The Echo of RUAN Yuan's Theory of "Wen" in the Late Qing and Republic of China——On the Establishment of Modern Literary Concepts

During the mid-Qing Dynasty, RUAN Yuan and his followers conducted a detailed analysis of "Wen" (literature), examining its academic significance and tracing its origins. They critically reflected on ancient literature as well as the works of the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties in order to free literature from the constraints of being a mere tool for conveying moral teachings, thus promoting its independence and laying the foundation for the concept of literary history. RUAN Yuan and his followers' examination of "Wen" not only sparked debates on the concept of "wen" at that time but also influenced the literary views of scholars in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China era, such as ZHANG Taiyan and LIU Shipei. These scholars selectively absorbed and transformed the viewpoints of RUAN Yuan and his followers, and even criticized their ideas. The debates surrounding "Wen" also drew the attention of other modern scholars to the concept of literature, providing them with materials, resources, and theoretical support for writing literary histories during the Republican era. And this fostered the emergence of the notion of "pure literature" in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, ultimately influencing the writing of Chinese literary criticism history and the establishment of the discipline of Chinese literary criticism.