STUDY ON THE “PUBLICIZATION” OF LOVE IN EARLY 20TH CENTURY CHINA: CENTERED ON DU CHENG SHU&QU JIANG’S LOVE LETTER

Abstract

This article attempts to answer the question of "love" and why it has been prohibited from entering the public sphere in Chinese history. This article takes the "Love Letter Incident" as a case study and uses process tracking method to analyze the love letter incident between Du Chengshu and Qu Jiang. In this event, various social groups interacted on this matter, so this article horizontally compared the thinking and self-expression of young men and women in the face of love issues, and vertically explored the premature and delayed disclosure of love issues under the trend of gender equality in China since the early 20th century. The publication of male love letters has forced love writing, which originally belonged to the private sector, to be placed under the spotlight of the public sector of paper media for public evaluation. The examination and evaluation of love issues by various parties in the public sector is a necessary process for private love writing to move towards the public sector. Through various evaluations of love letters, the issue of love has entered the public domain. However, in China at the beginning of the 20th century, the issue of love still faced scrutiny from traditional Chinese gender ethics and morality, making it difficult for love issues to be made public.