Review Of The Chinese Seventeen-Year Literature (1949–1966)

The formation of the People's Republic of China is an important moment in the history of the country. As of this time, a stage of new processes has begun in the life of the country. There have been shifts in state politics and economy, which have invariably caused changes in the sphere of culture, particularly in the field of literature. The history of modern Chinese literature since the formation of the People's Republic of China, as a rule, is divided into three periods. This article considers the literature of the Seventeen-Year Literature (1949–1966) including the novel, poetry, prose, and drama, which could exist and develop only by following its own rules while pursuing the goal of serving the people. Modern Chinese literature reflects the political construction of the country that has taken place in Chinese society since 1949, as well as the leadership of the Communist Party of China. Historical and realistic novels have had some success. The poetic works are mainly devoted to the formation of the People's Republic of China. Unfortunately, poetry lacked individual traits. Prose became the main genre and flourished. Traditional Chinese theatre, spoken drama, opera – the three main genres of drama also released works devoted to the people. Thus, it does not matter from the point of view of the needs of society for literature or the leading policy of literature, or the point of view of the practical path of literature, modern literature has its own differences. 2357-1330 © 2021 Published by European Publisher.


Introduction
With the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, a new period in Chinese history begins, and a new period also begins for Chinese literature. "In the twentieth century, new creative methods, motives and techniques appear, since the work of writers is bound up with public life in their native country" (Trunova, 2015, p. 192). From the founding of the New China to the "Great Cultural Revolution", the Seventeen-Year Literature continued and developed the glorious traditions of modern Chinese literature, in a new era, under new existing circumstances, the genres of modern Chinese literature are gradually developing: novel, poetry, prose, drama, as well as other areas of creativity, are achieving outstanding success. We can say that the search for new literature continues, the founder of which is considered to be Lu Xun. "It is possible to agree with Mao Zedong, who said that the direction taken by Lu Xun is the direction of the new culture of the Chinese nation" (Nikolskaya, 2017, p. 78).
The Seventeen-Year Literature makes "an emphasis on nationality and mass character ... it contrasted internal and external, national and borrowed" (Khuziyatova, 2008a, p. 81).

Problem Statement
The novel of the Seventeen-Year Literature is different in each period, new plotlines develop, and it also adheres to old traditions, there are "collisions of traditionalist views and new trends in the 30-40s of the XX century" (Sinetskaya, 2017, p. 334).
During the early years of New China, the main themes of the novels are the history of the revolutionary struggle, resistance to the American imperialists, and assistance to Korea. The novel "Flames ahead" by Liu Baiyu, "Invincible flowers" by Ma Jia, "The Story of New Heroes and Heroines" by Yuan Jing and Kong Jue, "Life on the Dam" by Chen Denke, "Steel Fence, Iron Wall" by Liu Qingall this is recognized by readers as prose on a historical theme. The novel "The Country of Three Thousand Li" by Yang Shuo, "The Battle in the Lowlands" by Lu Lin, and other works from different sides reflected the resistance to the American imperialists and assistance to Korea. In addition to the above-described subjects in prose, there were also themes about the spirit of the masses in the vicissitudes of the old and new eras, for example, "Registration", "Wedding", "Quarrel" and other works. At the time of the feudal ideology criticism, they expressed the liberation of the peasant people from the shackles, the desire for a new life, glorified a new person, new trends in the countryside.
After 1953, the genre of the novel, reflecting the theme of the revolution history, reached a new level. For example, "Dawn on the River" by Sun Jun-Qing, "Party Duties" by Wang Yuanjian, etc. works full of enthusiasm, they expressed the spirit of the revolutionaries who lost their lives. In the novel "Defend Yanan", Du Pengcheng vividly depicted the heroic story of the battle for Yanan, created a glorious image of the commanders and fighters of the People's Liberation Army. The novel "Notes on Dissent" by Sun Li truthfully describes the historical picture of how the people rose against the enemy.
The novel "Annals of a provincial town" by Gao Yunlan, set against the backdrop of a Chinese southern town in the 1930s, describes the revolutionary struggle of the Chinese Communist Party. "Railway Guerilla Band" by Zhi Xia and "Sacrificing Everything for the Part" by Wu Yun Duo are also based on the history of the revolution and have been recognized by readers. Since the formation of the state, novels https: //doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.11.12 Corresponding Author: Alzheeva Marina Mikhailovna Selection and peer-review under  85 depicting rural life have also developed. Following the significant changes in rural life, many novels describing cooperation in the countryside, as well as new rural people and new agriculture have been created. "The Wrong Way" by Li Zhun, the novel "The Village of Sanliwan" by Zhao Shuli, "The Bright Future" by Ouyang Shan, "You Reap What You Sow" by Kang Zhuo, "Rural Records" by Zhaoyang Qin, "Green Branches, Green Leaves" by Liu Shaotang, etc. -all of them kept an unforgettable impression in the mind of the readers. Also, novels on the subject of the industry achieved their first success in this period. The novel "Locomotive" by Cao Ming, the novel "For the Sake of a Happy Tomorrow" by Bai Lang, the novel "Steel Stream" by Zhou Libo, the novel "Spring Came to Yalujiang" by Lei Jia, etc. are great works that reflect industrial construction and the lives of working people.
In 1956 the Chinese Communist Party puts forward a policy with the slogan "Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend", which enlivens the literary community (Zhu et al., 2009, p. 73). "Writers who remembered the ideas of the May Fourth Movement about the place of literature in society and the responsibility of the writer began to resist the policy of the Communist Party of China. Thus, "the Hundred Flowers" movement, which responded to the call for free discussion and consideration of social issues, criticized the policies of the party" (Tiezzi, 2012, p. 95).
From 1956 to the first half of 1957, a new style appeared in the novels, works that seemed to interfere in life, attracted the special attention of readers. The story "A young newcomer to the organization department" by Wang Meng, "Gray Sail" by Li Zhong, "Flagpole Climber" by Geng Jiang, "Department Head" by Nan Ding, "Joining the Party" by Geng Longxiang, etc. from different points of view, they boldly criticize the negative aspects of life, expose bureaucracy, factionalism, subjectivism, etc., which harm revolutionary activities. All of them had a deep, real value. However, they were not published for long, and soon they were subjected to unfair criticism, which had a negative impact on the perception of these works.
After 1958, the works revealing negative aspects of life almost disappeared, some writers remained silent concerning the vicious tendencies that harmed revolutionary activities, others based on long preparation and developing, turned to history while creating large works. The novel "The Story of the Red Banner", "Red Rock", "Song of Green Spring", "Three Families Lane", "Red Day", "The Source of Forests, Seas and Snow", "Bitter Rapeseed Flowers", "Wild Fire and Spring Wind Overcome the Old Nevertheless, Seventeen-Year Literature had its ups and downs. After the campaign "Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend" of 1956, satirical poems, love poems, and landscape lyrics still appear. This was the flourish of poetry, but soon, due to the rise of the struggle against the right, some works by talented writers, mistakenly classified as "right", were criticized.
The struggle against the right caused serious damage, China lost not only a few poets, but suffered more serious losses. Since that moment the thoughts of the poets were shackled, the talent of the poets was ruined. Some wrote boring, uninteresting slogans. Others avoided the contradictions of life and lacked the courage to praise people in their poems. Mu and other writers who became active after the liberation of Xu Chi, Bi Ye, young writers Wei Gangyan, Lin Xia, Yang Shi stood out from the general mass. This group of authors in 1961 released many masterpieces, prose reached its apogee. For example, "Ode to Sakura" by Bing Xin, "Photo from Kamakura" by Ba Jin, "Three days on the Yangtze River" by Liu Baiyu, "Song on the Crests of the Waves" by Yang Shuo, "Flower Fair", "Spring Dawn on the Ancient Battlefield" by Qin Mu, "Notes from the Garden" by Wu Bo-Xiao, "Boatman's Song" by Wei Ganyan. All these works were written or published in 1961. This year was even called the "Year of Prose", it marked an unprecedented flourishing of prose.
Due to the interference of the ideological currents of the "left", the prose failed, since the beginning of the 10-year period of unrest, even "Night Talks in Yanshan" considered harmful.
Drama in the Seventeen-Year period was successful, regardless of whether it was a play, modern performance and new historical drama or an opera.  https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.11.12 Corresponding Author: Alzheeva Marina Mikhailovna Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of the Conference eISSN: 2357-1330 88 "Grow Up during the War", "Face of "the New,", "The Sixth Gate". From 1953 to 1957, the theme of the industry was reflected in the plays "Trial", "Happiness", etc.; the village theme -"On the Way to the Height", "Bamboo Pipe", "Cuckoo's Cry", etc.; based on the history of the movement for resistance to American aggression and for helping the Korean people "The Front Line Moved to the South", "On Guard for Peace", etc.; based on the history of the revolution "Through Mountains and Rivers", "The Commander of the Partisan Detachment", etc.; and the display of history in the play "Teahouse" is widely known. After the 1950s, a "hero" appeared from performances with the plot based on deception, bragging, verbiage and plays reflecting the historical theme were also released, such as "Guan Hanqing", "Princess Wencheng", "Wu Zetian", "The Sino-Japanese War at Sea", "The Overture of the Offensive to the East".
From 1962 to 1965, appeared plays that also made a great contribution to the development of drama, "Second Spring", "Pine Pass", "Sentries Under Neon Lights", "Lei Feng", "July Comet", "The Young Generation", etc.
The Seventeen-Year drama demonstrates significant development in the theme, characters, and skills, but due to the influence of politics at certain stages, the range of themes of the plays is still relatively narrow, a form of completeness begins to be observed in the creation of the characters, tendencies of distorted life and attempts to avoid contradictions appear.
The image of the hero has changed dramatically. Now portrayed as a cadre party member or head of an organization, the hero loses initiative and individuality. His duty is to follow the party line, trying to match the changing course (Khuziyatova, 2008b, p. 144).
In the modern adaptation of the traditional opera, the most successful is the repertoire of the Shanghai theatre "Small Coin", the Lui Theater "Li's Daughter-in-Law Marries Again", the Henan Opera "Chaoyanggou". After 1960, a new version of the historical drama "Hai Rui Dismissed from Office" was released, presented on the stage of the Beijing Opera, "Li Hui Niang" Kunqu Theater, etc., which attracted the attention of the viewer.
It is worth noting that in 1964, the National Festival of Contemporary Art of Beijing Opera Drama was held, in which 29 troupes of the Beijing Opera from different regions took part, 36 performances of modern opera were staged. The list includes "The Legend of the Red Lantern", "Taking of Weihushan Mountain", "Sparks of the Reed Thickets", "The Sudden Attack of the White Tiger Squad".
The Seventeen-Year drama is known for the following major plays: "The Red Guards on Hong Hu Lake", "Dawn". "The role of the historical background, the correlation of the characters with a particular class was great" (Turusheva, 2014, p. 128).

Research Questions
In this paper, we try to answer the question concerning the features of Seventeen-Year literature in China from 1949 to 1966 and to identify the main characteristics of the following genres: novel, poetry, prose, drama. https: //doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.11.12 Corresponding Author: Alzheeva Marina Mikhailovna Selection and peer-review under

Purpose of the Study
This work analyzes the features of the early Chinese literature of the new period, since the founding of the new state, as well as the historical interdependence of literary and political processes.

Research Methods
Descriptive and cultural-historical methods are used in this work.

Findings
Seventeen-Year literature developed under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.
Historical and realistic novels have had some success. The negative aspects are criticized by the authors, especially those phenomena that damage the revolutionary activity. The poetic works mainly glorified the creation of the PRC, which affected the self-expression of the poets, their individualization. Prose is flourishing, touching all aspects of life. The drama also strives for the service of the people and revolution. Literature also went through difficult periods, the serious consequences of which were manifested in the subsequent period during the Cultural Revolution.

Conclusion
Thus, the Seventeen-Year literature, including novel, poetry, prose, and drama, has achieved new achievements in depicting the new era, new life, new characters, in improving the skills of artistic expression, thereby enriching the art gallery of Chinese literature. The intervention of the "left" helps the Seventeen-Year literature to overcome difficulties. Since the 50s, the "left" bias in literary creativity has become obvious. The "Gang of Four" denied the Seventeen-Year literature, but its left trend paved the way for the method of artistic creativity that was promoted during the "Cultural Revolution" when creating works of art: 1) highlight the positive characters; 2) highlight heroic characters among them; 3) highlight the most important heroic character among them.