On Lin's Translations from the Perspective of Literary Modernity

As the first of introducer of Western literature to China over the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republican Period,Lin Shu translated a large number of foreign literary works into Classical Chinese.Through misunderstanding and mistranslating Western literature consciously or unconsciously,he provided value-transforming room for the birth of the modernity of Chinese literature.That is,the line between elevated and vulgar literature came to be blurred;and the literary themes were gradually enriched and completed;and the narrative models broke through traditional limitations.With Lin's translations as representatives,the literature of the late Qing Dynasty had an imperceptibly profound effect on the new literature of the period of May Fourth Movement.It was due to the similar choices of the two generations of the late Qing and the May Fourth Movement that the modernity of Chinese literature was actually realized.