Huang Yuanyong - Influence On China - Literature

Literature

Many intellectuals such as Chen Duxiu (陳獨秀) were influenced by Huang's ideas. They organized and published "New Youths" 《新青年》 and "New current of ideas" 《新潮》, which were largely promoted in Shanghai. More than thirty articles of the two publications mentioned Huang's name and his innovative ideas. One famous intellectual, Hu Shih (胡適), even considered Huang as the "First Voice" of promoting a new type of literature in his book Wu shi nian lai zhi wen xue (Literature within fifty years) 《五十年來之文學》.

Huang has been regarded as the pioneer of the May Fourth Movement (五四運動). He termed the movement a "Chinese Renaissance" in 1915, before it had actually started. He advocated the Literary Enlightenment Movement (文藝啟蒙運動) by promoting modern Chinese literature and introducing Western ideas to China. In his article, My Confession 《懺悔錄》, he argued that a prerequisite for the betterment of the society is to improve the personality and quality of citizens. (“今日無論何等方面,自以改革為第一要義”,要改革國家).

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