The new awareness in a literature for children came about after the establishment of
the Commercial Press in Shanghai in 1902, which promoted children’s literature by
launching a number of children’s periodicals and magazines, such as Shao Nian Ża Ji
[Youth Magazine], Er Tong Jiao Yu Hua [Educational Pictures for Children] and Tong
Hua.
The other factor that gave impetus to children’s literature was the efforts of some
educationists. Foremost among these were Lu Xun (1881–1936) and his brother Zhou
Zouren who advocated translations of foreign children’s literature. Lu Xun’s role in
Chinese children’s literature was not his many translated works of Western classics into
Chinese, but his stress on need for writing for children. He revolutionised children’s
literature and with it the whole approach to fiction and to stories for children. Lu Xun
encouraged the revival of woodcut illustrations which later gave rise to picture books for
children. His major contribution rests in his deep insight into the mind of the child and
his passionate desire for a new and more equitable society. Lu Xun’s brother continued
to translate Western fiction and recommended the use of literature in primary schools.
Similarly, a children’s editor in the Commercial Press, Sun Yuxiu (editorship 1909–
1916), became the first writer of children’s literature when he wrote ‘The Kingdom
Without a Cat’. This is the first children’s tale written in the vernacular language, about
a child labourer and his cat; the cat redeems a king’s dignity, and the hero is rewarded
with a successful scholarship. Sun Yuxiu encouraged another fellow writer by the name
of Shen Dehong (1896–1981) to write for children. As a result, Shen, known by his pen-
name, Mao Dun, wrote twenty-eight tales, many of which were stories re-written from
the traditional Chinese short stories of the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties.
Prominent among these were tales of love, chivalry and the supernatural that
characterised the Tang period (618–906); stories of murder and law suits, sword fights,
the martial arts, and religious tales (mostly Buddhist), of the Song period; stories about
love and intrigue, religious and supernatural, historical and pseudo-historical, domestic
and social, of the Yuan (Mongol) period (1260–1368), and stories of Chinese ghosts,
Taoist magic and wizardry from the Ming period (1368–1644).
As a result of the efforts of people like Shen Dehong, classical Chinese literature
became even more accessible to children. On the other hand, modern Chinese poetry for
children had little appeal for children because of the use of vernacular language and the
free-verse style. This compares unfavourably with classical Chinese in poetry of the Tang
and Song periods, for example, because the use of vernacular language and free verse is
less rhythmic and more difficult to memorise.
As the publications of the Commercial Press continued to flourish and children’s tales
were becoming increasingly popular, more and more writers were encouraged to write
for children’s magazines. Two children’s short stories were written by Ye Shengtao (1894–
1988) called The Scarecrow (1923) and The Statue of an Ancient Hero (1931). The first
story tells about a scarecrow who witnesses the social life of the Chinese people, but is
helpless to prevent the tragic events unfolding before his eyes. The second story is
allegorical, presenting a very moralistic view of the importance of the unimportant and
insignificant compared to the pretentiousness and snobbery of the high and mighty.
The first full-length children’s novel, Big Lin and Little Lin by Zhang Tianyi was
published in 1932. This was a politically motivated novel for children, the story about
822 CHINA