ABSTRACT
The first half of the twentieth century was a creative and innovative one for literature, theatre and the arts. A period of wrenching transformation, it saw the development of major new forms, as well as a change in emphasis among the existing genres. It also saw exponents of traditional forms who wished to change them, as well as those who wanted to cling to tradition desperately, as representing the old Chinese culture they loved so much. This chapter does not attempt to cover all forms of literature, theatre and the arts, since that would need far more than a brief chapter even to scratch the surface. Instead it takes up just a couple of representative forms: fiction and theatre.
