Abstract:

In modem times, the interpretations of tragedy were evidently separated into the earlier and the later period. In the earlier period, LIANG Ting-nan and HUANG Qi-tai were major representatives; Tao Hua Shan and Xi Xiang Ji appeared as the investigative object; the poetic imaginative ends of the tragic dramas were the focus of investigation. In the later period, ZHANG Zhi-you suggested that the tragedy should benefit and have a strong influence on society, and dramatists should create heroic tragedies as quickly as possible because of our country lacking of tragedies, while WANG Guo-wei absorbed Schopenhauer's philosophic pessimism and pursued life's value.

Key words: modern times, tragic conception, shift