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Authors:   The Society For Chinese Humanities In Korea, . . , . . 
Published: May 2020

This study aims to shed light on the concept and value perception of modern Chinese art, and to re-examine it from the overall perspective of literary theory. Specifically, this study is based on trends and perceptions of modern art concepts in East Asia, encounters in contemporary Chinese art and literature, and communication between modern Chinese art concepts and essentialism of literature: The process was divided into three parts, from the utilitarian value of art to the acquisition of independent status in literature. First, the trends and perceptions of East Asian modern art concepts were examined. In the case of Japan, it can be seen that utilitarian values are perceived to promote national policy in the trend of modernization. In terms of China, Kang Youwei(康有爲) insisted that “the social function of art and artists should be emphasized, and national education and nationality reconstruction should be carried out together.” Cai Yuanpei(蔡 元培) emphasized the universality and transcendence of beauty. Since the 1900's, it has been discussed in Liang Qichao(梁啓超), Wang Guowei(王國維) and Lu Xun(魯迅). The fact that the concept of beauty or art mentioned in Chinese modern literary literature is connected with Western and Japanese modern times serves as a clue to the formation of Chinese modern literary discourse. Therefore, as a first step of the study, this study examined the concept of Japanese art, the accepting aspect of China, and the trend of modern Chinese art. Second, the encounter between modern Chinese art and literature was examined. If the use of the term art mentioned in literary literature is largely focused on utilitarian aspects, Wang Guowei disagrees with the discussions of the time. He considered “fiction belongs to the category of art,” and he considered “the best of Chinese poems, plays, and novels.” Huang Ren(黃人) also said that “fiction is one of the aesthetically oriented literatures,” which is the beginning of the encounter between beauty and literature. Zhou Zuoren(周作人) also recognized that the novel was clearly a sentence and a work of art. Guan Daru(管達如) and Lu Simian(呂思勉) then systematically organized the theory of the novel in general. In particular, Guan Daru attempts to position each of literature, art and fiction on the premise that “literature is a kind of art, fiction is also a kind of literature.” In short, as art begins to be discussed with literature, journalists link “beauty and literature” and “beauty and novels.” And with the understanding of literature in general, the position between art, literature and fiction becomes clearer. Third, this study examined the process from granting utilitarian value of art to acquiring independent status of literature, focusing on communication between modern Chinese art concept and literary essentialism. Xia Ren(俠人) talks about the ratio of fiction between fiction and history, emphasizing the creation of fictional realms and focusing on the essential characteristics of fiction. In other words, the literary value of the novel is highlighted. In addition, he pays attention to the utility values and literary characteristics of novels and moves his eyes to the aesthetic values of novels. Huang Ren paid attention to the useful value of the novel based on an aesthetic angle. Wang Guowei, on the other hand, strongly argues that if philosophy and art are the means of morality and politics, then the work is ultimately worthless. This claim completely overcomes the view of traditional Chinese literature and emphasizes the true independence of literature. Lu Simian systematized theories of novel creation based on the recognition that novels are artistic creations. In particular, the point of meaningfully discussing the fictional novels by dividing the novels is that they also pay attention to the value of literature itself.