Novels from the period of the bourgeois reformist movement

Novels from the period of the bourgeois reformist movement

Section 1: A New Stage in the Development of the Novel　　

The classical novel developed into the Guangxu period (1875-1908), and with the vigorous development of the reformist movement, a new situation began to emerge. Although chivalrous novels such as "Three Heroes and Five Righteousness", "Little Five Righteousness", and "Continuing Little Five Righteousness" and narrow evil novels such as "The Dream of the Qinglou" and "The Legend of the Flowers on the Sea" were also produced in this period, these works were only the aftermath of the creation of novels in the previous period, and they were far from representing the entire face of novel creation at that time. Among these chivalrous novels, Shi Yukun's "Three Heroes and Five Righteousnesses" published in the fifth year of Guangxu (1879) has a great influence. The first half of the novel is written about Bao Gong, with the help of Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang and other chivalrous guests, accepting the case of civil injustice and divine judgment. The story of the struggle with the traitorous minister Pang Tai's master and son; the second half mainly writes about the chivalrous guests who help yan Chashan cut off the rebellious Xiangyang King's henchmen on behalf of the imperial court. Through the negative images of Pang Yu, Ma Gang, Ma Qiang, Liu Hong, Miao Xiu, etc., the work exposes and criticizes to a certain extent the various darknesses in society at that time, mainly the emperor's state relations and even the rampant behavior of local tycoons and bullies. However, when the work exposes the above phenomena, it is only handled by individual accidental events, and the entire feudal system is still reasonable in the author's view, and the emperor is holy. The chivalrous guest in the novel began to have the true color of "Hero Kusawa". They had a great sense of justice and did a lot of work to eliminate harm for the people; but when their desires were satisfied during the feudal period of rule, they served the emperor with all their hearts and became the most loyal servants of the rulers. The Works of Bao Gong, Santaishi, and Pang Yu, although still typical of Qing officials, have weakened the justice of this image in tradition, that is, they lack the spirit of daring to "disobey" the holy will in order to support justice, and they are very tame in front of the emperor, the supreme ruler of feudalism. The novel has a certain achievement in art and has a strong plain color. The sequels of "Three Heroes and Five Righteousnesses", "Little Five Righteousness" and "Continuation of Small Five Righteousness", are even inferior in terms of ideological content and art. In the narrow evil novels, only the "Biography of flowers on the sea" written by Han Ziyun in the eighteenth year of Guangxu (1892) has a certain critical significance in reality. Through the encounters of Zhao Erbao, Li Shufang, and Zhou Shuangyu, the work exposes the tragic lives of prostitutes to a certain extent while writing about the absurdity and shamelessness of the urban property owners. It is written in Wu language, in which the main characters are written vividly and full of life.　　

Representing the new face of novel writing during this period is the large number of novels that appeared between about 1900 and 1910 that reflected the political demands of reformism, condemned the darkness of reality, and many articles expounding the theory of the novel. Most of them were published in many literary journals such as "New Novel", "Embroidery Novel", "Moon Novel", "Novel Style" and so on, which were founded at that time.　　

There are many reasons for this situation. After the Sino-Japanese War, the national and ethnic crisis became deeper and deeper. The broad masses of the people felt hopeless about the decadent and incompetent Qing Empire and wanted to find the reason for the weakness of the country. At that time, the intellectuals representing the emerging asset stage and the feudal scholars and doctors influenced by the ideas of the Western bourgeoisie stage "thought about reform" and launched a vigorous reformist political movement, and a reform movement also appeared in literature. The revolution in the novel world is one aspect of this movement. At that time, people regarded the novel as a powerful weapon to expose the old society and propagate new ideas, and they ignored the traditional concept of the novel by their predecessors and raised it to an unprecedented and important position. A large number of novels and novel theories have emerged in such a new situation. The successive emergence of modern commercial cities in this era, the strong interest of the general public class in the city in the novel, the large number of foreign novels interpreted, and the emergence of professional novelists are also important reasons for the prosperity of novel creation and novel theory.　　

These novels have their distinctive features. First of all, they consciously cooperated with the political movements of the time, and had a relatively rich political content, and the darkness of the official arena, the rampant hegemony of imperialism, and even a series of important events in political life were all reflected in the novel. In particular, the propagation of reformism has become the main content of the novel. Because of this, it is also determined that the exposure and criticism of reality in these novels, although extensive, is not thorough enough. For example, while vigorously exposing the darkness of the official arena, they all have illusions about the feudal supreme ruler to varying degrees; while exposing the ferocity of imperialism in large quantities, they lack understanding of its aggressive nature, and even beautify its "civilization" and "progress.". Secondly, the novel's attitude toward reality is blindly exposed and condemned, and it lacks the luster of the ideal. Of course, this was due to the extreme darkness and decay of the reality at that time, but also because of the limitations of the writer's understanding, he could not see the real revolutionary force and could not find a positive image of the ideal. The author of the novel inherits the traditional satirical techniques of our country, but has developed somewhat, which is characterized by the absence of hidden edges, reaching the degree of extreme exaggeration and gentle painting. They often grasp a point, vigorously render, and read happily, but because the typical generalization is not enough, they cannot leave a deep and moving impression on the reader. In terms of the structure of the novel, it generally adopts a long form of intermittent, which is mainly to adapt to the sub-issues of newspapers and periodicals; at the same time, this form is also influenced by the "History of Rulin" to a certain extent.　　

The number of these novels is large, but the quality is generally not high. "The Appearance of the Officialdom" and "The Strange Situation Witnessed in Twenty Years" are relatively excellent works. However, the height they have reached ideologically and artistically is far from being comparable to some of the long works before the middle of the Qing Dynasty, mainly due to the political weakness of writers, their inability to touch the essence of social problems, and their inability to put forward advanced ideals. In addition, the narrowness of their circle of life and the limitations of their own literary attainments are also the reasons for the above results.　　

At that time, the main contents of a large number of novel theory articles can be roughly summarized into the following four aspects:　　

(1) Attach great importance to the social role of novels. A passage by Liang Qichao in "The Relationship between Novels and The Rule of the Masses" is the most typical.　　

If you want the people of a new country, you must first make a novel of a new country. Therefore, if you want new morality, you must have a new novel; if you want a new religion, you must have a new novel; if you want a new politics, you must have a new novel; if you want new customs, you must have a new novel; if you want a new art, you must have a new novel; and even if you want a new heart, a new personality, you must have a new novel.　　

There are many similar formulations. Mr. Wang said in "On the Relationship between Novels and Reformed Society": "I think that I am today, and I do not want to save the country; today I sincerely want to save the country, we must not start from the novel, we must not fail to improve the novel." "They reject the feudal orthodox literati's view that the novel is despised, and they have undoubtedly raised the status of the novel to an unprecedented level, which undoubtedly has great progressive significance; but they are also inevitably one-sided, so that the role of the novel is inappropriately emphasized to the point of determining everything.　　

(ii) To advocate the service of the novel to society, specifically to the reformist political movement, and to make it a trumpet for the propagation of reformist ideas. In the "Origin of the Ministry of Printing and Sayings of the National News And Newspaper", there is a saying that "if the purpose exists, it is concerned with civilizing the people.". In its publication, Yueyue Novel claimed that its motivation for its founding was to "improve society and open up people's wisdom". The interpretation of the congratulatory speech published by the journal is more explicit: "The edict of the Constitution of Fang Jin, but the constitution is rooted in autonomy, and this matter is not in the first and second masters of the people, but in the majority of the people under the ,...... The poison of the four-thousand-year-old autocracy in China is also deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and in everyone's mind, except for one statue, they do not know that there are so-called civil rights horses, freedom horses, constitutional horses, and electoral horses. As for what the soldiers of today know a little, the people who are expected to be in the lower majority are still blind, and they have not yet known. For this reason, the novel should be "a help to open up knowledge, and enter the people in constitutional qualifications." In order to serve reform closely, they advocated that all novels should be written by those who can choose the facts to suit the situation of society, and those who can choose the genre to be suitable for the brains of the people" (Wang Wusheng," "Treatise on the History of Novels in Chinese Dynasties"), and those who translate novels should choose "those who are relevant to the current situation in China today" (Liang Qichao, "Preface to translating and printing political novels").　　

(iii) Various evaluations of classical novels were made. Some of them are still bound by outdated concepts, dividing old novels into three categories: heroes, children, and ghosts, and one-sidedly denying them, and regard "Dream of the Red Chamber" and "Water Margin" as works of obscenity and theft. However, it is worth noting that some of them have made a high evaluation of China's excellent classical novels. They contradicted the slanders of their predecessors for "Water Margin" and "Dream of the Red Chamber", and believed that "there is the tyranny of a tyrant and a cool official, and "Water Margin" is now in existence, and there is no freedom in the marriage of men and women, and "Dream of the Red Chamber" is out of the blue." It is said that "Dream of the Red Chamber" is a novel with great power to "destroy the old morality of The Qing Dynasty", and "Water Margin" is "the Zheng Zheng in Chinese novels, the model of martial arts.". He also said that "the author of the book 'Jin Ping Mei' holds infinite grievances, no hatred and deep pain, and is in a dark era, with nothing to say, no way to vent, and has no choice but to use the novel to make a sound." Its description of the social situation at that time is slightly apparent. ...... The truly one social novel shall not be in the form of an obscene bibliography" (see New Novels and Novels). Although they were far from making correct judgments about these novels, they were very bold opinions at the time.　　

(iv) Some questions about what is a novel and how to create a novel are also elaborated. First they saw the difference between literary works and other scientific works. Xia Zengyou pointed out in "Principles of The Novel" that people like "the actual things of the flesh" (that is, concrete life), rather than "ethereal empty talk" (that is, abstract theories), and both painting and fiction can make you "experience" "as in the present", and "although the novel is slightly obscure in painting, it is more extensive". He also said that history is "the truth is often dull" and the novel is "the things that are set up are often beautiful." Xu Nianci's "Novel Lin Yuanqi" has quoted Hegel's words, pointing out figurativeness, concreteness, etc. as the artistic characteristics of novels. Second, they point out that literature is attractive not only in depicting reality, but also in ideals. Liang Qichao pointed out in "The Relationship between Novels and the Rule of the Masses": "Novelists often guide people to swim in other realms, and those who change the air that they often touch and receive are also. One or the other. Man's constant feelings, so the imagination he embraces, the realm he has read, often have those who do not know what they do, who are accustomed to noticing; If you want to imitate its shape, the heart cannot be self-described, the mouth cannot be self-satisfied, and the pen cannot be autobiographical. Someone who is open and deliberate, thorough and revealing, is called a case of absolute silence: 'Good and good, as it is.' The so-called 'master's words are related to my heart', which is deeply touching, and it is especially so. In addition, they pointed out that literature excites people through emotional effects. Li Spoon's "Small Introduction to Xinxi Gossip" says: "Yu is called a novelist,...... Let people smell the wind of righteousness and chivalry, which stimulates their generosity, and when they hear sorrow, they move their feelings of sorrow, and when they smell evil, they are deeply evil, and when they smell good, they are deeply good. Liang Qichao said in "The Relationship between Novels and Group Governance" that novels have four kinds of "divine power", "smoke", "dip", "stab", and "mention". "Smoking" actually refers to the subtle feelings, "immersion" refers to touching people deeply, "stabbing" refers to making people's feelings suddenly stimulated, and "mentioning" refers to the reader's changes with the feelings of the book and integrates himself into it.　　

Although the above theories are still relatively naïve and lack a scientific system, their philosophical basis is also idealistic. But we cannot underestimate their significance and value. They liberated the novel from the status of "barnyard official and wild history", reflecting the innovative spirit of the emerging bourgeoisie at that time that despised traditional views and dared to make achievements, and played a positive role in promoting the prosperity and development of the late Qing dynasty novel.　　

Section 2 Li Boyuan and Wu Zhaoren Li Boyuan (1867~1906), known as Baojia, was a famous condemnation novelist in the late Qing Dynasty. He excelled in art and poetry, and was admitted first, but failed to pass the test. Cause him to be dissatisfied with society. When I arrived in Shanghai, I was exposed to many new things, and I was even more dissatisfied with the decay and incompetence of the Qing government. However, due to his political conservatism, he was not only hostile to the democratic revolutionaries, but even Kang Liang's change of law was regarded as "excessive" behavior. He initially founded a number of tabloids; mainly "for haiku ridicule and scolding friends", "notes on advocating excellent living" (Lu Xun's "History of Chinese Novels"). But this period of newspaper work has a certain effect on the accumulation of his life experience and the exercise of artistic skills. Certain conditions were prepared for his future novel creation. Between 1901 and 1906, he wrote novels such as "The Present Form of Officialdom", "A Short History of Civilization", "Living Hell", "China Now" and many other novels and many bullet words.　　

"The Appearance of officialdom" is his masterpiece. The book is sixty times in total, consisting of many relatively independent short stories. From a reformist standpoint, the work attacks the bureaucracy at the end of feudal society. They vigorously portray their corrupt and ugly behavior of flattering the country, as well as their cruel persecution of the people.　　

In the novel, various bureaucratic portraits appear. Although their status is high and low, their power is large and small, and their means are different; they are all those who "see money open and regard money as fate". For money, they sold their officials and lords, embezzled money, murdered the people, betrayed the motherland, and finally sold their souls. Tao Ziyao's fate, embezzling public funds; risking the official's position to protect the prominent position, offering his daughter; Hu Huaruo's flowers and wine, the arsonists burned and plundered, it is not outrageous to read! The novel is written when Commander Hu (Hu Huaruo) learned that he was going to Yanzhou, Zhejiang Province, to "suppress bandits", he was very afraid, lest he die, but did not dare not go, so he took his entourage and the army all the way to delay and spend the day drinking. Later, when he inquired that there were no more "bandits" in Yanzhou, he actually boasted that he wanted to borrow "suppress bandits" to ask for credit. Fourteen times it was written that he led the men and horses and drove to the countryside with great pride.　　

The countrymen had shallow eyes, and had seen such a scene there, and the bold hid behind the house and waited for them to pass by before they came out; when the timid saw these people and horses, they were already frightened and jumped to the west, ten rooms and nine empty. At first, after walking through several villages, Commander Hu suspected that they were all bandits because of the disappearance of anyone, and as soon as the soldiers arrived, they fled together and were bound to burn down their houses. Before Fu fu could say this, countless soldiers were searching around the house, and some children and women were dragged out from behind the bed. Commander Hu was determined to bring them to justice, but fortunately, Old Master Zhou understood and hurriedly dissuaded them. Commander Hu ordered him to take it behind the palanquin and return to the city to interrogate and confess again. In the middle of the conversation, there was already a fire in the front Zhuangzi, and in less than a moment, the vanguard brigade in front of them all received the letter and connived at the soldiers to raid and rob them; even washed away the villages, raped women, and did everything.　　

After the brigade swept around for a while, Commander Hu "went in a big circle in the southeast, south, and northwest, four townships and eight towns," and when he saw that no one came out to resist the enemy, he "played the Kaiban Division."　　

In this way, these officials brutalized the people and acted as a blessing in disguise; but in front of the foreigners, they bowed down and bowed down, showing a full slave appearance. The fifty-three palindrome received foreigners is very typical.　　

...... When the patrol saw the question, he immediately took a step forward and said, "Back to the words of the marshal: There are guests to worship." At the end of the language, I only saw a clap, and the patrolman's face had already been slapped by the marshal with an ear scraper. Then he listened to the producer Taima say, "Bastards forget about the bastards!" What did I do when I told you that! Whenever I eat, no matter what guests come, I am not allowed to go back and forth. You have no ears, you have not heard! He said, lifting his leg and kicking it again. The patrol was beaten, scolded, and simply threw out his courage and said, "Because this guest is important, unlike other guests." The producer said, "He needs to matter, I don't matter!" You say that he is different from other guests, and no matter who you are, you can never overshadow me! The patrol said, "Marshal Hui: It's not someone else who came, it's a foreigner." As soon as the station heard the word "foreigner", for some reason, it suddenly became shorter by more than half a section, and was afraid to be there for half a day; after thinking about it, it got up on the ground, clapped a loud sound, raised its hand and hit an ear scraper; and then scolded: "The bastard forgot the bastard!" Who am I to be! It turned out to be a foreigner! The foreigner came, why didn't he come back early and tell him to wait outside for half a day? The inspector said, "Originally, I was in a hurry to go up and down, but because I saw the marshal eating, I waited under the corridor for a while." After listening to it, the station raised his leg and kicked it again, and said: "Other guests do not return, foreigners come, there are foreign business affairs, how can you tell him to wait outside?" Confused, please come in yet! "　　

"A Small History of Civilization" is also his masterpiece, and the whole book is sixty times. From the perspective of the so-called "restoration" and "constitutionalism", the work further develops the theme of "The Appearance of Officialdom", exposes the decay and incompetence of the Qing government, exposes the speculative tricks of the fake restoration faction, and at the same time, to a certain extent, reflects the spontaneous resistance struggle of the broad masses of the people and the conflict between new and old ideas in society.　　

"Living Hell", a total of forty-three times, consists of fifteen stories of varying lengths, and through these descriptions soaked in blood and tears, exposes the various evils in the feudal gate.　　

The artistic feature of Li Boyuan's novels is the extensive use of satire and exaggeration. The author often gathers the backward and ugly phenomena in life and exaggerates them through one thing. For example, in the thirteenth time in the "Small History of Civilization", through several Daoist platforms of the Wuchang Prefecture Foreign Affairs Bureau, they solemnly debated the small question of what grade palanquin should be used to receive a foreign priest, prompting the old decay and pedanticness of these large and small officials who had been corrupted by the feudal concept of hierarchy. Sometimes the author also grasps some key details. Putting together two contradictory aspects of the satirical object reveals the hypocrisy and ugliness of the characters. In the nineteenth episode of "A Brief History of Civilization", Liu Xueshen, Wei Bangxian, and a group of other so-called "restoration parties" were talking loudly in the teahouse, talking about the benefits of women's non-entanglement, as if they were advocates of the women's liberation movement, but when they walked next to a prostitute with a three-inch golden lotus, Liu Xueshen forgot why, clapped his hands and shouted: "Wonderful! The face is born Peugeot is still secondary, just his feet, only a little, how can people not look at the soul? This reveals the ugly face of these "reform parties." These satires are obviously influenced by the "History of Rulin", but they are shallow compared to "RulinWaishi". Because the author cannot deeply explore the essence of things, and thus cannot grasp the internal laws of character action, coupled with the lack of urgency in writing, the lack of calm and meticulous observation of things, which affects the profound and thorough exposure of ugly phenomena.　　

Wu Zhaoren (1866-1910) was another famous condemnatory novelist of the late Qing Dynasty. His name is Huo Yao, the original character Cocoon People, Guangdong Nanhai people, because he lives in Foshan Town, so his pen name is I Foshan people. Wu came from a family of bureaucrats. In his twenties, he went to Shanghai to make a living, and once worked as a servant in Jiangnan to manufacture the Juncheng Bureau, and then lived in Shandong and traveled to Japan. In 1904, he served as the editor-in-chief of the "Chu Bao" run by the Americans in Hubei, and then resigned and returned to Shanghai to participate in the anti-China labor ban movement. In 1906, he compiled the Novel of the Moon and the Moon, and later died of illness in Shanghai. Wu Zhaoren's creative activities were mainly in the first decade of the twentieth century. The development of his thought is bounded by 1907, which can be clearly divided into two periods. In the early stage, the performance was relatively progressive, and on the basis of reformist ideas, anti-imperialist and anti-feudal consciousness was produced. The "Shanghai Youxiao" published in 1907 marked the regression of his thinking, from the incomplete anti-imperialist and anti-feudal consciousness in the early stage to the anti-bourgeois democratic revolution, and then maintained feudal rule. Wu Zhaoren was the writer who created the most at that time. He wrote more than thirty novels, more than twenty of which exist. One of the most famous works is The Strange Status Quo Witnessed in Twenty Years.　　

Twenty Years of Witnessing the Strange Situation is an autobiographical work. Through the countless strange current situations that the nine deaths (which are the author's shadow) in the past twenty years, the novel paints us a social picture of the collapsing Qing Empire. It reflects a wider range of contents than the "Chronicle of the Appearance of Officialdom", which not only writes about official figures and foreign talents, but also next to the medical astrology, the three religions and nine streams. But its focus is still on exposing the darkness of the bureaucracy. The author's writers, small and small, are all dirty, dirty, greedy and shameless guys. Among them are zhixian who is a thief, a platform that steals silver, and an alternate dao who orders his wife to "massage" the platform. In the ninety-ninth time, the author borrowed Bu Shiren's mouth to summarize the official philosophy at that time: "As for officials, they are donated with money, and more money is bigger than officials, and less officials are smaller; As for the rules of being an official, it is nothing more than prostrating one's head, asking for peace, and standing on the ,...... As for the bones, the first secret is to tie the knot, as long as people can't stutter, you stutter; what people can't do, you do. In the fifty times, nine of them said, "This official was not made by a man." The first thing is to learn to be despicable and despicable in order to be able to seek an errand; and to put aside one's conscience and release the means of killing people that are invisible, in order to get money. "Eighty-nine times in the novel, Gou Cai (Gou Cai), in order to promote the official and get rich, was shameless enough to force the widowed daughter-in-law to become the aunt of the stage maker.　　

The couple walked straight to the young grandmother's room and both knelt down. ...... Gou Cai's eyes wept: "Daughter-in-law! In the past two days, people have forced me to die. ...... Save a life, and win the seventh level of floating slaughter. I hope my daughter-in-law will be merciful! "When the young grandmother arrived at this time, there was really nothing to do. I had to say: "Father-in-law, mother-in-law, and please start first, everything can be considered in the long run." Gou Cai and his wife just got up, and the aunt rushed to pick up the young grandmother and sit down together. Gou Caixian said, "This matter was originally my mistake in the front, and it is too late to regret it at this moment." The young grandmother said, "Since she was a child, the daughter-in-law has known the great righteousness of the woman from beginning to end, so since she was widowed, she has decided to keep the festival for life,...... Unexpectedly, it turned into an accident. "I won't say anything about it at this point. Gou Cai stood up, and then asked an An Dao: "I only hope that my daughter-in-law will change her power and fulfill my affairs, and I will not forget the great grace in my lifetime." The young grandmother covered her face and cried, "It's just my god!" As he spoke, he let out a loud cry of sorrow. ...... While patting him on the back, Mrs. Gou said, "Young Grandmother, don't cry, I'm afraid I'll break my body when I cry!" When the young grandmother heard this, she gritted her teeth and stomped her feet: "Whose young grandmother am I still at this moment?" "　　

In order to get rich, these officials can even do such a vulgar and shameless thing. Imperialism is also a blind slave to the knees. Written on the lushan issue, a member of the prime minister Yamen's minister sent a letter to the inspector of Jiangxi: "In a province of Taiwan, the imperial court still gives it to Japan, let alone a small mountain, what is worth it?" I will send it, and if I take it back, it is not your property, so why bother? "In this way, a Lushan mountain was given to others in vain." In foreign wars, these officials are even more greedy and afraid of death. When writing about the Sino-French War fourteen times, the Chinese soldiers only saw a wisp of smoke on the sea, suspected it to be a French ship, released water to sink the ship, and later lied about the hasty encounter with the enemy, resulting in sinking.　　

The novel also focuses on whipping up yokozuna and fighting masters. They have no ink on their chests, but they go around showing off their talents and being elegant. They gave Du Mu the number Yuxisheng of Li Shangzhi, added Du Muzhi's nickname "Fan Chuan" to Lao Du (Du Fu), and even described Shaoling and Du Fu as father and son.　　

The work also exposes and criticizes the hypocrisy of feudal morality and the corruption of social customs. The uncle who died nine times, on the surface, was morally upright, but in fact he abducted his deceased brother's money and bullied his widowed and orphaned nephew. Fu Mixuan, who spoke of loyalty and filial piety, abused his grandfather in every way and almost beat him to death. Mo Keji not only replaced his younger brother in his official position; he also occupied his sister-in-law and used her "as a way to make a difference." Li Jingyi forced his brother to die, and then betrayed his sister-in-law as a prostitute. Through these cloaked animals, it reflects that the feudal patriarchal system and the relationship between ethics and normalcy at that time had reached a time of total collapse.　　

In the book, several positive characters such as Cai Lusheng, Nine Dead Lives, and Wu Jizhi appear. In these figures, the ideals of the author's reformism are pinned on them. They were dissatisfied with reality, but they did not dare to touch on the fundamental problems of the political system and officialdom of the time. They were upright, virtuous, and had certain talents; but they also adhered to feudal morality. Therefore, there can be no way out in this society. When Cai Lusheng was appointed as the commander of Rongyang County, he was called "The Great Lord of qingtian" by the common people, but he was dismissed from his post and strictly chased because of the locust plague and the use of public funds to help the people. Although Wu Jizhi is familiar with human feelings and has the ability to cope with dangerous environments, he also runs into walls everywhere and is cornered. Through these descriptions, it reflects the bankruptcy of the author's reformist ideals.　　

Wu Zhaoren's novels, as well as "Nine Lives strange injustice", "Hate the Sea", "History of Pain" and so on. Among them, "History of Pain" is better written. The novel mainly writes about the traitors such as Jia Xiangdao and other power traitors at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, seeking glory and surviving. At the same time, it commended the patriots who resolutely resisted the enemy. The structure of Wu Zhaoren's novels is relatively complete. For example, the whole article of "The Strange Situation Witnessed in Twenty Years" takes "I" as a clue, and strings together the things heard and witnessed in the past twenty years, which is more concentrated than "The Appearance of officialdom"; but due to the huge and complex theme and lack of cutting, it is not rigorous enough. Wu Zhaoren used a lot of satire, but he copied a series of ugly phenomena in a flashy manner. Lu Xun's "Historical Outline of Chinese Novels" said: "Unfortunately, when the description of the lost Emperor Zhang is sometimes hurt by overflowing evil and the words are contrary to the truth, the touching power is suddenly weak, and in the end it is only a series of 'handles', which is only enough for idle people to talk and laugh." "This kind of evaluation is basically in line with the actual situation.　　

Section 3: Old And Disabled Travelogues and Others　　

The author of "The Journey of the Old Remnant" Liu Yan (1857~1909), the character Tieyun, a disciple of Jiangsu Sultan. He was very interested in "Western Studies" and studied mathematics, medicine, water conservancy and so on. He successively served as a guest of honor at the place of Inspector Wu Dazheng of Henan and Zhang Yao, Inspector of Shandong, and because of his meritorious service in governing the river, he was appointed to the prefect. When the Eight-Power Alliance entered Beijing, he stubbornly bought Taicang grain from the Russian army at a low price and sold it to the residents, and was later impeached for smuggling cangsu and died in Xinjiang.　　

Liu Hu was sad and desperate about the crippled situation of feudal society, but he wanted to save this situation in case. He actively put forward to the Qing court the idea of "supporting the decline and rejuvenation", suggesting the construction of roads and mines, under the pretext of "the interests of the other are in the moment, and the benefits of my are in the hundred generations", he believes that "the country has no reserves, and does not know that the Europeans are open" (and Luo Zhenyushu), which shows that he is standing on the position of the Westerners in the stage of feudal rule and wants to save the feudal rule that was shaking the desire at that time.　　

"The Journey of the Old Remnant" is a total of twenty times, signed by Hong YuBailian. It writes about what a bell-ringing jianghu doctor saw, heard, and did during his travels, reflecting certain social realities in the late Qing Dynasty, expressing the author's views on the current situation and some of his reactionary political views. The whole book takes the tyranny of Wang Xian and Gang Bi as the main content, and writes about the darkness of reality, which is a meaningful part of the work. In the turbulent situation of the late Qing Dynasty, the feudal dynasty was at the end of its life, and the people's rebellion was like tea, rising and falling, and the ruling stage at that time relied heavily on those "Qing officials" who suppressed the resistance of the masses to maintain the mess, but Liu Hu exposed their crimes more profoundly. He said:　　

Corrupt officials are hateful, everyone knows it, and clean officials are especially hateful, and many people do not know. The official who covered the stolen goods knew that he was sick and did not dare to openly do wrong; the Qing officials thought that they did not want money, so why not? Rigidity for self-use, small kills big, big is wrong country, I see with my own eyes, I don't know how many.　　

In the work, YuXian and Shi Bi, two "Qing officials", are actually typical of cruelty and rigidity. The political voice of Yuxian, the prefect of Caozhou, was based on the brutal massacre of innocent people, and more than 2,000 people died standing in cages in the past year, and those who did not stand were also beaten to death with boards. Gang Bi, known as "Plague Gang", pretended not to want money, but in fact abused severe punishment and killed good people, only seeking merit himself, regardless of whether the people were dead or alive. Through a poem, the author expresses his indignation at this sinful act. Lose your muscle marrow, and because of this, you are in a hurry. The unjustly buried city is dark, and the blood stains the top pearl red. Everywhere there is a rain of birds, and the wind of the tigers and leopards in the mountains. Killing people is like killing thieves, and Taishou is YuanRong! Since the author observes the problem from the standpoint of the Westerners in the stage of feudal rule, the work shows a clear reactionary tendency. In the first episode, Liu Hu expressed his political views in a metaphorical way. He likens the country to a sailing ship that jolts in the rough seas. There were four kinds of people on board, the first of whom was at the helm and in charge of the sails, which was an allusion to the ruling clique of the Qing court. In the eyes of the old disabled, these "drivers" are not wrong, all they lack is a policy, so it is enough to send them a reformist compass. The second type of person was shuibai, which was a management white, referring to the middle and lower-level officials at that time. The work, written that they are collecting the money of passengers, is the object of the author's criticism. The third type of person is a speech, which actually refers to the revolutionary party under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen. The author wantonly distorts them and encourages people to throw them into the sea. The fourth type of person is the passenger, that is, the common people. The author scolds those who are in favour of revolution as ignorant and "exploited"; while he tries to praise those who do not know clearly or oppose the revolution as old-fashioned. The author's reactionary position here is very clear. Liu Hu also scolded the "Northern Fist and Southern Revolution" by huang longzi, whom he greatly admired, saying that the revolutionary party was a "chaotic party" and a "demon woman", and that the Boxers were "plague rats" and "harmful horses". The novel portrays two benevolent and good officials, Zhuang Gongbao and Bai Zishou, and pins liu's political ideals on them. The author's Zhuang Gongbao is a feudal minister who loves talent and thirsts, is talented and empowered, and can care about the suffering of the people. Bai Zishou was a "Qingtian Grand Master" who was incorruptible and discerning. Obviously, such a good official has no basis in reality, so the image itself lacks moving power and appears pale and powerless. 　　　　

"The Journey of the Old Remnant" has certain achievements in art, and his description of things is more delicate and vivid. The beautiful singing of the white girls, the moonlit night of Peach Blossom Mountain, the scenery of the snow and moon on the ice bank of the Yellow River, especially the picturesque scenery of Daming Lake and Thousand Buddha Mountain, are attractive to readers.　　

...... Only to see the opposite thousand Buddha Mountain, The FanYu Monk Building, and the pine cypress, high and low, red fiery red, white snow white, green indigo, green turquoise; there is also a half-plant of Danfeng sandwiched inside, as if a large painting of the Song Dynasty Zhao Qianli, estimated to be a screen tens of miles long. I was sighing and overheard a fishing song. Looking down, who knew that the Daming Lake was already as clear as a mirror, and the reflection of the Thousand Buddha Mountain was reflected in the lake, appearing clear and clear. The trees on that platform were particularly brilliant, and I felt that it was even better and clearer than a Thousand Buddha Mountain above. On the south shore of the lake, there is a street market, but there is a reed, which is densely covered. Now it is time to flower, a white flower reflects the slanting sun with water vapor, like a pink velvet blanket, estimated to be the cushion of the two mountains above and below the season.　　

In terms of character description, the images of the two "Qing officials" are more vivid. In addition, there are also long psychological depictions in the works, which is rare in China's previous novels. However, the plot of the novel lacks refinement, the structure is loose, and there is still a lack of internal connection between the characters and the plot.　　

In addition to the above-mentioned works, there were also a large number of novels of a reformist nature in this period, which were very complex in content, but the level of thought was not high, and the art was also rough. Among the better works are "Official Restoration", "Bitter Society" and so on. The "Record of the Appearance of Officialdom" is a total of sixteen times, anonymous works, and is a novel that exposes the decay of the Officialdom of the Qing Court. Through the character of Yuan Bozhen, the work exposes the shameful behavior of the bureaucrats at that time in the name of restoration in order to promote officials and get rich. "Bitter Society" has a total of forty-eight times, anonymous works, writing that Ruan Daofu, Lu Guguo, and Li Xinchun were forced to live and go abroad to make a living. Through their encounters, it reflects the tragic life of Chinese entrepreneurs in the United States, and it is a history of blood and tears of Chinese workers and Chinese businessmen.