In the novel texts of the Late Qing Dynasty, there are all kinds of writings about “cities”: the imperial capital recalled under the love of the imperial atmosphere, the ancient city depressed under the decay of hatred, the foreign city showing off under the desire of luxury and prosperity, and the future city imagination mixed with the ancient and modern light of China and the West. These texts, written in a roaming narrative style, depict the human desire and existence in the late Qing "settings" and intrinsically point to the core construct of a modern nation-state with the emphasis on the modern "individual."
Dr. Cheng Wang is an associate professor in College of Liberal Arts of Hubei Normal University, P.R. China, and he is also a tutor for postgraduate students. Dr. Cheng Wang is mainly engaged in literary theory, modern literary theory and aesthetic research in the Late Qing Dynasty. He has published more than 40 academic papers and 2 academic monographs.