Book Review: 文學史的權力 (The Authority of Literary History): Dai Yan 戴燕 . Beijing: Peking University Press (China), 2018, 366 pages. RMB 69. ISBN: 978-7-301-29648-6

The literary tradition, or the concept of wen (文) in China, has a history dating back to the Western Zhou dynasty. However, the study of Chinese literary history only emerged as a distinct field in the late Qing period. It was influenced by European literary studies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which intersected with China’s own evolving approaches to literature. Before systematic research on Chinese literary history could take shape, it was first necessary to define the meaning of “literature” within the Chinese context. Dai Yan’s monograph, The Authority of Literary History, offers a profound and insightful exploration of the development of Chinese literary history from the late Qing to the contemporary era.