Abstract

In this book，it puts therelationship between “literature and folk belief” under the background of the development of Chinese literature in the 20th Century，focuses on the spiritual connection between folk belief and Chinese intellectuals in the 20th Century and the transformation of folk belief in the context of modernization，and makes an analysis of the different types and important characteristics of folk belief writing of modern writers with different cultural positions；with regards to the three aspects of space-time art，structure setting and image creation，the rich and changeable narrative art of Chinese literature in the 20th Century under the influence of folk belief is discussed，and the value of “folk belief” is excavated，which inspires the writer's artistic creation and gives the writer the motive force of innovation.

In addition to the introduction and conclusion，there are five chapters in the book.

In the first Chapter：the “disenchantment” and the call of modern Chinese enlightenment writers to folk beliefs are discussed.

On the one hand，the modern Chinese writers，led by Lu Xun，who insist on the position of ideological enlightenment，regard the primitive belief of ghosts and gods as the “legacy of barbarism” that hinders the development of modern society，andcriticize the ignorance and backwardness of folk belief intensely by starting from the intellectual elite consciousness and the rational spirit of modern civilization；on the other hand，faced up with the shortcomings and limitations of the Western Enlightenment，the modern Chinese enlighteners，in combination with the local ideological resources of China，make efforts to correct the deviation，and begin to attach importance to the irrationality，emotion and will of the rational repressed，and break away from the extreme criticism of the enlighteners' rationality，which expresses the yearning for the vitality and poetic thinking contained in the folk belief，as well as the awe of ritual taboos，the respect for the entertainment function and economic function of the folk belief，and the desire for the transcendence of the folk belief.They moved to attention to “people's original heart” and aesthetic to culture from rational enlightenment.In the contradiction tension formed by “the legacy of barbarism” and “superstition can exist”，reason and belief，enlightenment and anti-enlightenment，elite and folk，modern Chinese enlightenment writers have constructed rich aesthetic space，which makes the creation of enlightenment literature complicated and deepened.

In the second Chapter：it discussed the excavation，modern promotion and significance of the “witchcraft” maintained in folk beliefs by Shen Congwen，who has a distinctive cultural attitude.

It is the criticism of the scientific reason supremacy of the enlighteners and the reflective position of modernity that Shen Congwen，in the era of the disintegration of God，hoped to find the power of life reconstruction，culture reconstruction and national reconstruction from the folk beliefs of western Hunan.From the late 1920s to the 1940s，Shen Congwen's understanding of “witchcraft” culture in western Hunan experienced from perceptual to rational consciousness.He gradually raised the “god” in the folk belief of western Hunan to the “god”，which integrates life，beauty and love，and then it's further transformed into the philosophical sense of the abstract “god”.The coexistence of “harmony”，“respect” and “madness” in the folk religious beliefs of western Hunan and the warmth of love，beauty，sincerity and emotion has become an indispensable resource for the “reconstruction of human beings”，the “reconstruction of nations” and even the “reconstruction of society”.In his literary writing，Shen Congwen advocated the “new religion of beauty and love”，excavated the life world of “divinity” contained in folk belief，summoned the return of natural human nature and ritual，and affirmed the “witchcraft” preserved by folk belief.He has carried on the modern promotion and the esthetic deepening to the folk belief traditional enlightenment function，and hopes to construct an ideal human nature form and the life form.

In the third Chapter，the relationship between criticism and utilization between political narration and folk belief，mutual influence and interaction between construction and alienation is discussed.

In 20th Century，in literary creation，Chinese writers expressed the complex relationship between folk belief and power order，and restored the whole change of people's belief content and folk belief in a specific historical period.They undertook the value and significance of folklore and anthropology to the existence of folk belief in the way of literature.They described the joy and difficulty of breaking with the traditional faith in the movement of “changing the customs” and “opposing superstition”，and at the same time，in the narrow gap of the times，they wrote the belief psychology of the bottom people so as to show the differences of people's cultural concepts and fierce ideological conflicts，and reflect on the complex and diverse forms of expression of folk beliefs and their cultural significance.

In the fourth Chapter，it focuses on the important role of folk beliefs in the construction of national cultural memory，discriminates and analyzes the important writers and characteristics of exploring national cultural memory through folk belief writing in the 20th Century.

In the 20th Century，it's the awakening of Chinese writers’ national consciousness and the consciousness of national cultural in reconstruction made them focus on the unique folk belief and its evolution.They resurrected the memory of ethnic groups by showing totem worship，telling national myths and legends，restoring rituals，and daily ritualization，which appeals to the ancient and poetic national culture of ethnic minorities and Han nationality that is about to disappear.Their writing of folk beliefs gives the connotation of cultural symbols of literary works and strengthens the expression of ethnic identity consciousness.The narration of myths associated with folk beliefs goes back to the origin of ancient national culture，connecting modern with history.Since the 1990s，Chinese contemporary writers have also realized that folk beliefs have been tampered with and alienated under the trend of commercialization and pan-entertainment in modern society，and they have resisted it tragically.Their writing of folk beliefs has become an important medium for the construction of national cultural memory and digestion and substitution of comprehensive，profound and diverse Chinese culture by rejection of business culture and global culture.

In the fifth Chapter，the influence of time and space view，ritual structure and folk image of folk belief on the aesthetic characteristics of Chinese literaturein the 20th Century is discussed.

The ceremony of folk belief was held with “holy time”.It introduces the time of “past” into the time of “present” and shows the past in reality，thus forming the “heterogeneous” characteristic of time.Not only does it help to realize the multiple functions of time，but also leads to deep thinking about human survival and cultural trend in the interlacing，juxtaposition，contrast and contrast of time.In the space of folk belief rituals，the secular world of reality and the divine realm of imagination exist simultaneously，which creates a sense of interlacing of space.Like the unique presentation of the multi-space-time folk belief，the awakening of ritual sense，“life-death-rebirth”，“sacrifice-offer”，“exorcism-purification” and other ritual structures，their construction of their text，the totem image of “spirit” and “reality”，the creation of death image and mask image，etc.，make the creation of Chinese literature in the 20th Century break through the single situation of realistic creation，having the color of pioneer and experiment.

As a conclusion，for folk beliefs，it participated in the construction of modern Chinese culture and the innovation of literary narration in the 20th Century.In Chinese Literature in the 20th Century，the return of folk belief is based on the transformation of national inferiority，participation in the construction of modern national discourse，exploration of national cultural psychology and attention to the aesthetic value of literature.It's necessary for us to look at the status and value of folk belief in literary creation objectively from respecting and understanding the essence and present meaning of folk belief.

Key words： Folk Belief；Chinese Literature in the 20th Century；Modern；Tradition