Modern Constructions of Literary Tradition in Late Qing China: On Liang Qichao’s, Wang Guowei’s, and Lu Xun’s Poetic Engagement with Byron

It is important to recognise that modernity emerges not only as a Western notion but also has its specific connotations in the Chinese socio-cultural setting. This essay explores the complexity of Liang Qichao’s, Wang Guowei’s, and Lu Xun’s poetic engagement with Byron in late Qing China to elucidate modern constructions of the Chinese literary tradition. While Liang’s perspective on Byron was utilitarian and didactic, Wang regarded Byron’s poetry as embodying pure aesthetic value, radically at odds with Liang’s pragmatism; Lu Xun negotiated between the two, perceiving Byron’s poetry as a means of self-expression that sought to revitalise the national spirit, thereby fulfilling a key socio-cultural function – awakening national consciousness and fostering cultural renewal. This essay thus posits that the reception of Byron in the late Qing era, when modern Chinese writers struggled against historical exigencies and the enduring legacies of traditional literary values, unfolded three key vectors of modern Chinese literary thought: the utilitarian view of literature as a tool for socio-political change, the aesthetic appreciation of literature as an autonomous art form, and the synthesis of literature as both self-expression and a means of national rejuvenation.