Title: Introduction to Chinese Cultural History / The Columbia Companion to Modern Chinese Literature / 01.1 Late Qing 1895–1911

Front: What are two historical forces of the Late Qīng that shaped Late Qing literature?
Back: - imperialsm,
- internal social disintegration.
While Chinese intellectuals reflected on the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War 1894–1895, the reflection was extended into the realm of ideas and culture.

Front: What was the attittude of late Qīng intellectuals towards Confucianism?
Back: Efforts to reinterpret it, e.g.:
- Kang Youwei (1858–1927) reinterpreted Confucius into a forward-looking reformer,
- Tan Sitong (1865–1898) wanted benevolence at the core of the Confucian value system and attacked the li ethics of human relations.

Front: What was the attittude of late Qīng intellectuals towards the West?
Back: Borrowing Western science and technolgy in order to increase Chinese wealth and power already was a thing before the Sino-Japanese War 1894–1895, but culture and spirituality were questioned more after the war, and there were efforts to translate Western thought into Chinese, i.e. Lin Shu (1852–1924) and Yan Fu (1854–1921) were notable translators.

Front: What are some notable translations of Yan Fu (1854–1921)?
Back: - Adam Smith: Wealth of Nations
- Montesquieu: The Spirit of Laws,
- John Stuart Mill: On Liberty,
- Thomas Huxley: Evolution and Ethics.

Front: What are some concepts that entered the modernity discourse in China when Yan Fu's translations of Western works became available?
Back: - Evolution,
- progress,
- individualism,
- liberty,
- law,
- nation,
- national character

Front: What did Lin Shu notably translate, and how does it play into the modernity discourse at the time?
Back: Lin Shu translated >200 mostly western European novels. They gave narrative form to aspects of the modernity discourse, e.g. tales of individualist heroes. There was an idea that fiction could be used for nation building.

Front: In 1905, what invigorated the commercial print culture?
Back: The civil service examination system was abolished in 1905 and intellectuals were forced to find new careers in newspapers, literary journals, popular magazines, women's magazines, and other fields. Professional writers really emerge as a class now, although there have been some professional writers before that like Li Yu (1610–1680). Most writers needed steady incomes from teaching or as editors in publishing houses and could not live off their writing alone.

Front: Describe the style of Chinese writing that Lin Shu used for his novel translations.
Back: Lin Shu and Yan Fu were part of the Tongcheng school of prose, seeking to revive ancient-style prose, modelled on Tang and Song prose. This made the Lin Shu translations of novels more respectable to the literati, but he also wanted to reinvigorate the ancient style with the dynamism of Western novels. Some describe the style as more ancient than it actually is, actually there were many modern lexical terms in it.

Front: How did poetry change in the late Qīng?
Back: A "poetry revolution" led by Liáng Qǐchāo and Huang Zunxian wanted to reinvigorate poetry with:
- Western terms,
- folk motifs,
- vernacular language,
- new themes.

Front: How did Liáng Qǐchāo extend prose?
Back: Blend of classical syntax, vernacular language and foreign loanwords. This will later influence the modern vernacular language in the May Fourth period.

Front: What idea about fiction was promoted by Liáng Qǐchāo?
Back: He promoted using fiction as an instrument of national reform. He wanted to renovate:
- morality,
- politics,
- social customs,
- learning and arts,
- the human mind itself.

Front: For fiction writers other than Liáng Qǐchāo at the same time, what were their novels like?
Back: There were love stories, detective novels, satires of corruption, science fiction, allegories about China, political novels and others. Some answered Liángs call to use fiction for reform, others were more focused on entertaining.