From 'use of old forms' to 'establishment of a national form': A re-evaluation of Mao's agenda of forging a cultural-political nation

This paper aims to re-examine the important debates about 'use of old forms' and 'establishment of a national form' in Chinese intellectual circles of the 1940s. It discusses the contemporary referents of the 'form' and 'content' in the term '(national) form' and explores the intricate relationship among literary language use, class consciousness, and a national culture. As a conclusion, it suggests that Mao's agenda of creating a ` national form' was not merely a means of achieving popularization but an end aimed at creating a revolutionary culture to facilitate the establishment of a homogenized and egalitarian society, or to forge a powerful cultural-political nation. This effort merits reappraisal in contemporary China, when differing interests and newly divided classes make the national consensus highly vulnerable.