ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the New Culture hermeneutics by examining Zhou Zuoren's unique and provocative interpretation or rewriting of Chinese literary history in his 1932 book Zhongguoxinwenxue de yuanliu. At first glance, Zhou's portrayal of the history of Chinese literature as a "free-floating river" winding its way through the cultural landscape seemed to suggest an ahistorical circle, even a trans-historical pattern out of pure contingency. Upon second look, however, one may find Zhou's illustration was aimed at striking an internal differentiation into conventional literary historiography as a succession of literary canons dominated by Confucian orthodoxy. Zhou's straightforward contrasting of the "expressionist" tradition with the "didactic" tradition sometimes gives the impression that he was more concerned with dividing the history of Chinese literature into two parts—one good, the other bad—so as to show his followers the correct line.
