Abstract: It is essential to have a critical analysis of the history of the disciplinary construction of
literature and art. The construction process can be divided into three stages judging from the occurrence and
ways of operation of teaching and research sections. During the period of the Republic of China, teaching and
research sections were nonexistent, and the fragile subject of literature and art was not regarded as an
independent discipline, but as a course or a textbook. As to this first stage, the composition of the ideological
resources of the textbooks of literature and art and the nature of the course are analyzed. The second stage
consists in the first three decades following the founding of the new China in 1949, during which the teaching
and research sections came into being, and literature and art was perceived as a leading field in literary studies.
For this part, the shaping influence of political factors on the institutionalization of literature and art studies is
discussed, as well as the efforts made by the theorists on literature and art to preserve knowledge value under the
leadership of Zhou Yang and others. The final stage refers to the forty plus years since China’s reform and
opening up in 1978. During this period, the domination of administrative order was ended; a considerable
autonomy of the subject of literature and art was gained thanks to the operations of teaching and research section
and disciplinary development; but soon as the subject as a basic introductory course evolved into an advanced
discipline, it was also confronted with an internal academic crisis, i. e., the challenges accompanying its
transformation.

Key words: teaching and research section, introduction to literature studies, literature and art studies;
literary theory, discipline