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The rich traditional resources of Chinese essays feature complex dialectics in the process of stylistic modernity. To generalize the modernity with the concepts of evolution, acceptance and inheritance might fail to have a comprehensive view of them. The thesis sheds light on the discussions of Xiaopin since the establishment of the Republic of China, analyzing how literati constructed the modern style of essays through the renewal of conventional concepts from the perspective of the debate of Xiaopin in the late Ming Dynasty during 1930s. With the conceptual history, the thesis also reviews the style in the era of the Republic of China closely related to politics and nationality, to discuss more concepts as well as details of the stylistic transformation from the May Fourth Movement to the period of 1930s and 1940s, instead of focusing on the linear development and substitution of styles. The Theorization of Xiaopin discusses how Lin Yutang transformed the spirituality and the consciousness of amusing oneself of Xiaopin in the late Ming Dynasty based on the theory of “easiness”. Through the embodiment of body and objects, he renewed the aesthetic experience of easiness; on the other hand, he further discussed Zhou Zuoren’s perspective of Yan Zhi. From Spirituality to Lyrics focuses on how Shi Zhecun’s modernist experiences further modernized the discourse on Xiaopin. The writing of irrational emotions in Shi’s Xiaopinwen played a vital role in analyzing the spirituality of Xiaopin in the late Ming Dynasty, serving as a new lyrical style of describing atypical feelings. The Extended View of Xiaopin introduces the views of Xiaopin from the leftist literati. As the reversed party in the debate, leftist literati reinterpreted the social consciousness and the tone of adherents from the social perspective of new literature, expressing the variation of anger and melancholy in the essays. They not only extended but also integrated the discussions of Xiaopin since the threshold of the Republic of China. The Atypical Construction of Xiaopin is based on Shen Qiwu’s unprecedented point of view suggesting the inheritance and transformation of Xiaopin that sought true self since Zhou Zuoren. Shen established an unconventional and extreme aesthetic by ignoring the negativity of Xiaopin in the late Ming Dynasty, serving as a unique existence in atypical discussions. The thesis tries to analyze how aesthetic of traditional Xiaopin influenced the stylistic construction of modern essays. With the multiple concepts and alienation between them, the thesis unveils the stylistic development of the modernization of new literature based on the rich tradition and history of Chinese essays.
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