Contemporary Chinese Literature and the New Wenyi Bao

Wenyi Bao (Literary and Arts Gazette) to be published in twelve years hit the stands in July 1978. It was a signal event in contemporary Chinese letters, a hopeful sign that literature has been given a new lease on life after the barrenness of the Cultural Revolution.1 But the true significance of Wenyi Bao's republication can be appreciated only by placing it in the context of post-Cultural Revolution activities.