Blog Post 2: Burgeoning of Chinese Children’s Literature in the late 20th Century
For my second blog post, I want to discuss the burgeoning of children’s literature in the People’s Republic of China during the late 20th century as well as be describe vision of children’s literature in the People’s Republic during this time period. In the latter half of the 20th century, Chinese children’s literature started to grow rapidly with the number of children’s book publishers in China increasing as well as the number of children’s literature authors increasing. From the 1970s to mid 1990s, the number of children’s book publishers in all of China increased from 2 to 26. Also, the number children’s literature authors skyrocketed from around 100 to over 3,000. During this time in China there was a strong dedication to create and publish children’s literary works because they believed the literature “conveys cultural values, shapes moral and character development, sharpens thinking skills, expands knowledge, and enhances language use. In sum, children’s literature in mainland China helps young readers to improve themselves” (Temple and Louie 1).
To preserve the Chinese heritage, authors and publishers during this time period retold legends and ancient tales in simple form, with colorful and vigorous illustrations. Graphic type novels were used to turn ancient, complex tales into pieces of literature that children would understand and engage with. This allowed children as young as 4 years old to begin learning about the heritage and cultural values of the country. Children’s literature was also published in the People’s Republic of China to develop children’s moral values and help form their character. Biographies of revolution heroes were used to instill moral values and standards into the minds of young readers. Children’s literature was also used to advance the knowledge of children and teach them to think theoretically. In the early weeks of this class we learned how thinking theoretically about literature is an important skill because it allows us to pull meaning from a story. “To be effective problem solvers, children must acquire knowledge about the world around them” (Temple and Louie 2). The last vision of children’s literature in the People’s Republic is the enhancement of language use. Through literature, children are able to grow their arsenal of terms and phrases that can be used in their own writing; “…vivid ways to describe, concise ways to explain, and innovative ways to express one’s sentiment” (Temple and Louie 2).
As you can see, children’s literature in the People’s Republic of China rapidly increased in the latter half of the 20th century due to the coalition of authors, illustrators, and publishers. Their vision of children’ literature reflects lessons we have learned in this class about contemporary children’s literature.
References
Temple, Charles, and Belinda Yun-Ying Louie. “Children’s Literature in the People’s Republic of China.” JSTOR, Mar. 1996, www.jstor.org/stable/20201653?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.