Abstract:

This article first briefly summarizes Shen Congwen's technical changes of custom description in his novels during the War of Resistance against Japan, and then emphatically analyses some contradictions implied in Shen's ideas of Chinese "modernization" and town-country relations, so as to reveal the conflict between his aesthetic ideal and social reality. Also, it offers an explanation of the break-off of Shen Congwen's rural story writing.

Key words: custom description, rural story, local tradition, modernization