The Emergence and Formation of “Human Feeling” During the “Literature of Humanity” Period in China

Abstract This article takes Zhu Ziqing’s writing activities during the May Fourth Movement (the “Literature of Humanity” period) as an example to explore the way in which the themes and forms of “Literature of humanity” as well as the special influence and writing style of humanitarian writers came into being. It argues that modern Chinese experience originated with the “literature of humanity” which was developed to serve the goal of humanitarian social transformation during the May Fourth Movement. Zhu, an unswerving believer in modern humanism, developed new experiences and feelings when facing the real society which includes not only brother love and the acute awareness of the existence of one’s own life, but also the affection such as sadness, helplessness, and anger arose when “new man’s” ideal human love was ignored by the reality. Zhu Ziqing showed extraordinary sensitivity and extremely intense emotional response. His “surprising sensibility” and writing style make him the most representative writer of “Literature of Humanity”. Through this study, this article not only reconstructs the structure of the literary history of this period, but also finds that “Literature of Humanity” is the first stage of modern Chinese literary development.