The merits and demerits of the left-wing literary movement

(1) The left-wing literary movement brought to China Marxism with practical experience, and formed a Marxist literary criticism based on the materialistic view of history. The Soviet Union's "proletarian culture", "Lapp" and Bogdanov's theory of "literary organization of life" became the theoretical sources of Chinese left-wing literature. A considerable part of the writings of Lu Xun, Qu Qiubai, Mao Dun, Hu Feng, Zhou Yang, Feng Xuefeng, etc. are summaries of the practical experience of left-wing literary creation in China in terms of Marxism, which had been tested by the Soviet Revolution, and which "elucidates the composition of the author's thought and his works on the basis of the social trend, and criticizes the truth or otherwise of this trend and the tendency of the works" (Feng Xuefeng's Theory of Literary and Artistic Organization and Life). It is an excellent work of literary theory that "elucidates the ideas of authors and the composition of their works on the basis of social trends, and criticizes the truth or otherwise of these social trends and tendencies in their works" (Feng Xuefeng, "Writers' Theory of the Society - Introduction to the Title"), and it has played an important role in guiding the development of the left-wing literature of China up to the future.

(2) The left-wing literary movement accelerated the pace of development of the popularization of literature and art in China. After three major discussions in 1930 on the popularization of literature and art, the adoption of old forms and the creation of new ones, in 1932 on the tasks, contents, methods and forms of the popularization of literature and art, and in 1934 on the Latinization of the popular language and script, as well as practical activities such as the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Correspondents' Movement and the Street Literature Movement, the Left-Wing Literary Movement strongly promoted the popularization of literature and art in China.

(3) The left-wing literary movement strengthened the connection between Chinese literature and world literature, especially the proletarian literary movement. From the outside to the inside: firstly, a large number of advanced literary works from the Soviet Union, Eastern European countries, the United States and Japan were imported, such as Gorky's Mother, Faddeev's Destruction, Suilafimovich's Iron Streams, Sholokhov's Virgin Land Reclaimed, and Remarque's No War on the Western Front, all of which have become influential to several generations. Secondly, the development of Chinese literature was influenced by the introduction of the world literary situation through literary journals and collections of works. Thirdly, it actively criticized and absorbed the advanced literary theories of Soviet Russia and Western countries. From the inside out: to promote Chinese literature to the world, the works of Lu Xun, Guo Moruo, Mao Dun, Zhang Tianyi, Shen Congwen, Shading and so on were successively introduced to various countries, and the left-wing literature of China made its voice heard in the world and became an integral part of the world proletarian literature.

(4) Left-wing literature has made brilliant achievements in all fields of literary creation. The miscellaneous writings represented by Lu Xun, the novels represented by Mao Dun and Jiang Guangci, the poetry represented by Jiang Guangci and Yinfu, and the dramas represented by Tian Han and Xia Yan all made significant achievements. New Dreams, Farewell, Brother, Lisa's Lament, Ms. Sapphire's Diary, Eclipse, and Ziyou have emerged as works that will be immortalized in the history of modern literature. (1) The birth and development of left-wing literature inherently carried the stamp of impulse. Due to the lack of necessary understanding of China's revolutionary reality and the lack of experience in struggle, left-wing literature at the early stage of its establishment wrongly denied the great achievements of the May Fourth Literary Revolution and wrongly criticized such famous writers as Lu Xun, Mao Dun, Ye Shengtao, etc., and simply cried out with youthful enthusiasm and impulsiveness for hasty successes in Chinese literature.

(2) Because of its overemphasis on the "instrumental" and class attributes of literature, the left-wing literature ignored the correct views of other literary forces and carried out a syndicated suppression of some writers who should have been comrades. For example, the debate with Liang Shiqiu on the theory of human nature, and the criticism of "free man" and "the third kind of man" are somewhat questionable in today's view.