Since the middle of the 19th century, under the influence of the spread of worldwide imperialism, almost without exception, East Asian countries have faced the fate of collision and impact with the West. At that time, the so-called "westerly spread eastward" meant that all parts of East Asia were challenged by the wave of globalization premised on the development of capitalism.
The foreign forces with powerful force, while putting forward company banner design the request to open the port, also brought anxiety about the self-doubt of the inherent national culture in various countries, causing East Asian countries to start to reconsider the existing order including the institutional, material and spiritual levels. In the face of this unprecedented cultural challenge and existential crisis, people of insight in various places have raised the banner of anti-feudalism, and some have proposed to accept the discourse of Western modern civilization. In this process, "literature" has always played an important role, because literature has the power to influence people's hearts, and it has indeed exerted an indelible influence in seeking to transform culture and overcome national calamities.
In East Asia, compared with Japan and China, Taiwan and South Korea were both in the dilemma of losing their national sovereignty. Therefore, although the intellectuals in the two places also sang anti-tradition, they did not just want to accept the Western spirit. It also discusses traditional values and even advocates national spirit. The early modern literature in the two places reflects this historical connotation of pursuing "modernity" and defending "nation" on the one hand, and the first step is to promote the modernization of literature to meet the needs of the people.