Li Hsi-fan, currently Literature and Arts Editor of the People's Daily, is an influential leader in the shaping of China's literary policy. In recent issues of Chinese Literature he has written of the life and times of Lu Hsiin in terms which seem clearly intended to leave the reader inspired and eager to support China's continuing literary struggles. Perhaps justifiably, Li's judgments are expressed in black-and-white terms and girded with exclamation marks. This style, whatever its purpose, raises again the interesting question of the extent to which Chinese leaders actually view China's experience in such terms. Is the Chinese Literature style intended as a reflection of things as they are, or is it a tool used to project an ideal, while a fuller view of reality, including its various shades of grey, rests in the background?