Abstract: It is well acknowledged that Xiucixue Fafan (An Introduction to Rhetoric) built the foundation for Chinese modern rhetoric. Chen Wangdao applies for the first time vernacular examples as a response to the bias that “rhetoric cannot be used in vernacular” in the May 4thPeriod, which plays an important role in the process of the institutionalization of modern Chinese. Therefore, by studying Xiucixue Fafan and analyzing the modern vernacular examples in the book, we can examine the history of modern Chinese literature from a new perspective. Moreover, from the selections and changes of language examples in different versions of Xiucixue Fafan we can also see Chen Wangdao’s value orientation in literature and the political influence on the standard of literature judgment.