Abstract: Wanxiang (Panorama) was a popular cultural magazine in Shanghai in 1940s, whose historical background are often described with the keywords such as “the anti-Japanese War”, “isolated island” and “enemy-occupied area”. The literature policy of the Japanese Puppet Regime, the editing principle and the market operation mechanism determine, the complicated culture environment and development of the different stages of Wanxiang and its three typical features in the followings: first, it adopts the narrative strategy of “implicit writing” about the war, containing the narration of nation state and the reflection on colonial modernity; second, literary creation turns to citizens’ daily life while the narrative language is filled with anxiety between “affirmation” and “criticism”; third, it promotes the “popular literature movement” that combines the tradition and the modern, and accommodates to both refined and popular tastes, and the “correct ideology”, “exquisite taste”and “common life” label the justified identity of popular literature. Wanxiang shows the complexity of literary history in the enemy-occupied area, enriches the literature in 1940s and presents the intricate development of modern Chinese literature.

Key words: Wanxiang, literature in 1940s, colonial modernity, daily life, &ldquo, popular literature movement&rdquo