Chinese Journal of Literary Criticism

No.3, 2025

Yan’an Literature and Chinese Literary Tradition

(Abstract)

Yuan Shengyong

Yan’an literature emerged as a highly creative literary movement and form in the 1930s and 1940s, constituting a significant part of modern Chinese literary development. It represents a literary trend rooted in national identity. Yan’an literature is both diverse in its existence and a form of modern literature that inherits and revitalizes Chinese literary traditions. Although the aesthetic expressions and humanistic concerns in Sun Li’s and Zhao Shuli’s novels differ, they share a modern significance in terms of both national identity and the people’s perspective. The value and aesthetic representation of Yan’an literature are not solely defined by the “Zhao Shuli direction”; the “Sun Li dimension” is equally worthy of recognition and emphasis. This offers invaluable insights for the creative development of contemporary and future Chinese literature.