Though Lu Yao's Ordinary World (Pingfan de Shijie) has enjoyed considerable sales volume and reading quantity similar to his other novel Life (Rensheng), it is not accepted by the literary circle as Life and failed to spark the kind of nationwide discussion once created by Life. One explanation for this is the sweeping desire for innovation that was present in literary circles in the 1980s, but the creation method of the Ordinary World was too conservative to stimulate the interpretive impulse of the new critics; another reason is that the incredible length and sheer complexity of Ordinary World prevented scholars from recognizing how difficult it was conceived and what innovation it made. This paper embarks on an intensive reading of Ordinary World in terms of its characterization, the character groups of urban and rural youths, senior cadres, and rural grassroots cadres, and a re-elucidation of its "overlapping areas," in an attempt to extensively analyze the content of the panoramic chronicle of Chinese society at the beginning of reform and opening up, and the writer's profound thinking and artistic innovation in his description, trying to clarify the many vague understandings of this masterpiece in the literary circle.

Builders of a New Life (Chuangyeshi) is a novel that takes a deep dive into the essence of historical materialism and dialectical materialism. The novel creates a literary form of political metanarrative and presents the literary narrative of the rural cooperative movement in China within the framework of socialist revolution, through a plot with the connotation of documentary political economy. At the literary narrative level, Builders of a New Life develops the narrative through the subjective perspectives of numerous characters, which pushes the development of the plot forward and bridges the text world with external reality. The result is the creation of a world of general literature unifying thought, emotion and action, along with the development of a distinctive epic narrative form.

The birth of an outstanding literature is closely related to a writer's creation motive, thought and expression. Lu Yao's masterpiece Ordinary World (Pingfan de Shijie) spans a period of ten years and reflects panoramically the myriad of social formations, lifestyles and patterns of thought during China's social transformations between 1975 and 1985. Via an analysis of first-hand materials such as the memoirs and correspondences of Lu Yao, his relatives and editors, this essay systematically unravels the writer's main motive for composing the novel Ordinary World, in a renewed effort to unravel the mystery behind the creation of this literary classic.

Poverty alleviation is a critical battlefield of this era and this historic event has been timely and powerfully reflected and expressed in literary creations. In recent years, many influential literary works with the theme of poverty alleviation have emerged, which focus on telling the story of China’s system, shaping new characters in the New Era, and depicting a realistic view of rural transformation, so as to inject fresh content into contemporary literature and form a beautiful landscape of current Chinese literature.

I came to know the works of Ouyang Qiansen for the first time through the TV series Madame Shexiang (Shexiang Furen) and Unbreakable Pass (Xiongguan Mandao), and his screenwriting skills immediately struck me. Later, I read many of his full-length and medium-length novels as well as his short stories. The short stories of his works certainly display the most devotion and exemplify his highest achievement. There is no doubt that the short story is a very difficult literary form. As Lu Xun, Shen Congwen, Wang Zengqi, Sun Li, Su Tong and many other great writers have made remarkable artistic achievements, the art of the short story has been pushed to the extreme, thus making it even more challenging to achieve success in the genre. Ouyang Qiansen, however, has done it by immersing himself in the art of the short story. This paper explores the artistic achievements within Ouyang Qiansen’s short stories, providing some reference for enriching the artistic landscape of the short story.

Ouyang Qiansen is a writer from Guizhou who is quite influential in the Chinese literary circles of the new century. He has worked hard to rejuvenate the Chinese nation’s literary tradition with modern thinking. This is reflected in the fact that he includes modern geological expertise in his novels, portraying geographical scenery with poetic language, thereby forming a unique narrative style based on modern knowledge and renewing the “natural science” narrative tradition of China’s ancient novels. Moreover, he pays special attention to myriad unusual events and people throughout Guizhou’s history and in reality, and creates typical literary Guizhou characters of all types whereby he revives the “legend” narrative tradition based on historical records or biographies and is typical of ancient Chinese novels. Both the geography-based “natural science” narrative and the people-based “legend” narrative are merged into Ouyang’s local chroniclestyled novel pedigree of Guizhou. By creatively transforming the narrative tradition of local chronicles and local chronicle-style novels of ancient China, in his literary creations, Ouyang manages to revive and reconstruct the Guizhou spirit, which serves as the local expertise and culture.

Among the series of characters created in Seventeen-Year Literature (1949-66), Liang Shengbao is a unique figure particularly worth studying. In Builders of a New Life (Chuangyeshi), Liu Qing attempts to presents his understanding of the realization of the agricultural cooperative movement through the narration of Liang Shengbao's traits and personality. As a consequence, the creation of Liang Shengbao, an ideal character,has both historical and literary meanings. Based on the analysis of Liu Qing's "writing method," this paper reveal is the historical and literary creation mechanism of Liang Shengbao by comparing and interpreting the relationship, the writing method, and the differences between Liang Shengbao and other characters close to him, thus unfolding the research significance of this ideal character.

The great social changes since China’s reform and opening up have facilitated the revival and development of reportage. Life in the New Era has provided infinitely rich and valuable themes and materials for the creation of reportage. Among them, the theme of targeted poverty reduction and poverty alleviation has become the focus of reportage writing in recent years. The “Poverty Alleviation Trilogy”: In Leaf and Bloom, Listening to the Voices of the Blooming Flowers (Huafan Yemao, Qingting Huakai de Shengyin), The Sunshine of the Blissful Spring (Baode Sanchunhui), and A New Lease of Life: The Story of Wanshan (Kan Wanshan Hongbian), written by famous writer Ouyang Qiansen, is not only a self-evident breakthrough of Guizhou-themed reportage and its status within national literary circles, but is also strong evidence of the reflection on major themes and the spirit of the times through reportage, which, in this sense, is of irreplaceable significance.

Academic News

Academic News

Since its publication in 2016, Paper Hawk has been studied by literary critics from different angles, such as its inheritance of the Chinese classical literature tradition, its conception of language and structure form, and even its usage of imagery. The historical imagination in the novel has also attracted great attention in academic circles. As one of the clues in the novel, Chinese cuisine enables the writer to outline the setting of the era and human nature, and reflect on traditional culture with a keen insight. Taking food as a starting point, I explores the path of historical evolution, its development as well as its ups and downs. A warm thanks also goes out to Dr. Xu Shiying for her interview on historical writing (Appendix follows), which represents the historical depth of Paper Hawk in a dialogue format.

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The Protagonist is another fulllength masterpiece of realism by Chen Yan following his previous novel The Backstage Clan. His rich experience in drama creation enables Chen Yan to skillfully employ classical literature and traditional opera librettos, and be keener on entering a narrative where novel and opera communicate without any barriers, thereby forming his distinctive narrative aesthetic. In addition, Chen Yan has proficiently created in the abovementioned books typical characters such as Diao Shunzi and Yi Qin’e, creating a blueprint for how these two novels will be passed down to later generations. Unlike The Backstage Clan, which focuses on the extraordinary nature of ordinary people, The Protagonist presents the potential of the rise of ordinary people and a panorama of man and culture by portraying the legendary lives of the protagonist and the secondary protagonist.

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Above Baiyangdian Lake is a novel set against the backdrop of the great changes in rural China in the new era, revolving around the grand theme of China’s contribution to the harmonious development of the world with Chinese wisdom and its solutions. The subject of Above Baiyangdian Lake is grand as it involves politics, culture, economy, and many other aspects. Its publication has reversed the narrowing tendency of Chinese novels in terms of themes and subjects. Above Baiyangdian Lake reconstructs historical time for Chinese modernization with its time consciousness based on a historical perspective. Wang Juexin and Qiao Mai shaped by the writer have contributed to the range of Chinese contemporary literary characters as typical images of the new characters of the era. The value of epic masterpieces like Above Baiyangdian Lake should be fully explored and advocated to provide a useful reference for the development of literature in the new era.