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.