ABSTRACT

Recent statistics show that there are over five hundred and sixty million netizens in China, among whom around two hundred million are involved in Internet literature either as readers or writers. 1 It is an undeniable fact that Internet literature is becoming increasingly influential in both Chinese daily readings and literary criticism. Amazed by the massive number of Chinese engaged in serious network writings, J. Hillis Miller, the world-renowned literary critic who has been to China for fifteen times, states that “it sounds as if China may be ahead of the United States in preserving literary creativity through the use of the Internet.” 2 It is difficult to ascertain to what extent Miller’s statement is true, but it is certain that the Internet is facilitating the revival of Chinese interest in both literary writings and readings after the low ebb of literature in the early 1990s brought about by the pervasive influence of commercialization.