After Cai Yuanpei officially put forward the slogan"Labor is sacred"in 1918,a social trend quickly emerged that revered the value of labor and paid attention to labor issues.The emergence of this ideological trend was closely related to the rise and development of anarchism,pan-laborism,and the New Village Movement,exerting a tremendous influence on culture,ideology,politics,and various other aspects of society at that time.Prompted by the"Labor is sacred"ideological trend,new literature authors who sought to transform society through literature began to focus on labor.They not only advocated the value of labor and promoted the labor-is-sacred idea in their beliefs,but also made efforts to depict labor in various aspects,making it a fundamental theme of new literature.The numerous depictions of labor concerned not only the lives of workers or social conditions,but also the creative concepts and overall landscape of new literature,and even the fundamental question of what made new literature new.Within the overall ideological trend of"Labor is sacred,"the May Fourth New Literature included descriptions of the poor living conditions of workers,as well as imaginations of a new life with workers as the main body.It is particularly noteworthy that the new literature was full of tributes and praises to the"sacred"workers,which was unprecedented in the entire history of Chinese literature.Furthermore,whether adopting an enlightener's stance to show sympathy and compassion for workers,or promoting workers from a self-deprecating mindset,new-style writers and intellectuals all regarded workers as an important force for social change.They paid attention to the situation of workers in literary creation,strongly advocated the value of their labor,and continuously elevated their social status.These depictions of labor not only revealed the hardships of workers and the poverty of their lives,but also often highlighted the moral and value-based nobility of the worker group,which became a prominent theme in later labor writings.In portraying the difficulties of workers'lives and emphasizing their moral nobility,the new literature demonstrated a strong social critique.In addition,new-style intellectuals also dedicated themselves to exploring or presenting ways to overcome difficulties in literary practice,and it was in this context that the concept of class struggle widely entered literary writing from the political sphere.The numerous depictions of labor revealed the general tendency of the May Fourth New Literature:looking downward,valuing manual laborers,highlighting a populist tone,rejecting authority,and breaking down hierarchical differences.It would be more accurate to say that the evolution of new literature itself coincided with the"Labor is sacred"ideological trend,rather than being influenced by it,forming a mode of literary writing with"labor"as its core.
Sacred laborerMay Fourth New LiteratureLaborer-oriented
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