May Fourth Literary Tradition and the Transformation of Chinese Literature in the 1930s

The May Fourth movement that ushered in China’s modern literature constitutes a central and inexhaustible tradition and topic. This paper proceeds from the Chinese literary community’s reflections on the May Fourth literary tradition to explore the different aims, methods and perspectives of the May Fourth and 1930s literature through the interpretations and evaluations of each period. May Fourth literature followed a humanist approach while that of the 1930s took a social sciences approach. This point can provide us with a correct and rational explanation of the different interpretations and evaluations of the two periods and their complex entanglement. Furthermore, by examining the differences in approach of the two periods, we can look back over the May Fourth literary tradition and gain a better grasp of the transformation of literature in the 1930s, and thus sum up the experience and lessons of the literary tradition of both periods.

The Hidden Logic of Japan's Foreign Wars: 1592-1945

From 1592 to 1945, Japan conducted a series of military incursions in East Asia, including the invasion of Korea of 1592-1598, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and the Japanese War of Aggression against China of the 1930s-1940s. The tone of this series of aggressive actions was set by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was continued in the Meiji Restoration and magnified in the Showa era, crystallizing into a pervading pattern of thought and action hiding behind the facts. Those post-World War II views that propose to cut the connections among these wars launched by Japan do not conform to the way Japanese said and behaved in the past but merely endorse some contemporary Japanese academic opinions. Therefore, exploring the facts and hidden logic linking these wars and restoring the original attributes of each regional war may be of benefit to fundamental studies and realistic concerns about Eastern Asian issues.