Liu Bannong and Foreign Folk Songs Translated

As a prominent standard-bearer of the New Culture Movement, Liu Bannong, while studying in France and living hand-to-mouth from day to day, compiled and translated Foreign Folk Songs Translated, which was formally published after his return to China. The volume collects more than eighty folk songs from over a dozen countries and regions, and also includes several Chinese folk songs that circulated overseas. In the early years of the Republic of China, when old and new currents of thought clashed violently, the book powerfully disseminated modern ideas such as democracy and science and contributed to the formation of a new Chinese national culture. Even today, this slim volume can still offer many insights into how contemporary China may critically absorb the outstanding achievements of world civilization.