achieved under the guidance of modern Chinese poetics theory. According to Sun, "modern Chinese poetics theory is a theoretical framework of modern poetic criticism that emerged in the 1930s and 1940s. Professor Zhu Ziqing was its founder. Its essence lies in conducting macroscopic research on Symbolism and Modernism while simultaneously focusing on the intrinsic interpretation of individual works within this poetic trend, aiming to bridge the gap between the creators and recipients of aesthetic creation." In the mid-to-late 1980s, Sun repeatedly called for the "re-establishment of modern Chinese poetics theory," intending to seek truth and apply it, learn from the past to understand the present, and provide a reference framework for the then-chaotic study of poetry, thereby promoting the healthy development of modern poetry and its criticism. A Historical Study of the Chinese Modernist Poetry Tide is precisely the concrete practice and exemplary work of Sun's "re-establishment of modern Chinese poetics theory."
First, the book adopts an attitude of "interpreting the ancient" in its research. The author does not take a general "belief" or "doubt" stance on the modernist poetry in China since the 1950s, which was regarded as an "uprising," but instead focuses on "interpreting the ancient" to provide reasonable explanations that align with the circumstances of the time (Commemorative Collection of Mr. Wang Yao, p. 397). The author spent ten years (starting from 1987 when the outline of the book was serialized in Literary News) "engaging in the discovery and portrayal, examination and evaluation of the Symbolist and Modernist trends in modern Chinese poetry, which is the duty of restoring the true history of the development of Chinese modern poetry," the author demonstrates "understanding with sympathy" toward modernist poetry in China, using a wealth of evidence to show that, like other poetic trends, it fulfilled its social responsibilities and artistic explorations in the process of modernizing Chinese new poetry. These comments undoubtedly constitute "reasonable explanations that align with the circumstances of the time." Achieving this is undoubtedly commendable.
Second, the combination of micro and macro research methods is also a major feature of the book. In the preface, the author points out that the book "strives to achieve, in the macro historical narrative, a detailed textual interpretation and explanation of representative works from different perspectives." For example, in Chapter 4, "The Flourishing of the Modernist Poetry Tide in the 1930s," while providing a macroscopic description of the "emergence of the 1930s modernist poetry tide" and its "theoretical pursuits," the author interweaves micro analyses of poems such as Dai Wangshu's The Rain Alley, A Broken Finger, and My Memory, Xu Chi's To the Poet Louis, Lin Geng's Spring Fields and Rainy Night in Shanghai, Fei Ming's Street, and Shi Tiesun's Silver Fish. Additionally, the author employs dedicated sections or appendices to provide in-depth micro interpretations of some important works, such as the "appendix" to Chapter 2, "The Birth of Early Symbolist Poetry," which focuses on Bai Cai's long poem Love of the Weakling; a dedicated section on "Feng Zhi: Building a Bridge to the New Modernism" in Chapter 8, "The Exploration and Transcendence of Modernist Poetry in the 1940s," which emphasizes Feng Zhi's poetry; and an appendix on "An Interpretation of Mu Dan's Eight Poems" after Chapter 9, "The Prophetic Consciousness of the Chinese New Poetry Faction." Through this, the author achieves a combination of micro and macro perspectives, making the arguments more rigorous.
During the research process, the author also noted the importance of integrating the strengths of the Beijing School and the Shanghai School. Wang Yao believed that "possessing the style of both the Beijing School and the Shanghai School" meant "maintaining rigorous arguments without being narrow-minded" and "having a broad vision without being vague." In the book, the author does not narrate according to the framework of historical figures but instead focuses on exploring the development and issues of this poetic trend, making it not a strict history but rather a work of historical theory. In the postscript, the author emphasizes that "seeking conclusions that are more in line with objective reality based on historical facts should be the soul of historical research. What I am striving to achieve is the exploration of theoretical issues within the description of history." These remarks show that the author is "neither purely objective in 'collecting facts' nor purely subjective in 'elaborating' but rather a combination of both" (The Modernization of Chinese Literary Research, p. 395). This can also be seen as integrating the strengths of the "rigor" of the Beijing School and the "breadth" of the Shanghai School.