Soong Tsung – Faung and the First French History of Modern Chinese Literature: La Littérature chinoise contemporaine

Abstract

Soong Tsung – faung(1892 – 1938) was a drama theorist and a pioneer of the modern Chinese drama movement. He was also a typical intellectual studying in France in the period of the Republic of China, and introduced Chinese literature to the French world very early. In 1919, His book La littérature chinoise contemporaine was publised by Jounal de Pékin. This French history of Chinese literature systematically introduced modern Chinese literature to the French world for the first time. This book consists of 23 chapters and a preface by Albert Nachbaur. Chinese novel, poetry and drama are the main contents, and the introduction of the May Fourth New Culture Movement is the focus of this book, the modern magazine New Youth is the emphasis and its achievements such as Hu Shi's drama Lifetime Event and Yu Pingbo's new poetry Spring Water have been translated in time by the author. This paper will introduce the specific contents of this book, discuss the self – realization and cultural identity construction of Chinese intellectuals in the eastward spread of Western learning in the early 20th century, and investigate its current significance in the communication between Chinese and foreign literature.