For the 1920s30s agricultural crisis and radical poverty in the rural China, Mao Dun’s description differed in many ways from those of other writers, even including leftwing writers. It recognized the social origin of this rural phenomenon from a wholesome perspective, both home and abroad, and attributed it not merely to the current system of land and morals of the landlord. It thought that agricultural bankruptcy and farmer’s poverty occurred only in recent years, so it did not result directly from the feudal system of land but from the invasion of foreign capital. All these characteristics of narration were derived from Mao Dun’s individual pursuit of novel aesthetics. Differing from other leftwing writers, He regarded novel writing as a process of exploring truth and potential rules behind social reality and expressing it by “elaborate and sophisticated” “artistic devices”, and, in a word, an activity of “seeking truthfulness”.

Mao Dun’s novels; narrative of rural poverty; aesthetic pursuit