A Tentative Reflection on the Spirit of Pre-modern Chinese Literature

China′s premodern society is the transformational period from the ancient to the modern society. As a component of social ideology, literature had not only undergone its own development and conversion, but already begun its transformation from the classic to the modern phase under the general context of both conflict and convergence between the Eastern and Western culture. In correspondence, the spirit of Premodern Chinese literature manifests its unique characteristics. An attempt is made in this paper to elaborate these characteristics from five perspectives as follows: 1. the enlightenment spirit and literary enlightenment; 2. a sense of concern and anxiety and the nationalist spirit; 3. the proliferation of the liberal and democratic spirit; 4. influence from Western studies and transformation in literature; 5. innovational spirit and a sense of the public.