The History of Hong Kong IV：Golden Era of Literature

From the 1950’s to 1970’s, Hong Kong literature entered a golden age of great glory.

In 1949, with the founding of New China, many literati and writers came south to Hong Kong, forming a platform for expression of public opinions by the leftists and the rightists, and showcasing the blossoming local literary community.

In the early 1950’s, “Chinese Student Weekly”, an important publication for young people, appeared in the history of Hong Kong literature, and it had a profound impact on the young people at that time. “New Wave Art and Culture” advocated modernist literature and believed that literature should not be influenced by politics. In the mid 1950’s, there was a number of “Hong Kong Pulp Fictions” published in Hong Kong, and people also said that it was a “Fiction Era” at that time.

In the 1950’s and 1960’s, the newspaper industry in Hong Kong was booming, and many literati published their work and commentaries in the columns of newspaper supplement. Mainland literati LIU Yi-chang and CAO Juren were among the leaders and their lives of “selling their literatures” were also recorded in their work.

In the early 1970’s, the local consciousness of Hong Kong literature began to rise. Many writers used with Hong Kong as the theme of their work, making the Hong Kong literary world in the 1970’s full of local flavour.