As Chinese classical poetry developed into the late Qing Dynasty, its form could no longer adapt to the requirements of social progress. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Liang Qichao, Tan Sitong, Xia Zengyou and others called for a "revolution in poetry", and Huang Zunxian first advocated "new poetry", which all played a leading role in the subsequent "May 4th" new poetry movement. New China After its establishment, Hu Shi vigorously promoted new poetry.
The magazine that initially experimented with and advocated new poetry was New Youth. Following the publication of Hu Shih's "A Preliminary Discussion on Literary Reform" by Crescent Poetry Society, this journal published eight vernacular poems by Hu Shi on February 2, No. 6, 1917. This is the first batch of vernacular poems that appeared in the Chinese poetry movement. Volume 4 and Issue 1 also publish 9 new poems in vernacular written by Hu Shi, Liu Bannong and Shen Yinmo. Liu Bannong's "A Layer of Paper Separated" is the earliest work in new poetry that sympathizes with the lives of the people at the bottom and reveals the theme of humanitarianism. Shen Yinmo's "Sanxian" began to express life in a new language and way, and focused on the beautiful harmony of phonology. Similar to Liu Bannong is Liu Dabai. He wrote "Old Dreams" and "Postal Kiss", most of which expressed the suffering of the people. "Red New Year" and "Labor Day Song" expressed the longing for the new world. He paid great attention to the reference to folk songs.
In March 1920, Hu Shi's "Anthology" was published, which was the first collection of new vernacular poems during the "May Fourth" New Culture Movement. Hu Shi believes that literary revolutionary movements in ancient and modern times always start with the liberation of literary styles, so he proposed: "If you want to have a new content and new spirit, you must first break the shackles that restrain the spirit" ("Talking about New Poetry"). As the first person to advocate writing poetry in vernacular, he advocated that the style of new poetry should be free and informal, which had positive significance for the creation of new poetry and directly led to the formation of the original free verse school of new poetry during the May Fourth Movement. At that time, among the earliest attempts at new poetry based on "New Youth", in addition to Hu Shi, Liu Bannong, Shen Yinmo, etc., there were also Chen Duxiu, Lu Xun, Zhou Zuoren, Li Dazhao and others. They devoted themselves to creating free-style vernacular poetry. Among them, Zhou Zuoren's "Little River" is the one that marks a complete break away from the influence of old poetry and a remarkable independence. This poem uses clear and calm spoken language to form a metaphor, implying the tragic conflict caused by violating the laws of nature, and expresses the thoughts and requirements for individual liberation.
Following "New Youth", "New Wave", "Weekly Review" and other publications also united a group of new poetry pioneers, such as Yu Pingbo who wrote "Winter Night" and Kang Bai who wrote "Cao'er" Love, Zhu Ziqing who wrote "Traces", Wang Tongzhao who wrote "Child's Heart", Liang Zongdai who wrote "Evening Prayer", etc. The poets in the Literary Research Association have shown their creative strength with the collection "Snow Dynasty" by Zheng Zhenduo, Zhou Zuoren, Yu Pingbo, Xu Yunuo, Guo Shaoyu, Ye Shaojun, Liu Yanling and Zhu Ziqing. With the purpose of "art for life" and the pursuit of "nature" and "sincerity", they integrated the actual scenes of life at the bottom into simple and fresh verses, thus strengthening the power of realism in free-style vernacular poetry.
Due to the active practice of poets from the Literary Research Society, early new poetry has opened up the realist tendency of focusing on social life, facing life, exposing darkness, and using new poetry as a means of intervening in life. Zhu Ziqing is one of the poets with outstanding achievements. His "Destruction" uses a long lyrical way to write about the ambivalent state of mind of young people after the ebb of the May Fourth Movement, who "suffered from the entanglement of temptation and urgently sought destruction", leaving behind "clear steps". His poems in "Trace" have surpassed attempts and become mature, showing the poet's spirit of actively facing reality. Wang Tongzhao also published "This Era". The poems in the collection convey the bitter taste of the world through hazy images. Bing Xin is also one of the authors who started creative activities earlier in the Literary Research Association. In addition to novels and essays, she is good at writing fragments of philosophical thinking that emerge in the form of short poems. Her masterpieces "Stars" and "Spring Water" are deeply influenced by Rabindranath Tagore. They are crystal clear and full of maternal love and childlike innocence under the theme of human nature. These short poems about life experience, which are made up of pearls of wisdom and emotion, are free and lively in content and eclectic in form. They convey the open-minded and free atmosphere of the "May Fourth" era from the side. It is also connected with the pursuit of new poetry to abandon the stereotyped lyricism and focus on rational elucidation after becoming independent of the old poetry. There were many writers at that time, forming the small poem movement in the history of new poetry. Among them, Zong Baihua's "Small Poetry on Flowing Clouds" is more influential.
During the "May 4th" period, young men and women longed to break away from the shackles of old feudal ethics. The collections "Lakeside" and "Spring Song Collection" by Wang Jingzhi, Feng Xuefeng, Pan Mohua and Ying Xiuren of the Lakeside Poetry Society attracted the world's attention. Wang Jingzhi also has "The Wind of Hui" and "The Lonely Country". These works show the courage and passion for fighting for freedom of marriage and opposing feudalism.