20世纪中国文学何以能成为文学史上一个独立的阶段?它区别于中国古代文学的根本标志何在?本文从甲午战争———戊戌变法(1894—1898)前后切入话题,贯通近、现、当代,综合考察了近一百多年来中国文学的特质和变化,认为“现代性”不仅是这一阶段文学的重要脉络,而且从思想和审美方面构成了它的显著特征。文章对涉及的若干疑难问题也作了辨析。 How can Chinese literature in the 20th century become an independent stage in the history of literature? What distinguishes it from the fundamental symbol of ancient Chinese literature? From the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1898, In this paper, we comprehensively examine the characteristics and changes of Chinese literature in the recent one hundred years and hold that “modernity” is not only an important context of literature at this stage, but also constitutes its salient features in terms of thought and aesthetic. The article also made some analysis on some difficult problems involved.