THE INSTITUTION OF A SOCIALIST LITERATURE, 1949–1956

The organization of literary production

The first national Congress of Literature and Art Workers assembled 650 delegates in Peking from 2 July through 19 July 1949, some three months before the formal establishment of the People's Republic itself. Mao Tse-tung, Chou En-lai, and other national figures emphasized by their presence the importance the leadership would attach to the development of a new socialist culture and the establishment of the necessary organs for its direction. The umbrella organization under which all cultural activities were to be coordinated was later (1953) to be christened the All-China Federation of Literary and Art Circles. Beneath this umbrella have come into existence, through four decades and with a pronounced hiatus at the time of the Cultural Revolution (roughly the ten years 1966–76), ten unions, covering fiction and poetry (the Writers Union), drama (the Dramatists Union, the largest of all because it incorporates performers as well as writers), cinema, music, dance, fine arts, performing literature, folk literature, children's literature, and circus (this last the newest, established at its fourth congress, in November 1979).

Although the federation has been responsible for the important stock-takings during the four national congresses (1949, 1953, 1960, 1979), the central role in the ongoing work of the direction and development of the new literature has been played by the Writers Union. This organ, which traces its origins back at least to the patriotic associations formed from 1937 onward by Lao She, Kuo Mojo, and other eminent men of letters, provides a forum for writers, holding frequent discussion meetings in all parts of the country.