| dc.description.abstract | The concept of Chinese literature has adapted along its history, the most obvious change in the novel is in the late Qing Dynasty. At that time, the novel was considered as a new literature form rather than urban legends or mere fables which were regarded as less serious. This significant revolution was unfolded by Liang Qichao who advocated the reform in the genres of novel. Liang published periodicals which contained profound theory of novels and contemporary works. All of a moment, the similar journals started to be spread widely; the popularity of writing and reading novels increased.
It is hard to master the novels in the late Qing without mentioning Shanghai and Four Great Classical Novels. For development of modern novels, Shanghai occupied the dominant location where a great amount of bookstores and publisher’s agents assembled, and so did many reputable writers. However, it did not mean that there was lack of excellent works in other regions of China. For example, around area of Guangzhou and Hong Kong, Huang Shizhong, a revolutionary, a novelist, and also a journalist, who wrote in a magazine, Chinese and Foreign Stories, with his order brother- Huang Boyao. Their works were highly recommended and worthy to be studied in depth as well.
About Huang Shizhong, he finished about eighteen volumes of fiction and edited more than ten publications in ten years. Two brothers published Stories of East Guangdong, Chinese and Foreign Stories, and Illustrated Chinese and Foreign Stories which could fully explain their opinion of novels and their own creative writing. These periodicals spread quickly to Guangzhou, Hong Kong and even overseas. It was amazing that the Huang brothers worked as editors for other agents and both devoted themselves to the revolution at the same time. Under these circumstances, each publication of two brothers was still printed for more than 37 issues because of their passion towards editing and creating of periodicals. Also, the efforts and persistence of the Huang brothers also played an important role to achieve this goal.
Although the three periodicals are not as prevalent as the Four Great Classical Novels in Shanghai, the importance of the three magazines cannot be ignored and eliminated. Instead, in order to finish the studying of periodicals for the novels in the Qing, Chinese and Foreign Stories has its value and cannot be excluded for sure. | en_US |