Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.10, 2013

The Couplet Tradition and New Chinese Literature

(Abstract)

Xiao Bairong

As an important literary form in traditional Chinese culture, couplets have exerted profound influence on modern Chinese writers. Such influence is seen not only in the writers’ literary creations, but also in their thinking patterns and artistic expression. For a long time, however, couplets have received little academic attention, and still less significant research has been done in this regard. Modern writers have created a rich variety of couplets, with their own innovation and development and as an inheritance of traditional Chinese couplet culture. These couplets have compensated for or overcome some limitations of new literature, and have enriched and augmented its meaning and expression. The relationship between the couplet culture and new Chinese literature vividly embodies the propositions of literary inheritance, development and innovation.