The Literary Trend of “Root Seekers” in China

After 1985, very big changes took place in the field of Chinese literature. In those years, the spirit of criticism in Chinese literature was significantly revived, especially by Chinese writers who drew attention to the theory of Western literature and the new way of thinking about Western society. 1985 was a successful year, which can be called the year of literary theory, the year of literary methodology, and the year of culture. At this time, the writer Han Shaugung published an article in the fourth magazine “Writer” entitled “The Roots of Literature”. In this article, appeared the slogan “Every nation has its roots, which lie deep in literature, and this root is directly related to the place of birth of each person”, every writer was engaged in tracking its roots. Under this motto, the “Literature of the Seekers of Roots” was formed in China. The reason for this is that in 1875, during the reign of the Qing Dynasty, 120 students from China went abroad and began to study Western culture and science. Now it's time for missionaries and Chinese students who have settled in China to translate 160 Western religious and other books. Thus, traditional Chinese culture has been hit and stagnated, and there have been changes in the way of thinking and worldview of the Chinese people. This article gives an idea of the literary direction of the “seekers of roots”, and focuses on the direct and indirect influence of this direction on the development of Chinese literature, the disclosure of Chinese national identity, the formation of a new Chinese nation, analyzes the role of this literary direction in literature.