Modern Times (novel)
1905 novel by Li Boyuan
Wenming Xiaoshi (Chinese: 文明小史), translated into English as Modern Times, is a novel by Li Baojia (Li Boyuan). The novel is a satire of pseudo-reformers in the Qing dynasty period who found difficulty adjusting to modernization, including its complexities and problems. The novel consist of 60 chapters. It has often been compared to Li's other novel Officialdom Unmasked.
From 1903 to 1905 the work was serialized in Fiction Illustrated. The first edition of the entire work was published in 1906. Douglas Lancashire published an English translation, titled "Modern Times," in 1996.
Plot
The background of the novel is that in the late Qing dynasty, China's borders were opened by the West. At that time, conservative Chinese people saw the strong ship and sharp cannon of modern Western civilization, leading to the rise of the reformist movement, and many people were sent to study abroad. The article adopts a "Zhulian style" structure, without the protagonist and central character.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Modern Times (novel)” is 1905 novel by Li Boyuan. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Modern, Times and novel, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1905 novel by Li Boyuan” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q10300612. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1903, 1905, 1906 and 1996.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Modern Times (novel)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Modern Times (novel) primary sources, Modern Times (novel) archive and Modern research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Modern Times (novel)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.