A Stylometric Analysis of Chinese Literary Inheritance and Divergence: Evidence from Shen Congwen and Wang Zengqi

A Stylometric Analysis of Chinese Literary Inheritance and Divergence: Evidence from Shen Congwen and Wang Zengqi | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article A Stylometric Analysis of Chinese Literary Inheritance and Divergence: Evidence from Shen Congwen and Wang Zengqi jie bai, xuelin wang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7557501/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 21 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Shen Congwen (SCW) and Wang Zengqi (WZQ), as prominent figures in modern Chinese literature, are widely known for their well-established master-disciple relationship. Although this literary connection implies a transmission of aesthetic and linguistic values, their works exhibit marked stylistic differences. This study examines the stylometric inheritance and divergence of SCW and WZQ. We constructed a dedicated corpus of their writings, with a total size of several million words, and analyzed 18 linguistic features, including lexical richness, descriptivity, activity, nominality, keyword extraction, word length distribution, and part-of-speech distribution. In addition, the study employed principal component analysis to uncover potential clustering and distinguishing patterns among different stylistic features. The findings show that both authors inherited the thematic orientation of the Beijing School and shared a preference for defamiliarized expression. SCW demonstrates a stylistic tendency toward dynamic narration, lyrical tone, and lexical density, whereas WZQ exhibits a more hybrid style that integrates vernacular elements with classical allusions. By integrating quantitative stylometry with close reading, this study provides empirical evidence that literary inheritance is not a static process of imitation but a dynamic interplay between inheritance and innovation. Humanities/Cultural and media studies Social science/Cultural and media studies Humanities/Language and linguistics Social science/Language and linguistics Humanities/Literature stylometric stylistic variation literary inheritance Shen Congwen Wang Zengqi Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Introuduction Literature is fundamentally an art of language, with its aesthetic value realized through linguistic expression. Linguistic style has become an important perspective for literary analysis (Yildirim and Can, 2024 ). Traditionally, stylistic research has relied on qualitative methods, employing close reading and case studies to explore the distinctive features and literary qualities of an author’ s style. However, such qualitative approaches are often influenced by subjective interpretation, and the resulting findings tend to lack objective scientific validation, making it difficult to generate systematic and replicable results. Although the definition of style remains a topic of ongoing debate (Fang and Liu, 2023 ), the rise of digital humanities has introduced new methodological possibilities through quantitative stylistics. In the context of quantitative stylistics, style is defined as “a property of texts constituted by an ensemble of formal features which can be observed quantitatively or qualitatively” (Herrmann et al., 2015 ). Stylometry offers a data-driven, objective, and replicable approach to the study of linguistic style in literary texts, enabling researchers to revisit longstanding literary questions with enhanced analytical rigor (Holmes, 1998 ). Within the broader tradition of modern Chinese literature, authors connected through master-disciple relationships or aligned with the same literary communities often demonstrate convergent stylistic tendencies and linguistic preferences (Li and Li, 2023 ). The Beijing School, which emerged in the 1930s, represents a significant literary movement shaped by specific regional contexts and historical-cultural influences. Shen Congwen (SCW) and Wang Zengqi (WZQ) are widely recognized as pivotal figures in both modern Chinese literature and the Beijing School tradition. Both SCW and WZQ inherited the aesthetic values associated with the Beijing School, particularly in their shared emphasis on portraying human nature and emotional depth. WZQ formally studied under SCW, and his literary development was profoundly shaped by this master-disciple relationship. He repeatedly acknowledged influence of SCW on his creative style. The shared literary lineage and master-disciple relationship between SCW and WZQ provide a solid basis for comparative analysis. Their writing styles are often described as “seemingly plain but emotionally resonant” (Tai, 2003 ). However, due to differences in personal experience, psychological disposition, and the cultural context of their respective eras, their use of language, narrative perspective, and approaches to character construction reveal both similarities and divergences (Xia, 1990 ). According to James (2012), literary innovation and inheritance can be understood as a dynamic interplay rather than a static process of replication. This interplay is not limited to English literary traditions, and the present study brings a case from modern Chinese literature into this broader theoretical discussion. The stylistic convergences and divergences observed within the well-defined master-disciple relationship between SCW and WZQ prompt important questions regarding the linguistic realization of literary inheritance. However, such stylistic dynamics have rarely been examined through systematic, data-driven methodologies. This study takes the master-disciple relationship as its contextual foundation and applies quantitative stylistic methods to investigate potential stylistic similarities and differences in the literary texts of SCW and WZQ. Our contribution lies in providing new empirical evidence that literary inheritance is not a static process of imitation, but rather a dynamic interplay between inheritance and innovation. This finding not only offers literary scholars a fresh interpretive perspective for close reading of the works of SCW and WZQ but also extends the methodological scope of stylometric research by demonstrating how quantitative approaches can capture both continuity and divergence in literary style, thereby inspiring new interdisciplinary pathways for literary analysis. Literature review Research in quantitative stylistics has yielded substantial results, with its core objective being the analysis of textual stylistic features through quantitative indicators. These features span multiple linguistic levels, including phonological, lexical, syntactic, and even discourse-level dimensions. Of these linguistic dimensions, lexical features have received the most extensive scholarly attention and constitute the most fully developed area within the field. The lexical feature system typically includes a range of indicators, such as keywords (Hui, 2023 ), lexical richness (Kubát and Milička, 2013 ), activity, descriptivity, nominality (Zörnig et al., 2015), distribution of word length (Liu and Xiao, 2020 ), part-of-speech composition (Hou and Jiang, 2016 ), content words (Huang and Liu, 2009 ), and function words (Binongo and Smith, 1999 ). Each type of lexical indicator captures a distinct dimension of linguistic style, and together they constitute a multidimensional framework for the stylistic analysis of literary works. There are multiple research perspectives on quantitative stylistics within literary studies. One approach involves the static description of an individual author’s style, aiming to uncover the distinctive stylistic features embedded in their works (Yildirim and Can, 2024 ). Another adopts a diachronic perspective, focusing on how an author’s stylistic patterns evolve over time (McIntyre and Walker, 2022 ). In addition to author-centered research, substantial progress has also been made in examining the stylistic characteristics of specific literary schools (Brooke et al., 2017 ), conducting comparative analyses across different literary traditions (Chen and Kubát, 2022 ), and exploring stylistic variation among multiple authors (Yildirim and Can, 2024 ). In recent years, research in quantitative stylistics has undergone notable methodological expansion, with scholars gradually shifting from traditional statistical approaches to more advanced multivariate analysis techniques (MVA), including principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical clustering, and random forest methods (Hoover, 2003 ). SCW began publishing literary works in 1924, with the 1930s marking the most prolific and mature period of his writing career (Peng, 2019 ). WZQ published his first book in the 1940s, but it was not until the 1980s that he gained widespread acclaim. The literary talent, stylistic achievements, and artistic accomplishments of both Shen and Wang have long been recognized by scholars (Xiao, 2013 ). Scholarly attention to SCW and WZQ has remained consistent, particularly in the domain of qualitative literary analysis, where numerous studies have explored the stylistic convergences and divergences between the two authors (Xia, 1990 ). From an aesthetic standpoint, texts of SCW are characterized by a somber and weighty melancholia, whereas texts of WZQ radiate a gentle, temperate optimism (Lei, 2007 ). In terms of compositional style, Gao ( 2019 ) observes that SCW frequently employs repetition and parallel structures in his literary works to enhance their literary expressiveness. His linguistic style is deeply influenced by classical Chinese poetics, contributing to a distinctively traditional literary ethos (Peng, 2019 ). In contrast, WZQ demonstrates a particular aptitude for portraying the mundane details of daily life in a succinct and restrained manner, resulting in texts that are closely aligned with everyday reality and characterized by an understated, unpretentious tone. As Liu ( 2015 ) notes in his analysis of Shou Jie , WZQ often adopts rhythmic units of five or three-to-four characters, evoking the cadence and tonal balance of classical Chinese verse. More broadly, WZQ’s literary texts display a unique linguistic style that synthesizes both colloquial and classical elements. (Lin, 2015 ). Notably, both authors develop innovative discursive strategies to achieve defamiliarization (Shklovsky, 1917 : 9). However, their approaches to defamiliarization at the linguistic level diverge in notable ways. Yan and Su ( 2011 ) observe that in Bian Cheng , SCW often replaces disyllabic words or compound syntactic constructions with monosyllabic expressions. This strategy not only enhances linguistic conciseness and clarity but also aligns with the restrained and implicit aesthetic characteristic of classical Chinese prose, thereby achieving a defamiliarizing stylistic effect. By contrast, WZQ excels in achieving defamiliarization through the inventive blending of colloquial language, folk expressions, and classical literary forms, thereby constructing a hybrid linguistic style that disrupts readers’ conventional expectations and enhances the aesthetic estrangement effect (Liu, 2015 ). From a quantitative perspective, Hou and Huang ( 2020 ) analyze the linguistic styles of SCW and WZQ, but their study primarily focuses on phonological features. It notes the difficulty of identifying texts of WZQ using word-final and segment-final tone motifs and word length motifs to represent the textsone motifs and word length motifs. However, it does not provide a deeper exploration of the underlying reasons for this phenomenon. As the study encompasses multiple authors and centers primarily on text style recognition, it does not offer a focused quantitative analysis of the stylistic features of SCW and WZQ within the framework of their master-disciple relationship. Consequently, while the findings offer some interpretive value, they remain insufficient to support a comprehensive empirical understanding of stylistic inheritance and divergence between the two authors. In general, existing studies on the linguistic styles of SCW and WZQ are largely grounded in subjective impressions or introspective interpretations. While such approaches reflect a high degree of literary sensitivity, they often lack empirical validation, which limits the generalizability of their conclusions. Moreover, most of these studies are based on a narrow selection of texts or excerpts, without engaging with a broader and more representative range of the authors’ works, thereby lacking support from large-scale empirical data. In light of the limitations of previous research, this study adopts a quantitative stylistic approach by integrating multidimensional lexical indicators to investigate similarities and differences in the linguistic styles of SCW and WZQ. The specific research questions are: RQ1: Which stylometric indicators can most effectively differentiate the literary works of SCW and WZQ? RQ2: Can principal component analysis reveal clustering and distinguishing patterns in the overall stylistic features of the two authors’ writings? RQ3: Within the framework of literary lineage, in what specific linguistic features are inheritance and innovation manifested between SCW and WZQ? Material The selection of corpus materials is a critical methodological consideration in stylistic analysis, as it directly influences the representativeness and validity of the findings. This study concentrates on fiction and prose, two genres widely recognized as core literary registers. According to SCW’s autobiography (SCW 1985), his creative period can be categorized into three stages, which cover the periods 1924 to 1929, 1930 to 1935, and 1936 to 1949. Representative works such as Bian Cheng, Xiao Xiao and Xiang Xing San Ji were all written during the 1930–1935 period. Therefore, this study selects all of SCW’s novels and prose from this period to construct a literary corpus of his works. WZQ’s literary output is divided into three distinct phases, with the 1980s representing the peak of his creative career. Works such as Shou Jie and Da Nao Ji Shi were written during this time. Accordingly, this study selects all of WZQ’s novels and prose from the 1980s to build a corresponding literary corpus. Table 1 presents the basic information of the corpora. Table 1 Basic Information of the Corpus Author Works Number Token Number SCW 83 583,055 WZQ 335 556,743 Total 418 1,139,798 The collected texts underwent cleaning, manual proofreading, word segmentation, and part-of-speech tagging. Given that elements such as the publication information, table of contents, and epigraphs differ significantly from the main text in terms of linguistic features and textual structure, they were excluded from the analysis. Word segmentation and part-of-speech tagging were conducted using the LTP 4.0 Base2 model developed by the Harbin Institute of Technology (Che et al., 2020 ). Methods The lexical metrics examined in this study include lexical richness, descriptivity, activity, nominality, keyword extraction, word length distribution, and part-of-speech distribution. To ensure the statistical validity of the correlation analysis, normality tests were conducted for each variable prior to the correlation procedures. Specifically, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test and the Shapiro-Wilk test were employed. Variables were considered to follow a normal distribution if the p-values in both tests exceeded 0.05, in which case independent samples t-tests were used for group comparisons. For variables that did not meet the assumption of normality, the Mann-Whitney U test was applied. In addition, this study employed PCA, a commonly used statistical method for dimensionality reduction, which transforms a set of potentially correlated variables into a set of linearly independent new variables through orthogonal transformation. Results Keywords. Compared to high-frequency words in statistical text analysis, keywords more effectively capture the core semantic content of a text, thereby revealing the author’s distinct thematic preferences and content orientation in writing (Hu and He, 2022 ). This study employs TF-IDF (Sparck Jones, 1972) to extract keywords from the two corpora. Based on the research objectives, we selected the top 20 nouns, verbs, and adjectives for analysis (see Table 2 ). Table 2 Keywords in the corpora of SCW and WZQ POS SCW WZQ 女人 (nǚrén, woman) 先生 (xiānsheng, Mr.) 男子 (nánzǐ, man) 昆明 (Kūnmíng, Kunming) 女子 (nǚzǐ, girl) 北京 (Běijīng, Beijing) 妇人 (fùrén, married woman) 学生 (xuésheng, student) 事情 (shìqíng, thing) 现在 (xiànzài, now) 地方 (dìfang, place) 中国 (Zhōngguó, China) 朋友 (péngyou, friend) 父亲 (fùqīn, father) 国王 (guówáng, king) 同学 (tóngxué, classmate) 先生(xiānsheng, Mr.) 地方 (dìfang, place) noun 年青人 (niánqīngrén, youth) 后来 (hòulái, later on) 声音 (shēngyīn, sound) 孩子 (háizi, child) 东西 (dōngxi, thing) 小说 (xiǎoshuō, novel) 情形 (qíngxíng, situation) 联大 (Liándà, Associated University) 故事 (gùshi, story) 和尚 (héshang, monk) 兵士 (bīngshì, soldier) 同志 (tóngzhì, comrade) 时节(shíjié, season) 作家 (zuòjiā, writer) 医生(yīshēng, doctor) 美国 (Měiguó, America) 样子 (xiangzi, personal names) 演员 (yǎnyuán, actor/actress) 太太 (tàitai, wife) 茶馆 (cháguǎn, teahouse) 阿黑 (Āhēi, personal name) 裘盛戎(Qiú Shèngrōng, personal name) 应当 (yīngdāng, should) 没有 (méiyǒu, don't have) 听到 (tīngdào, hear) 有 (yǒu, have) 以为 (yǐwéi, think) 知道 (zhīdào, know) 见到 (jiàndào, see) 觉得 (juéde, feel) 没有 (méiyǒu, don't have) 不知 (bùzhī, don't know) 得到 (dédào, get) 以为 (yǐwéi, think) 欢喜 (huānxǐ, like) 看到 (kàndào, see) 好象 (hǎoxiàng, as if) 记得 (jìde, remember) 说话 (shuōhuà, speak) 起来 (qǐlái, rise up) Verb 觉得 (juéde, think) 出来 (chūlái, come out) 看到 (kàndào, see) 下来 (xiàlái, come down) 看看 (kànkan, take a look) 回来 (huílái, come back) 愿意 (yuànyì, willing) 叫做 (jiàozuò, be called) 下去 (xiàqù, go down) 看见 (kànjiàn, see) 预备 (yùbèi, prepare) 看看 (kànkan, take a look) 微笑 (wēixiào, smile) 比较 (bǐjiào, compare) 想到 (xiǎngdào, realize) 喜欢 (xǐhuan, like) 发生 (fāshēng, happen) 据说 (jùshuō, it is said) 注意 (zhùyì, notice) 研究 (yánjiū, study) 缺少 (quēshǎo, lack) 希望 (xīwàng, hope) 明白 (míngbai, clear) 好吃 (hǎochī, delicious) 完全 (wánquán, entirely) 好看 (hǎokàn, beautiful) 神气 (shénqì, spirited) 实在 (shízài, reliable) 年青 (niánqīng, young) 不错 (bùcuò, pretty good) 快乐 (kuàilè, happy) 不好 (bùhǎo, bad) 美丽 (měilì, beautiful) 大 (dà, big) 沉默 (chénmò, silent) 年轻 (niánqīng, young) 方便 (fāngbiàn, convenient) 清楚 (qīngchu, clear) 容易 (róngyì, easy) 干净 (gānjìng, clean) adjective 幸福 (xìngfú, happy) 臭 (chòu, smelly) 体面 (tǐmiàn, decent) 不同 (bùtóng, different) 不行 (bùxíng, unacceptable) 简单 (jiǎndān, simple) 高兴 (gāoxìng, happy) 平常 (píngcháng, ordinary) 实在 (shízài, indeed) 舒服 (shūfu, comfortable) 寂寞 (jìmò, lonely) 新鲜 (xīnxiān, fresh) 不同 (bùtóng, different) 完全 (wánquán, complete) 大 (dà, big) 有名 (yǒumíng, famous) 聪明 (cōngmíng, smart) 便宜 (piányi, cheap) 小心 (xiǎoxīn, careful) 难得 (nándé, rarely) 怪 (guài, strange) 高大 (gāodà, tall) First, an analysis of noun keywords reveals that both authors demonstrate a strong capacity for character construction, although their creative orientations differ significantly. As shown in Table 2 , SCW frequently centers his narratives on young individuals, with particular emphasis on the living conditions of rural youth with an educational background. In addition, the frequent occurrence of gender-specific terms such as女人 (nǚrén, woman), 妇人 (fùrén, married woman), 女子 (nǚzǐ, girl) suggests that female characters occupy a central position in SCW’s literary works. He is known for creating a series of iconic female figures, including Cui Cui (from Bian Cheng ), Xiao Xiao (from Xiao Xiao ), and A Jin (from Zhang Fu ). In contrast, WZQ’s works exhibit a broader generational spectrum, encompassing characters from adolescence, through middle age, to old age, thereby reflecting a more comprehensive engagement with the complexities of human life across different stages. Furthermore, terms such as和尚 (héshang, monk), 同志 (tóngzhì, comrade), 作家 (zuòjiā, writer) underscore the diversity of professions among his characters, reflecting his broad interest in the lives of individuals across various social strata. Additionally, the frequent appearance of place names such as 昆明 (Kūnmíng, Kunming) and 联大 (Liándà, the abbreviation for Southwest Associated University) in his works suggests a profound influence of these experiences on his writing. In contrast, place names appear with significantly lower frequency in SCW’s literary works. Even 湘西 (Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture) ranks only 182nd among the nominal keywords. Ssecond, in terms of verbs, both authors frequently employ cognitive and perceptual verbs such as 以为 (yǐwéi, think), 看到 (kàndào, see), and 觉得 (juéde, feel/think), suggesting a shared narrative strategy that advances the plot through the subjective experiences and internal perceptions of their characters. The frequent use of psychological verbs such as 欢喜 (huānxǐ, like) and 愿意 (yuànyì, willing) in the works of SCW is indicative of an emphasis on inner emotional portrayal, which enhances the lyrical tone of his narrative. However, the key verbs in the writings of WZQ are often related to mundane bodily actions, such 起来 (qǐlái, rise up) and出来 (chūlái, come out), suggesting that he emphasizes the depiction of character actions in his writing, providing his works with a strong sense of everyday life. Finally, the analysis of adjectival keywords enables an exploration of the affective orientation in the writings of both authors. Specifically, the frequent occurrence of adjectives such as 沉默 (chénmò, silent) and 寂寞 (jìmò, lonely) in SCW’s texts reveals a predominant affective tone characterized by introspection and melancholy. This markedly contrasts with the predominantly positive and vibrant emotional coloring conveyed by the adjectival choices in WZQ’s works. This interpretation is consistent with the findings reported by Lei ( 2007 ). In texts by SCW, adjectives such as 幸福 (xìngfú, happy) and 寂寞 (jìmò, lonely) reveal a sustained focus on the emotional interiority of characters, highlighting an introspective and affectively nuanced narrative mode. By contrast, WZQ tends to favor adjectives such as 好吃 (hǎochī, delicious) and 好看 (hǎokàn, beautiful), which are closely linked to quotidian experience and underscore a narrative orientation grounded in everyday life. Taken together, the keyword-based comparison offers a quantitative basis for examining variation in narrative style, emotional tone, and thematic emphasis across the two corpora. Activity, Descriptivity, Nominality. Activity, Descriptivity, and Nominality are widely used indicators in the field of quantitative stylistics research (Zörnig, 2015 ). Chen and Kubát ( 2022 ) emphasize that texts can generally be divided into two categories: static texts (which focus on depicting objects such as landscapes, characters, and places) and more dynamic texts (which focus on the development of the storyline). As shown in Fig. 1 , both authors exhibit similar pattern characteristics across the three stylistic indicators, with the Activity value being the highest, the Nominality value in the middle, and the Descriptivity value the lowest. The consistency in the distribution of these indicators suggests a similarity in their writing styles. Specifically, both authors tend to use high-frequency verbs to create a dynamic narrative rhythm, select moderately conceptualized expressions, and the significantly low Descriptivity value reflects their tendency to use fewer modifying elements. The t-test and Mann-Whitney U test revealed significant differences between the two authors on the three indicators: Activity ( u = 10158.0, z = -3.800, p = 0.00), Descriptivity ( u = 10158.0, z = -3.800, p = 0.00), and Nominality ( t = 9.554, df = 416, p = 0.00). Specifically, the texts of SCW exhibit a higher level of Activity, indicating that SCW frequently uses verbs to create a dynamic narrative rhythm and emphasizes the progression of the storyline, while WZQ shows a higher level of Descriptivity, suggesting that he focuses more on the depiction of landscapes, characters, and places (Chen and Kubát, 2022 ). Figure. 3c shows that the difference in Nominality is more significant, with the average Nominality value in the WZQ corpus (0.529) being higher than that of the SCW corpus (0.482). To investigate the underlying causes of this difference, a more detailed textual analysis was carried out. The three articles with the highest Nominality values in the WZQ corpus are Qingtang Guomian (0.624), Kunming de Hua (0.62), and Diling Renjie Hua Huai’an (0.618). These works all involve the description of local cuisine, flowers, or regional characteristics, requiring the use of numerous nouns to depict specific objects and their features. For example, in Kunming de Hua , WZQ uses nouns such as “leaf,” “ petal,” and “flowering period” to provide detailed descriptions of the types, appearance, color, shape, and growing environment of flowers like “camellia,” “orchid,” and “cherry blossom.” The frequent use of nouns contributes to the increase in the Nominality value in his texts. It is worth noting that, as shown in Fig. 1 a and Fig. 1 b, WZQ exhibits a greater number of outliers, indicating a higher degree of variation in Activity and Descriptivity in his works, which reflects the adaptability and flexibility of WZQ’s linguistic style. In contrast, SCW shows fewer outliers, highlighting the stability and consistency of his linguistic style. Lexical richness. In the extensive practice of quantitative stylistic research, the validity of lexical richness has been thoroughly empirically tested and validated, and it has become an indispensable and important analytical dimension in this field of study (Kubát and Milička 2013 ). However, the majority of lexical richness indicators exhibit length-dependency, meaning that the measurement results are significantly affected by token count, leading to notable fluctuations. Accordingly, this study adopts the Moving-Average Type-Token Ratio (MATTR), a text-length-independent measure of lexical richness proposed by Covington and McFall ( 2010 ). We measured the text in segments by setting different window length parameters (L = 50, 100, 150) and calculated the arithmetic mean of three independent measurements to obtain the lexical richness (MATTR_mean). Both SCW and WZQ exhibit a high level of lexical richness, with MATTR_mean values exceeding 0.7. This result suggests that both authors demonstrate a sophisticated command of language through their varied lexical choices. The lexical richness of SCW (0.752) is slightly higher than the value of WZQ (0.747). Mann-Whitney U test reveals a significant difference in lexical richness between the two authors ( U = 11590.0, Z = -2.347, p = 0.019). The higher lexical richness observed in texts by SCW indicates an ability to employ a more diverse vocabulary for describing objects, conveying emotions, and articulating perspectives. As shown in Fig. 2 , the lexical richness of WZQ exhibits a greater number of outliers, indicating a higher degree of variability in vocabulary usage across his literary works. To investigate this lexical variability in greater depth, we conducted a close analysis of two representative texts. Suo Xiyu demonstrates the highest lexical richness (0.836), whereas Shu Ren exhibits the lowest (0.244). In Suo Xiyu , WZQ creatively integrates Chinese classical poetry into modern prose narrative. He draws on traditional poetry and allusions in his writing, frequently using four-character phrases such 青山倒影 (qīngshān dàoyǐng, reflections of green mountains), 开门见山 (kāimén jiànshān, get straight to the point) and 游目骋怀 (yóumùchěnghuái, enjoying the scenery to one's heart's content) to enhance the rhythmic quality of the text, thereby increasing its lexical richness. However, in Shu Ren , WZQ records the casual conversation between two unfamiliar elderly men. The discourse demonstrates prototypical features of spontaneous spoken interaction, including syntactically loose constructions, limited and repetitive lexical selection, and coherent turn-taking organization. Such characteristics contribute to a vivid simulation of quotidian oral discourse. This stylistic manifestation further substantiates the hybridized linguistic register in WZQ’s writings, characterized by the interplay between classical literary language and vernacular Chinese forms (Gu, 2009). Part-of-Speech (POS). The frequency of POS usage is a key indicator for measuring text style, and its variation can effectively reveal the distinctive features of different authors’ linguistic styles. During the annotation process, certain POS subcategories were consolidated. Specifically, direction nouns (nd), personal names (nh), organization names (ni), location nouns (nl), geographical names (ns), temporal nouns (nt), and other proper nouns (nz) were grouped under the general noun category (n), while numbers (m) and quantities (q) were merged into a single category labeled numbers and quantities (mq). The top nine POS categories from each author’s corpus were selected for statistical comparison. These nine POS categories can be broadly divided into two types. The first type comprises content words, which carry semantic meaning and serve as primary vehicles for conveying information, thus reflecting the informational density of a text. This group includes nouns, verbs, adjectives, numerals and quantities, and pronouns. The second type consists of function words, which do not contribute to the thematic content of the text but instead provide grammatical structure. This category includes adverbs (d), conjunctions (c), auxiliaries (u), and prepositions (p). This classification corresponds to the visual representations shown in Fig. 3 a and Fig. 3 b, respectively. Overall, the percentages of content words in WZQ (74.8%) are higher than those in SCW (72.4%), suggesting that the texts of WZQ contain more information. The analysis using the t-test and Mann-Whitney U test reveals significant differences in the distribution of POS between the two authors, except for auxiliaries. Specifically, SCW uses more frequently than WZQ in terms of verbs ( t = -4.291, df = 154.982, p = 0.00), prepositions ( t = -12.760, df = 175.188, p = 0.00), adjectives ( u = 11021.5, z = -2.924, p = 0.00), conjunctions ( u = 7624.5, z = -6.372, p = 0.00), and pronouns ( u = 6313.0, z = -7.703, p = 0.00). In comparison, WZQ uses more frequently in nouns ( t = 9.468, df = 416, p = 0.00), adjectives ( u = 11021.5, z = -2.924, p = 0.00), numbers and quantities ( u = 7096.500, z = -6.907, p = 0.00). This section offers a close analysis of several key categories of content words. First, the proportion of verbs is higher in the writing of SCW (26.29%) compared to that of WZQ (25.47%), suggesting that the frequent use of verbs by SCW contributes to a more dynamic narrative and a quicker pace of plot development. This finding aligns with the discovery of his high Activity value. In SanSan , SCW vividly portrays the intricate emotional responses of an adolescent girl, who simultaneously experiences repulsion and desire, as well as shyness and curiosity, upon hearing a joke about a marriage proposal. These conflicting emotions are embodied in her physical responses, including 呸 (pēi, bah), 停顿 (tíngdùn, pause), and 跟上前去 (gēn shàng qián qù, catch up with and go forward), all of which dramatize her inner conflict and emerging emotional complexity. Through specific actions and dialogue by the characters, which function as external expressions of psychological states, SCW reveals the abstract dimensions of mental activity and exposes the internal tensions within consciousness. This narrative technique reflects a sustained focus on inner traits and highlights the depth and complexity of internal experience in the writing. Second, WZQ demonstrates a higher overall proportion of nouns (see Fig. 3 a), including directional nouns, proper names, and locative nouns. This suggests a greater focus on setting construction and environmental detail, reflecting WZQ’s stylistic preference for establishing contextual richness and narrative atmosphere. Third, the use of mq is also more prominent in WZQ’s work (8.29%) compared to SCW’s (6.57%). These elements frequently co-occur with concrete nouns and serve to enhance descriptive precision. WZQ’s reliance on specific quantities underscores his attentiveness to sensory detail, particularly in the depiction of objects, characters, and scenes. For instance, in Shou Ba Yangrou , he employs expressions such as 大块 (dàkuài, a big chunk of ), 一手 (yīshǒu, handful), and 一碗 (yīwǎn, a bowl of) to convey the distinctive preparation and consumption rituals of Chinese Mongolian cuisine. These descriptions not only reinforce the materiality of the narrative but also authentically represent cultural specificity. Fourth, WZQ exhibits a higher frequency of adjectives. Adjectives function to delineate the properties, states, and emotional tones of entities within a narrative. The high frequency of adjectives in WZQ’s work underscores his stylistic orientation toward precision and affective richness, especially in descriptive passages involving characters and settings. Finally, pronoun usage is more frequent in SCW’s writing (10.21%) than in WZQ’s (7.18%) (see Fig. 3 a). Pronouns, including demonstrative and personal forms, function anaphorically to reference previously introduced nouns. This usage pattern complements SCW’s lower noun density, suggesting a cohesive strategy that emphasizes textual economy and referential continuity over repetitive nominal expression. Having examined the distribution and stylistic functions of content words, this section proceeds to a detailed analysis of function words, which are widely recognized as linguistic markers of unconscious authorial tendencies and thus serve as critical indicators for profiling writing habits and stylistic patterns (Chung and Pennebaker, 2011 ). The percentage of function word usage in SCW (26.4%) is higher than that in WZQ (23.46%). First, as illustrated in Fig. 3 b, SCW uses adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions more frequently than WZQ, indicating a significant divergence in function word usage between the two authors. Adverbs are primarily used to modify verbs and other content words, and their usage frequency is positively correlated with that of verbs. The higher frequency of adverb usage in SCW aligns with the conclusion that he uses verbs more frequently. The data show that SCW employs prepositions at a significantly higher rate than WZQ, indicating a more literarily sophisticated and rhetorically elaborate style (Zeng and Zhu, 2006 ). In addition, the frequent use of conjunctions in the writing of SCW suggests a stylistic preference for complex sentence structures, as conjunctions primarily serve to link clauses and phrases. This is consistent with the observation by Gao ( 2019 ) that SCW frequently uses parallel constructions, which typically involve multiple coordinated clauses or phrases. The internal cohesion of such structures often relies on conjunctions, which helps explain their elevated frequency in texts written by SCW. Previous research has also noted his distinctive lexical choice within this category. Yan and Su ( 2011 ) observe that SCW habitually replaces disyllabic conjunctions with their monosyllabic counterparts, giving the language a concise, classical charm and enhancing its defamiliarizing effect. For example, SCW tends to favor monosyllabic conjunctions over their disyllabic counterparts. This study analyzes the frequency of the four sets of synonymous conjunctions identified by Yan and Su ( 2011 ). Table 3 presents the results. Table 3 Usage Frequencies of Synonymous Conjunctions in the SCW Corpus 1-Chinese-character words Usage frequency 2-Chinese-character words Usage frequency 若 (ruò, if) 500 如果 (rúguǒ, if) 35 故 (gù, therefore) 266 所以 (suǒyǐ, therefore) 642 且 (qiě, and) 726 而且 (érqiě, and) 102 或 (huò, or) 463 或者 (huòzhě, or) 297 Total 1955 Total 1076 As shown in Table 3 , SCW uses the disyllabic conjunction 所以 (suǒyǐ, therefore) with significantly greater frequency than its synonymous monosyllabic counterpart 故 (gù, therefore), a finding that diverges from the results reported by Yan and Su ( 2011 ). This discrepancy may be attributed to divergences in corpus selection and analytical methodology between the present study and Yan and Su ( 2011 ). While their investigation was confined to a single excerpt from Bian Cheng , it lacked a comprehensive, large-scale quantitative analysis across SCW’s broader oeuvre. However, when considering the overall frequency statistics of the four sets of synonymous conjunctions examined in this study, SCW still demonstrates a clear preference for monosyllabic forms, which are more characteristic of classical Chinese. Classical Chinese is marked by its linguistic economy, often conveying profound meanings with minimal lexical material, thereby achieving a rhetorical effect of brevity and depth. SCW draws upon this stylistic principle by integrating the concise features of classical function words into his vernacular prose, producing a seamless synthesis of classical elegance and modern grammatical structure. This distinctive usage not only contributes to SCW’s refined and literarily sophisticated style but also generates a defamiliarization effect that enhances the aesthetic impact of his writing. Distribution of Word Length. In Chinese, word length typically refers to the number of characters contained in a word. This study primarily analyzes the usage differences between the two authors in terms of 1-character words, 2-character words, 3-character words, and 4-character words in their literary texts, see Figure. 4. The t-test and Mann-Whitney U test revealed significant correlations in the usage of 1-character words ( t = 3.060, df = 416, p = 0.002), 2-character words ( u = 6201.0, z = -7.816, p = 0.00), 3-character words ( t = 12.378, df = 416, p = 0.000), and 4-character words ( u = 5582.5, z = -8.444, p = 0.00) between the two authors. As shown in Fig. 4 , the percentage of 2-character words is higher in SCW (38.43%) than in WZQ (34.06%). However, the percentages of 1-character words, 3-character words, and 4-character words are significantly higher in WZQ than in SCW. Zhang ( 2024 ) conducted a systematic study of modern Chinese vocabulary, indicating that the average word length for nouns, adjectives, and verbs is closest to disyllabic words, while the average word length for exclamations, auxiliaries, and quantities is closer to monosyllabic words. The percentages of quantities show that SCW’s proportion is 2.37%, while WZQ’s proportion is 3.42%. Based on the statistical analysis presented in Fig. 3 , it can be observed that the distribution of words with an average word length close to disyllabic categories (such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives) in SCW texts is 55.53%, which is significantly higher than WZQ’s 33.78%. On the other hand, in terms of words with an average word length closer to monosyllabic categories (such as auxiliaries and quantities), WZQ usage is 12.89%, surpassing SCW usage is 11.83%. In summary, these findings suggest that differences in part-of-speech distribution between the two authors may account for their divergent patterns in the usage of one- and two-character words. Additionally, WZQ’s higher proportion of 3-character words can be attributed to his frequent use of dialectal and colloquial vocabulary. A closer examination of the corpus reveals numerous regionally flavored expressions, such as 一转子 (yī zhuànzǐ, a while), 鞋头花 (xiétóuhua, decorative shoelace), and 土坷垃 (tǔgēlā, clod of earth), alongside colloquial terms like 老丈母 (lǎozhàngmǔ, informal for mother-in-law) and 咯吱窝 (gēzhiwō, armpit). These lexical choices imbue WZQ’s writing with a vivid sense of daily life and a distinctly rural tone, underscoring his stylistic preference for colloquial expression. Furthermore, four-character words (especially idioms and fixed expressions) typically have stable structures and rich cultural connotations in the Chinese lexical system, enabling them to convey complex meanings in a highly condensed manner. The frequent use of 4-character words by WZQ reflects the incorporation of allusions in his works, highlighting the essence of classical Chinese literature (Liu, 2015 ). PCA results. The literary style characteristics of the two authors are analyzed through dimensionality reduction and visualization using PCA, in Fig. 5 . A total of 18 indicators were selected as input variables for the analysis, including Activity, Descriptivity, Nominality, Lexical Richness, Word Length Distribution, and Part-of-Speech Distribution. The first principal component (PC1) and the second principal component (PC2) jointly account for 42.2% of the total variance, with PC1 explaining 25.1% and PC2 explaining 17.1%. As illustrated in Fig. 5 , the textual distributions of SCW (the yellow region) and WZQ (the blue region) reveal both areas of overlap and distinct separation. The overlapping regions suggest shared linguistic features between the two authors, whereas the distinct clusters indicate stylistic divergences that are characteristic of each author’s individual writing style. The PC1 dimension is primarily associated with positive correlations in descriptivity, nominality, and the distribution of four-character and three-character words. Negatively correlated features include activity, pronoun usage rate, and the distribution of one-character words. In this dimension, the SCW samples are primarily concentrated on the left side of the axis, while the samples of WZQ are distributed on both sides, with a higher concentration on the right. This suggests that the linguistic style of SCW is more inclined towards dynamic scene narration, whereas WZQ tends to favor static descriptive narration. The PC2 dimension primarily reflects variations in language formality and complexity, as well as differences in conciseness and the degree of colloquialism. In this dimension, the SCW samples are primarily concentrated above the axis, while the samples of WZQ are scattered on both the upper and lower sides, with a greater concentration at the bottom. The distributional differences in this dimension suggest that SCW tends to adopt a more complex and ornate literary style, whereas WZQ favors a simpler, more natural, and colloquial expression. Moreover, the elliptic distribution patterns of the two data sets suggest a centralized linguistic style and lower stylistic variability in the works authored by SCW. In contrast, the broader and more dispersed distribution observed in the texts produced by WZQ indicates higher stylistic diversity and greater creative flexibility. This observation may also account for the limited effectiveness of the method employed by Hou and Huang ( 2020 ), which utilized word-final tone patterns, segment-final tone patterns, and word length motifs to represent textual features when attempting to distinguish literary texts written by WZQ. The relatively low degree of internal stylistic consistency within the WZQ text corpus suggests considerable variation in linguistic features across different creative periods and thematic domains, thereby reducing the reliability of such features for text classification or authorship identification. Conclusion This study employs a range of lexical quantitative indicators, including keywords, activity, nominality, descriptivity, lexical richness, word length distribution, and part-of-speech (POS) patterns, to investigate the stylistic similarities and differences in the literary language of SCW and WZQ, a master-disciple pair in the Beijing school of modern Chinese literature. The analysis reveals that while their linguistic styles reflect a clear lineage of stylistic inheritance, they also demonstrate distinct individual characteristics in literary expression. In terms of stylistic inheritance, SCW and WZQ, as representative authors of the Beijing School, continue the tradition of celebrating pure human nature and sincere human emotions in their literary themes. Through nuanced depictions of ordinary daily life, rural memory, and the inner world of intellectuals, both authors exemplify the Beijing School’s characteristic humanistic ethos and aesthetic aspirations. Second, their stylistic profiles exhibit notable convergence across the dimensions of Activity, Nominality, and Descriptivity, manifested in high Activity scores, moderate Nominality, and relatively low Descriptivity. These shared stylistic features reflect a common tendency toward dynamic narrative progression, economical language use, and a selective integration of descriptive elements focused on setting and character portrayal. Moreover, both authors demonstrate a high level of lexical sophistication, as indicated by mean MATTR values exceeding 0.7, which reflects their literary competence. Their pursuit of defamiliarization through deviation from conventional linguistic patterns further contributes to a novel and engaging reading experience. Finally, both SCW and WZQ inherit the classical aesthetic orientation of the Beijing School. Their writing consistently incorporates Chinese traditional literary techniques, endowing their texts with a distinctive classical aesthetic and stylistic elegance. Despite their shared literary lineage, SCW and WZQ also exhibit marked differences in their literary linguistic styles, stemming from variations in personal experience, literary philosophy, and historical context. To begin with, while both authors continue the Beijing School tradition of exploring human nature and emotions, they differ in their focus on character construction. SCW primarily concentrates on women and youth, with an emphasis on the psychological and spiritual dimensions of the characters. In contrast, WZQ tends to center his narratives on ordinary people, engaging with a broader thematic spectrum and offering a more diversified portrayal of mundane life. Second, although the two authors display a high degree of consistency in the overall distribution patterns of Activity, Descriptivity, and Nominality, notable differences still exist in the specific values of these indicators. Specifically, SCW places greater emphasis on dynamic narrative progression, as evidenced by his higher Activity scores, reflecting a stronger focus on plot development. WZQ, by comparison, places greater emphasis on static scene description, as indicated by his higher Descriptivity scores, frequently employing adjectives and quantities to enhance textual detail and vividness. As far as linguistic strategies for defamiliarization are concerned, the two authors also exhibit distinct differences. SCW tends to use classical Chinese 1-character words to convey the essence of classical literature, striving for a style where brevity leads to boundless meaning. His continuation of classical Chinese linguistic characters, along with the frequent use of prepositions and conjunctions, collectively constructs a formal, rigorous, and intricate linguistic style. WZQ adopts a different approach by blending poetic allusions with colloquial expressions. The rhythmic cadence of 4-character phrases intertwines with the earthy tones of dialect and slang, producing a distinctive linguistic style that seamlessly blends classical and vernacular elements while balancing elegance with simplicity (Peng, 2019 ). Finally, the stylistic tendencies of WZQ exhibit greater variability, while those of SCW reflect higher stability and internal consistency. Whereas previous studies primarily relied on introspective methods to compare the linguistic styles of SCW and WZQ, the present study approaches the comparison from the perspective of their master-disciple relationship. By combining distant reading with close reading, it examines both the commonalities and differences in their literary works and provides a quantitative foundation for the comparative analysis of stylistic variation across generations of authors. It is important to recognize that stylistic features are multidimensional. Future research could further compare the two writers across multiple dimensions such as syntax, semantics, and emotional tone, in order to better distinguish between texts produced by authors within a master-disciple relationship or those belonging to the same literary school. Declarations Ethical Approval This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors. Informed Consent This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors. Author Contribution JB (Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis Investigation, Resources, Software, Validation, Visualization, Methodology, Writing—original draft)Xl Wang (Conceptualization, Supervision, Software, Project administration, Methodology, Writing—review and editing) Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by a national scholarship for doctoral studies. Data Availability The SCW and WZQ literary corpora generated during this study are not publicly available due to copyright and intellectual property considerations but are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. References Binongo, JNG, Smith, MWA (1999) The application of principal component analysis to stylometry.Lit Linguist Comput 14(4):445-466 Brooke J, Hammond A, Hirst G (2017) Using models of lexical style to quantify free indirect discourse in modernist fiction. Digit Scholarsh Humanit 32(2):234-250 Che W, Feng Y, Qin L, Liu T (2020) N-LTP: An open-source neural language technology platform for Chinese. arXiv preprint arXiv:2009.11616 Chen X, Kubát M (2022) Rural versus urban fiction in contemporary Chinese literature-Quantitative approach case study. Digit Scholarsh Humanit 37(3):681-692 Chung C, Pennebaker J (2011) The psychological functions of function words. In: Social communication. Psychology Press, p 343–359 Covington MA, McFall JD (2010) Cutting the Gordian knot: The moving-average type–token ratio (MATTR). J Quant Linguist 17(2):94–100 Fang Y, Liu H (2023) Seeing various adventures through a mirror: Detecting translator’s stylistic visibility in Chinese translations of Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland. Digit Scholarsh Humanit 38(1):50–65 Gao ZM (2019) Corpus stylistics and Chinese literary discourses: A comparative study of four novels by Shen Congwen and Chang Eileen. In: The routledge handbook of Chinese discourse analysis. Routledge, p 519–535 Herrmann B, van Dalen-Oskam K, Schöch C (2015) Revisiting style, a key concept in literary studies. J Lit Theory 9(1):25–52 Holmes TJ (1998) The effect of state policies on the location of manufacturing: Evidence from state borders.J Polit Econ 106(4):667–705 Hoover DL (2003) Multivariate analysis and the study of style variation. Lit Linguist Comput 18(4):341–360 Hou R, Huang CR (2020) Robust stylometric analysis and author attribution based on tones and rimes. Nat Lang Eng 26(1):49–71 Hou R, Jiang M (2016) Analysis on Chinese quantitative stylistic features based on text mining. Digit Scholarsh Humanit 31(2):357–367 Hu Y, He Q (2022) A Corpus-Driven Study of the Style Variation in The Grapes of Wrath. Glottometrics 52 Huang W, Liu HT (2009) Application of quantitative characteristics of Chinese genres in text clustering [in Chinese]. Comput Eng Appl 45(29):25-27 Hui H (2023) What can digital humanities do for literary adaptation studies: distant reading of children’s editions of Robinson Crusoe.Digit Scholarsh Humanit 38(4):1564–1576 Kubát M, Milička J (2013) Vocabulary richness measure in genres. J Quant Linguist 20(4):339–359 Lei M (2007) Homodirectional Discrepancies in Poetic Rural Writing: A Comparison of Shen Congwen's and Wang Zengqi's Rural Novels [in Chinese]. J China Univ Pet (Ed Soc Sci) 5:89–92 Li ZG, Li DX (2023) Non-Communicative Intergenerational Inheritance Among Modern and Contemporary Chinese Writers: A Case Study of Shen Congwen and Wang Zengqi [in Chinese]. Jiangxi Soc Sci 43(7):150–157 Lin, CR (2015) Wang Zengqi and the Modernization of the Chinese Language [in Chinese]. Lit Art Crit 3:58–60. Liu X (2015) From Literati Ideology to Connecting Literary History: An Analysis of Wang Zengqi’s Novelistic Language Patterns [in Chinese]. Chin J Lit Crit 3:42–50+126 Liu Y, Xiao T (2020) A stylistic analysis for Gu Long’s Kung Fu novels. J Quant Linguist 27(1):32–61 McIntyre D, Walker B (2022) Using corpus linguistics to explore the language of poetry: a stylometric approach to Yeats' poems.In: The Routledge Handbook of Corpus Linguistics. Routledge, p 499–516 Peng L (2019) Language ideologies in early history of modern Mandarin: A study of Shen Congwen's minor literature. J Linguist Anthropol 29(3):417–435 Shklovsky V (1917) Art as technique. Lit Theory Anthol 3:8–14 Spärck Jones K (1972) A statistical interpretation of term specificity and its application in retrieval. J Doc 28(1):11–21 Shen CW (1985) Shen Congwen’s Speech at Jishou University [in Chinese]. J Jishou Univ (Soc Sci Ed) 3:1–5 Tai Y (2003) The Comparison between the Styles of Creation of Shen Congwen and Wang Zengqi [in Chinese]. J Jiangsu Second Norm Univ 3:75–79 Xia YT (1990) Melancholy Ethereality and Bright Unrestraint: A Stylistic Comparison of Novels by Shen Congwen and Wang Zengqi [in Chinese]. Res Chin Lit 4:75–80+112 Xiao J (2013) Nature, woman and lyrical ambiguity in Shen Congwen's writing. Rocky Mt Rev 67(1):41–60 Yildirim O, Can F (2024) A quantitative style analysis of four Turkish authors: Changes over time, and differences. J Quant Linguist 31(4):353–384 Yan N, Su K (2011) On the defamiliarization of language in The Border Town [in Chinese]. J Dalian Univ 4:38–42 Zeng YP, Zhu XW (2006) Application of computational methods to the study of stylistics in China [in Chinese]. J Univ Chin Acad Soc Sci 44(5):64–80+158+161 Zhang YW (2024) Quantitative analysis of word classes, word lengths and word meanings in modern Chinese [in Chinese]. J Univ Chin Acad Soc Sci 44(5):64–80+158+161 Zörnig P, Kelih E (2015) Descriptiveness, activity and nominality in formalized text sequences. J Quant Linguist 22(1):1–31 Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 21 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 15 Dec, 2025 Reviews received at journal 22 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 22 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 14 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Oct, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 10 Oct, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 07 Oct, 2025 Editor invited by journal 07 Oct, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 30 Sep, 2025 First submitted to journal 30 Sep, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7557501","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":533646946,"identity":"ee34a953-e3b6-4d20-8e07-2cc86d723fa8","order_by":0,"name":"jie bai","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"College of Chinese Language and Culture, Jinan University,","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"jie","middleName":"","lastName":"bai","suffix":""},{"id":533646947,"identity":"07da4c44-8e97-45d2-84f2-e4b2ca515209","order_by":1,"name":"xuelin wang","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABCklEQVRIie3PPUvEMBjA8ZZCppxzxEO/QqDwgFB6H8QlIRCXqpvccENd4uhaP4SrcyBwLvW6Fm65zt7Qw9mX527SIb0bBfOn0ASeX9JGUSj0hxuTKLG2n2a4ju/sIYSSiMiuqvWWlIcRfNJ0ZNxuN0j4y6t7G5mMHp2UwChp8qd7h7fMsgsvqa/1+aPRlIytZowu1XMtkcz1VekhYAvgG+MoYWLOOFsqsEji0vlJswYuzRcSaZjgCwVNt4e0RbraGItEJdwKm0O755ZJu4a4WigkOsbjlYAWX2LgX44fivSd3uanZ9VN7z4+8wk0l92qn2VeghH2cyd3k8I/vi3pf33p8HAoFAr9x74BX2tkXkXBjYEAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"College of Chinese Language and Culture, Jinan University,","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"xuelin","middleName":"","lastName":"wang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-09-07 16:08:15","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7557501/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7557501/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-07300-1","type":"published","date":"2026-04-21T15:59:04+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":94362513,"identity":"d3b8125c-9778-4fc2-8ad8-6b32ef92df7d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:05:10","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":772486,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Figure1.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/063ac28dfb11e907a1eee37c.docx"},{"id":94362563,"identity":"c1616171-2578-48cc-846b-bdc62ec4c0ad","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:05:12","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":65286,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"humanitiessocialsciencescommunication.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/b150c851b2efb4c7eb8cad4a.docx"},{"id":94361793,"identity":"fe088dba-1055-438c-864a-950c954309c4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:04:27","extension":"docx","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":18079,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Figure2.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/fd6fe36564dd61670f58bc1a.docx"},{"id":94362613,"identity":"0bd4df80-a1cd-4a4d-95fe-4927ae80f00a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:05:18","extension":"docx","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":1135555,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Figure3.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/035c618c3f01925a01533da7.docx"},{"id":94362031,"identity":"c65258b1-a887-40c1-8ccf-c7a86e131ea3","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:04:43","extension":"docx","order_by":4,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":18244,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Figure4.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/90f29b9107588e0502623fb0.docx"},{"id":94362678,"identity":"53364c06-c1fb-4521-b2c1-720a6ad35d53","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:05:19","extension":"docx","order_by":5,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":81956,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Figure5.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/72dc963566293243e93d5972.docx"},{"id":94361913,"identity":"cddc17a5-2e55-4ade-8295-e7b90475c15e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:04:34","extension":"json","order_by":6,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":4346,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ccbb39a1fd6f481db142e7dcd4d750c0.json","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/9e38d64a3675f7ba4edf5928.json"},{"id":94362585,"identity":"b08c968a-dac4-48ca-8567-438cd1ee4682","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:05:16","extension":"xml","order_by":7,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":114849,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ccbb39a1fd6f481db142e7dcd4d750c01enriched.xml","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/8fdf328ca0446844d85bfc58.xml"},{"id":94361737,"identity":"39433e23-4af8-4f08-8728-d492590d3898","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:04:22","extension":"png","order_by":8,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":759403,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/1b598f37d7ed398a586f5bc3.png"},{"id":94362588,"identity":"def81f1a-980a-49da-8af9-c6b496f7d9fb","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:05:16","extension":"emf","order_by":9,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":29000,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage2.emf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/4b4a88bbed7f94494e86c8d8.emf"},{"id":94362380,"identity":"1ad91565-da0b-4eff-8a02-d719148a2872","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:05:04","extension":"png","order_by":10,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":1122411,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/dc1600e8f08c5935aae7d788.png"},{"id":94362565,"identity":"06af0c91-fd2d-4244-8e1c-ea7bc869783c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:05:12","extension":"emf","order_by":11,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":45088,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage4.emf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/0cd2515f57efeb42d8d429b3.emf"},{"id":94362331,"identity":"b611a85c-871a-478e-9fdc-88ff399f7bbc","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:05:00","extension":"emf","order_by":12,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":207772,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage5.emf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/3b20ac7f78d8c60589fdc4b7.emf"},{"id":94361739,"identity":"813e5d04-06c1-4c86-a89b-018b78986f8a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:04:22","extension":"png","order_by":13,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":3883,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/8ac4befbe61e51849c3dad63.png"},{"id":94362223,"identity":"782fa158-84e3-4a87-8209-1924a4dfe09a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:04:53","extension":"png","order_by":14,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":14763,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/fec5dc10c973b00c87e4df03.png"},{"id":94361915,"identity":"26bf2639-90cc-4f05-9c70-a2684ac76ca2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:04:35","extension":"png","order_by":15,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":5781,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/14f163e1313bf5fe95b76bb0.png"},{"id":94362564,"identity":"4dfe7188-bfa7-40dd-bd23-9c361724e49b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:05:12","extension":"png","order_by":16,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":28135,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/42d5ffb07b992e5552422e15.png"},{"id":94362785,"identity":"b507d910-cafd-41ba-b06c-0e455b40195b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:05:28","extension":"png","order_by":17,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":29795,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/89b9e73530f421f3bd3d0624.png"},{"id":94361924,"identity":"c43fd6c6-3704-4e5b-9bf9-92d9340488b9","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:04:36","extension":"xml","order_by":18,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":112962,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ccbb39a1fd6f481db142e7dcd4d750c01structuring.xml","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/262621a013375c6f6efedb4d.xml"},{"id":94362333,"identity":"085ea89a-8a68-4649-88db-c488736e8ed3","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:05:00","extension":"html","order_by":19,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":116811,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"earlyproof.html","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/cd99416d63a29adcedc9b025.html"},{"id":94362612,"identity":"570cbdd3-6eb5-4ea1-89a1-b5b4279b0f63","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:05:17","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":7713,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eBoxplot of Activity, Descriptivity, Nominality values in SCW and WZQ corpora. Figures 1(a), 1(b), and 1(c) respectively present the Activity, Descriptivity, and Nominality values observed in the SCW and WZQ corpora (SCW works = 83; WZQ works = 335).\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/b16b8584c0850c15306bcf12.png"},{"id":94362899,"identity":"8f8243e8-5e28-4c12-bf72-9f348e63e7ec","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:05:37","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":4811,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eBoxplot of MATTR_mean values in SCW and WZQ corpora (SCW works = 83; WZQ works = 335).\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/2b5dafe45f4e56b665a6280b.png"},{"id":94361725,"identity":"829da2e7-bbc6-451d-bc51-e5cb39ecdcc1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:04:22","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":9364,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eDistribution of Contend Words and Function Words in SCW and WZQ corpora. Figure 3(a) illustrates the proportions of content words, including nouns (n), verbs (v), adjectives (a), measure–quantifiers (mq), and pronouns (r) in the SCW and WZQ corpora,while Figure 3(b) presents the proportions of function words including adverbs (d), conjunctions (c), auxiliaries (u), and prepositions (p) — in the same corpora (SCW works =83, WZQ works = 335).\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/bdfe571e40b71b00712b3446.png"},{"id":94362885,"identity":"d02ea632-c3f0-4e66-950a-42941e6fa801","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:05:35","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":8340,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eDistribution of Word Length in SCW and WZQ corpora \u0026nbsp;(SCW works =83, WZQ works = 335).\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/0f10af16661142dbdba21462.png"},{"id":94361635,"identity":"e47a91aa-d895-4882-8c43-1126f21c0b4c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-27 13:04:17","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":17536,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eThe results of PCA. Figure 5 presents a visualization of the textual style analysis of the two authors \u0026nbsp;(SCW works =83, WZQ works = 335) .\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/ea73105c263844358b14271a.png"},{"id":107928479,"identity":"2c79a58d-d494-464c-a997-3ed4893b8be5","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-27 16:11:00","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":460522,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7557501/v1/e1cb868d-e128-4ec1-9162-cdf462aaa4d7.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"A Stylometric Analysis of Chinese Literary Inheritance and Divergence: Evidence from Shen Congwen and Wang Zengqi","fulltext":[{"header":"Introuduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eLiterature is fundamentally an art of language, with its aesthetic value realized through linguistic expression. Linguistic style has become an important perspective for literary analysis (Yildirim and Can, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Traditionally, stylistic research has relied on qualitative methods, employing close reading and case studies to explore the distinctive features and literary qualities of an author\u0026rsquo; s style. However, such qualitative approaches are often influenced by subjective interpretation, and the resulting findings tend to lack objective scientific validation, making it difficult to generate systematic and replicable results.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlthough the definition of style remains a topic of ongoing debate (Fang and Liu, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e), the rise of digital humanities has introduced new methodological possibilities through quantitative stylistics. In the context of quantitative stylistics, style is defined as \u0026ldquo;a property of texts constituted by an ensemble of formal features which can be observed quantitatively or qualitatively\u0026rdquo; (Herrmann et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e). Stylometry offers a data-driven, objective, and replicable approach to the study of linguistic style in literary texts, enabling researchers to revisit longstanding literary questions with enhanced analytical rigor (Holmes, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1998\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWithin the broader tradition of modern Chinese literature, authors connected through master-disciple relationships or aligned with the same literary communities often demonstrate convergent stylistic tendencies and linguistic preferences (Li and Li, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). The Beijing School, which emerged in the 1930s, represents a significant literary movement shaped by specific regional contexts and historical-cultural influences. Shen Congwen (SCW) and Wang Zengqi (WZQ) are widely recognized as pivotal figures in both modern Chinese literature and the Beijing School tradition. Both SCW and WZQ inherited the aesthetic values associated with the Beijing School, particularly in their shared emphasis on portraying human nature and emotional depth. WZQ formally studied under SCW, and his literary development was profoundly shaped by this master-disciple relationship. He repeatedly acknowledged influence of SCW on his creative style. The shared literary lineage and master-disciple relationship between SCW and WZQ provide a solid basis for comparative analysis. Their writing styles are often described as \u0026ldquo;seemingly plain but emotionally resonant\u0026rdquo; (Tai, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e). However, due to differences in personal experience, psychological disposition, and the cultural context of their respective eras, their use of language, narrative perspective, and approaches to character construction reveal both similarities and divergences (Xia, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1990\u003c/span\u003e). According to James (2012), literary innovation and inheritance can be understood as a dynamic interplay rather than a static process of replication. This interplay is not limited to English literary traditions, and the present study brings a case from modern Chinese literature into this broader theoretical discussion.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe stylistic convergences and divergences observed within the well-defined master-disciple relationship between SCW and WZQ prompt important questions regarding the linguistic realization of literary inheritance. However, such stylistic dynamics have rarely been examined through systematic, data-driven methodologies. This study takes the master-disciple relationship as its contextual foundation and applies quantitative stylistic methods to investigate potential stylistic similarities and differences in the literary texts of SCW and WZQ. Our contribution lies in providing new empirical evidence that literary inheritance is not a static process of imitation, but rather a dynamic interplay between inheritance and innovation. This finding not only offers literary scholars a fresh interpretive perspective for close reading of the works of SCW and WZQ but also extends the methodological scope of stylometric research by demonstrating how quantitative approaches can capture both continuity and divergence in literary style, thereby inspiring new interdisciplinary pathways for literary analysis.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Literature review","content":"\u003cp\u003eResearch in quantitative stylistics has yielded substantial results, with its core objective being the analysis of textual stylistic features through quantitative indicators. These features span multiple linguistic levels, including phonological, lexical, syntactic, and even discourse-level dimensions. Of these linguistic dimensions, lexical features have received the most extensive scholarly attention and constitute the most fully developed area within the field. The lexical feature system typically includes a range of indicators, such as keywords (Hui, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e), lexical richness (Kub\u0026aacute;t and Milička, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e), activity, descriptivity, nominality (Z\u0026ouml;rnig et al., 2015), distribution of word length (Liu and Xiao, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e), part-of-speech composition (Hou and Jiang, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e), content words (Huang and Liu, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e), and function words (Binongo and Smith, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1999\u003c/span\u003e). Each type of lexical indicator captures a distinct dimension of linguistic style, and together they constitute a multidimensional framework for the stylistic analysis of literary works.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere are multiple research perspectives on quantitative stylistics within literary studies. One approach involves the static description of an individual author\u0026rsquo;s style, aiming to uncover the distinctive stylistic features embedded in their works (Yildirim and Can, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Another adopts a diachronic perspective, focusing on how an author\u0026rsquo;s stylistic patterns evolve over time (McIntyre and Walker, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). In addition to author-centered research, substantial progress has also been made in examining the stylistic characteristics of specific literary schools (Brooke et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e), conducting comparative analyses across different literary traditions (Chen and Kub\u0026aacute;t, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e), and exploring stylistic variation among multiple authors (Yildirim and Can, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn recent years, research in quantitative stylistics has undergone notable methodological expansion, with scholars gradually shifting from traditional statistical approaches to more advanced multivariate analysis techniques (MVA), including principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical clustering, and random forest methods (Hoover, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSCW began publishing literary works in 1924, with the 1930s marking the most prolific and mature period of his writing career (Peng, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). WZQ published his first book in the 1940s, but it was not until the 1980s that he gained widespread acclaim. The literary talent, stylistic achievements, and artistic accomplishments of both Shen and Wang have long been recognized by scholars (Xiao, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eScholarly attention to SCW and WZQ has remained consistent, particularly in the domain of qualitative literary analysis, where numerous studies have explored the stylistic convergences and divergences between the two authors (Xia, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1990\u003c/span\u003e). From an aesthetic standpoint, texts of SCW are characterized by a somber and weighty melancholia, whereas texts of WZQ radiate a gentle, temperate optimism (Lei, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e). In terms of compositional style, Gao (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e) observes that SCW frequently employs repetition and parallel structures in his literary works to enhance their literary expressiveness. His linguistic style is deeply influenced by classical Chinese poetics, contributing to a distinctively traditional literary ethos (Peng, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). In contrast, WZQ demonstrates a particular aptitude for portraying the mundane details of daily life in a succinct and restrained manner, resulting in texts that are closely aligned with everyday reality and characterized by an understated, unpretentious tone. As Liu (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e) notes in his analysis of \u003cem\u003eShou Jie\u003c/em\u003e, WZQ often adopts rhythmic units of five or three-to-four characters, evoking the cadence and tonal balance of classical Chinese verse. More broadly, WZQ\u0026rsquo;s literary texts display a unique linguistic style that synthesizes both colloquial and classical elements. (Lin, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e). Notably, both authors develop innovative discursive strategies to achieve defamiliarization (Shklovsky, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1917\u003c/span\u003e: 9). However, their approaches to defamiliarization at the linguistic level diverge in notable ways. Yan and Su (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e) observe that in \u003cem\u003eBian Cheng\u003c/em\u003e, SCW often replaces disyllabic words or compound syntactic constructions with monosyllabic expressions. This strategy not only enhances linguistic conciseness and clarity but also aligns with the restrained and implicit aesthetic characteristic of classical Chinese prose, thereby achieving a defamiliarizing stylistic effect. By contrast, WZQ excels in achieving defamiliarization through the inventive blending of colloquial language, folk expressions, and classical literary forms, thereby constructing a hybrid linguistic style that disrupts readers\u0026rsquo; conventional expectations and enhances the aesthetic estrangement effect (Liu, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom a quantitative perspective, Hou and Huang (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e) analyze the linguistic styles of SCW and WZQ, but their study primarily focuses on phonological features. It notes the difficulty of identifying texts of WZQ using word-final and segment-final tone motifs and word length motifs to represent the textsone motifs and word length motifs. However, it does not provide a deeper exploration of the underlying reasons for this phenomenon. As the study encompasses multiple authors and centers primarily on text style recognition, it does not offer a focused quantitative analysis of the stylistic features of SCW and WZQ within the framework of their master-disciple relationship. Consequently, while the findings offer some interpretive value, they remain insufficient to support a comprehensive empirical understanding of stylistic inheritance and divergence between the two authors.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn general, existing studies on the linguistic styles of SCW and WZQ are largely grounded in subjective impressions or introspective interpretations. While such approaches reflect a high degree of literary sensitivity, they often lack empirical validation, which limits the generalizability of their conclusions. Moreover, most of these studies are based on a narrow selection of texts or excerpts, without engaging with a broader and more representative range of the authors\u0026rsquo; works, thereby lacking support from large-scale empirical data. In light of the limitations of previous research, this study adopts a quantitative stylistic approach by integrating multidimensional lexical indicators to investigate similarities and differences in the linguistic styles of SCW and WZQ. The specific research questions are:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRQ1: Which stylometric indicators can most effectively differentiate the literary works of SCW and WZQ?\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRQ2: Can principal component analysis reveal clustering and distinguishing patterns in the overall stylistic features of the two authors\u0026rsquo; writings?\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRQ3: Within the framework of literary lineage, in what specific linguistic features are inheritance and innovation manifested between SCW and WZQ?\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMaterial\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe selection of corpus materials is a critical methodological consideration in stylistic analysis, as it directly influences the representativeness and validity of the findings. This study concentrates on fiction and prose, two genres widely recognized as core literary registers.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAccording to SCW\u0026rsquo;s autobiography (SCW 1985), his creative period can be categorized into three stages, which cover the periods 1924 to 1929, 1930 to 1935, and 1936 to 1949. Representative works such as \u003cem\u003eBian Cheng, Xiao Xiao\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eXiang Xing San Ji\u003c/em\u003e were all written during the 1930\u0026ndash;1935 period. Therefore, this study selects all of SCW\u0026rsquo;s novels and prose from this period to construct a literary corpus of his works. WZQ\u0026rsquo;s literary output is divided into three distinct phases, with the 1980s representing the peak of his creative career. Works such as \u003cem\u003eShou Jie\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eDa Nao Ji Shi\u003c/em\u003e were written during this time. Accordingly, this study selects all of WZQ\u0026rsquo;s novels and prose from the 1980s to build a corresponding literary corpus. Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e presents the basic information of the corpora.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBasic Information of the Corpus\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAuthor\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eWorks Number\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eToken Number\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSCW\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e83\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e583,055\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eWZQ\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e335\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e556,743\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e418\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1,139,798\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe collected texts underwent cleaning, manual proofreading, word segmentation, and part-of-speech tagging. Given that elements such as the publication information, table of contents, and epigraphs differ significantly from the main text in terms of linguistic features and textual structure, they were excluded from the analysis. Word segmentation and part-of-speech tagging were conducted using the LTP 4.0 Base2 model developed by the Harbin Institute of Technology (Che et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Methods","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe lexical metrics examined in this study include lexical richness, descriptivity, activity, nominality, keyword extraction, word length distribution, and part-of-speech distribution. To ensure the statistical validity of the correlation analysis, normality tests were conducted for each variable prior to the correlation procedures. Specifically, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test and the Shapiro-Wilk test were employed. Variables were considered to follow a normal distribution if the p-values in both tests exceeded 0.05, in which case independent samples t-tests were used for group comparisons. For variables that did not meet the assumption of normality, the Mann-Whitney U test was applied. In addition, this study employed PCA, a commonly used statistical method for dimensionality reduction, which transforms a set of potentially correlated variables into a set of linearly independent new variables through orthogonal transformation.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eKeywords.\u003c/b\u003e Compared to high-frequency words in statistical text analysis, keywords more effectively capture the core semantic content of a text, thereby revealing the author\u0026rsquo;s distinct thematic preferences and content orientation in writing (Hu and He, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). This study employs TF-IDF (Sparck Jones, 1972) to extract keywords from the two corpora. Based on the research objectives, we selected the top 20 nouns, verbs, and adjectives for analysis (see Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eKeywords in the corpora of SCW and WZQ\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePOS\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSCW\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eWZQ\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e女人 (nǚr\u0026eacute;n, woman)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e先生 (xiānsheng, Mr.)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e男子 (n\u0026aacute;nzǐ, man)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e昆明 (Kūnm\u0026iacute;ng, Kunming)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e女子 (nǚzǐ, girl)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e北京 (Běijīng, Beijing)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e妇人 (f\u0026ugrave;r\u0026eacute;n, married woman)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e学生 (xu\u0026eacute;sheng, student)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e事情 (sh\u0026igrave;q\u0026iacute;ng, thing)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e现在 (xi\u0026agrave;nz\u0026agrave;i, now)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e地方 (d\u0026igrave;fang, place)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e中国 (Zhōnggu\u0026oacute;, China)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e朋友 (p\u0026eacute;ngyou, friend)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e父亲 (f\u0026ugrave;qīn, father)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e国王 (gu\u0026oacute;w\u0026aacute;ng, king)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e同学 (t\u0026oacute;ngxu\u0026eacute;, classmate)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e先生(xiānsheng, Mr.)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e地方 (d\u0026igrave;fang, place)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003enoun\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e年青人 (ni\u0026aacute;nqīngr\u0026eacute;n, youth)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e后来 (h\u0026ograve;ul\u0026aacute;i, later on)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e声音 (shēngyīn, sound)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e孩子 (h\u0026aacute;izi, child)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e东西 (dōngxi, thing)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e小说 (xiǎoshuō, novel)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e情形 (q\u0026iacute;ngx\u0026iacute;ng, situation)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e联大 (Li\u0026aacute;nd\u0026agrave;, Associated University)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e故事 (g\u0026ugrave;shi, story)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e和尚 (h\u0026eacute;shang, monk)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e兵士 (bīngsh\u0026igrave;, soldier)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e同志 (t\u0026oacute;ngzh\u0026igrave;, comrade)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e时节(sh\u0026iacute;ji\u0026eacute;, season)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e作家 (zu\u0026ograve;jiā, writer)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e医生(yīshēng, doctor)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e美国 (Měigu\u0026oacute;, America)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e样子 (xiangzi, personal names)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e演员 (yǎnyu\u0026aacute;n, actor/actress)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e太太 (t\u0026agrave;itai, wife)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e茶馆 (ch\u0026aacute;guǎn, teahouse)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e阿黑 (Āhēi, personal name)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e裘盛戎(Qi\u0026uacute; Sh\u0026egrave;ngrōng, personal name)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e应当 (yīngdāng, should)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e没有 (m\u0026eacute;iyǒu, don't have)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e听到 (tīngd\u0026agrave;o, hear)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e有 (yǒu, have)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e以为 (yǐw\u0026eacute;i, think)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e知道 (zhīd\u0026agrave;o, know)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e见到 (ji\u0026agrave;nd\u0026agrave;o, see)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e觉得 (ju\u0026eacute;de, feel)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e没有 (m\u0026eacute;iyǒu, don't have)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e不知 (b\u0026ugrave;zhī, don't know)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e得到 (d\u0026eacute;d\u0026agrave;o, get)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e以为 (yǐw\u0026eacute;i, think)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e欢喜 (huānxǐ, like)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e看到 (k\u0026agrave;nd\u0026agrave;o, see)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e好象 (hǎoxi\u0026agrave;ng, as if)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e记得 (j\u0026igrave;de, remember)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e说话 (shuōhu\u0026agrave;, speak)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e起来 (qǐl\u0026aacute;i, rise up)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eVerb\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e觉得 (ju\u0026eacute;de, think)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e出来 (chūl\u0026aacute;i, come out)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e看到 (k\u0026agrave;nd\u0026agrave;o, see)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e下来 (xi\u0026agrave;l\u0026aacute;i, come down)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e看看 (k\u0026agrave;nkan, take a look)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e回来 (hu\u0026iacute;l\u0026aacute;i, come back)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e愿意 (yu\u0026agrave;ny\u0026igrave;, willing)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e叫做 (ji\u0026agrave;ozu\u0026ograve;, be called)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e下去 (xi\u0026agrave;q\u0026ugrave;, go down)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e看见 (k\u0026agrave;nji\u0026agrave;n, see)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e预备 (y\u0026ugrave;b\u0026egrave;i, prepare)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e看看 (k\u0026agrave;nkan, take a look)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e微笑 (wēixi\u0026agrave;o, smile)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e比较 (bǐji\u0026agrave;o, compare)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e想到 (xiǎngd\u0026agrave;o, realize)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e喜欢 (xǐhuan, like)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e发生 (fāshēng, happen)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e据说 (j\u0026ugrave;shuō, it is said)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e注意 (zh\u0026ugrave;y\u0026igrave;, notice)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e研究 (y\u0026aacute;njiū, study)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e缺少 (quēshǎo, lack)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e希望 (xīw\u0026agrave;ng, hope)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e明白 (m\u0026iacute;ngbai, clear)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e好吃 (hǎochī, delicious)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e完全 (w\u0026aacute;nqu\u0026aacute;n, entirely)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e好看 (hǎok\u0026agrave;n, beautiful)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e神气 (sh\u0026eacute;nq\u0026igrave;, spirited)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e实在 (sh\u0026iacute;z\u0026agrave;i, reliable)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e年青 (ni\u0026aacute;nqīng, young)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e不错 (b\u0026ugrave;cu\u0026ograve;, pretty good)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e快乐 (ku\u0026agrave;il\u0026egrave;, happy)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e不好 (b\u0026ugrave;hǎo, bad)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e美丽 (měil\u0026igrave;, beautiful)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e大 (d\u0026agrave;, big)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e沉默 (ch\u0026eacute;nm\u0026ograve;, silent)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e年轻 (ni\u0026aacute;nqīng, young)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e方便 (fāngbi\u0026agrave;n, convenient)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e清楚 (qīngchu, clear)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e容易 (r\u0026oacute;ngy\u0026igrave;, easy)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e干净 (gānj\u0026igrave;ng, clean)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eadjective\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e幸福 (x\u0026igrave;ngf\u0026uacute;, happy)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e臭 (ch\u0026ograve;u, smelly)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e体面 (tǐmi\u0026agrave;n, decent)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e不同 (b\u0026ugrave;t\u0026oacute;ng, different)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e不行 (b\u0026ugrave;x\u0026iacute;ng, unacceptable)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e简单 (jiǎndān, simple)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e高兴 (gāox\u0026igrave;ng, happy)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e平常 (p\u0026iacute;ngch\u0026aacute;ng, ordinary)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e实在 (sh\u0026iacute;z\u0026agrave;i, indeed)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e舒服 (shūfu, comfortable)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e寂寞 (j\u0026igrave;m\u0026ograve;, lonely)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e新鲜 (xīnxiān, fresh)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e不同 (b\u0026ugrave;t\u0026oacute;ng, different)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e完全 (w\u0026aacute;nqu\u0026aacute;n, complete)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e大 (d\u0026agrave;, big)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e有名 (yǒum\u0026iacute;ng, famous)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e聪明 (cōngm\u0026iacute;ng, smart)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e便宜 (pi\u0026aacute;nyi, cheap)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e小心 (xiǎoxīn, careful)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e难得 (n\u0026aacute;nd\u0026eacute;, rarely)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e怪 (gu\u0026agrave;i, strange)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e高大 (gāod\u0026agrave;, tall)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFirst, an analysis of noun keywords reveals that both authors demonstrate a strong capacity for character construction, although their creative orientations differ significantly. As shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e, SCW frequently centers his narratives on young individuals, with particular emphasis on the living conditions of rural youth with an educational background. In addition, the frequent occurrence of gender-specific terms such as女人 (nǚr\u0026eacute;n, woman), 妇人 (f\u0026ugrave;r\u0026eacute;n, married woman), 女子 (nǚzǐ, girl) suggests that female characters occupy a central position in SCW\u0026rsquo;s literary works. He is known for creating a series of iconic female figures, including Cui Cui (from \u003cem\u003eBian Cheng\u003c/em\u003e), Xiao Xiao (from \u003cem\u003eXiao Xiao\u003c/em\u003e), and A Jin (from \u003cem\u003eZhang Fu\u003c/em\u003e). In contrast, WZQ\u0026rsquo;s works exhibit a broader generational spectrum, encompassing characters from adolescence, through middle age, to old age, thereby reflecting a more comprehensive engagement with the complexities of human life across different stages. Furthermore, terms such as和尚 (h\u0026eacute;shang, monk), 同志 (t\u0026oacute;ngzh\u0026igrave;, comrade), 作家 (zu\u0026ograve;jiā, writer) underscore the diversity of professions among his characters, reflecting his broad interest in the lives of individuals across various social strata. Additionally, the frequent appearance of place names such as 昆明 (Kūnm\u0026iacute;ng, Kunming) and 联大 (Li\u0026aacute;nd\u0026agrave;, the abbreviation for Southwest Associated University) in his works suggests a profound influence of these experiences on his writing. In contrast, place names appear with significantly lower frequency in SCW\u0026rsquo;s literary works. Even 湘西 (Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture) ranks only 182nd among the nominal keywords.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSsecond, in terms of verbs, both authors frequently employ cognitive and perceptual verbs such as 以为 (yǐw\u0026eacute;i, think), 看到 (k\u0026agrave;nd\u0026agrave;o, see), and 觉得 (ju\u0026eacute;de, feel/think), suggesting a shared narrative strategy that advances the plot through the subjective experiences and internal perceptions of their characters. The frequent use of psychological verbs such as 欢喜 (huānxǐ, like) and 愿意 (yu\u0026agrave;ny\u0026igrave;, willing) in the works of SCW is indicative of an emphasis on inner emotional portrayal, which enhances the lyrical tone of his narrative. However, the key verbs in the writings of WZQ are often related to mundane bodily actions, such 起来 (qǐl\u0026aacute;i, rise up) and出来 (chūl\u0026aacute;i, come out), suggesting that he emphasizes the depiction of character actions in his writing, providing his works with a strong sense of everyday life.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFinally, the analysis of adjectival keywords enables an exploration of the affective orientation in the writings of both authors. Specifically, the frequent occurrence of adjectives such as 沉默 (ch\u0026eacute;nm\u0026ograve;, silent) and 寂寞 (j\u0026igrave;m\u0026ograve;, lonely) in SCW\u0026rsquo;s texts reveals a predominant affective tone characterized by introspection and melancholy. This markedly contrasts with the predominantly positive and vibrant emotional coloring conveyed by the adjectival choices in WZQ\u0026rsquo;s works. This interpretation is consistent with the findings reported by Lei (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e). In texts by SCW, adjectives such as 幸福 (x\u0026igrave;ngf\u0026uacute;, happy) and 寂寞 (j\u0026igrave;m\u0026ograve;, lonely) reveal a sustained focus on the emotional interiority of characters, highlighting an introspective and affectively nuanced narrative mode. By contrast, WZQ tends to favor adjectives such as 好吃 (hǎochī, delicious) and 好看 (hǎok\u0026agrave;n, beautiful), which are closely linked to quotidian experience and underscore a narrative orientation grounded in everyday life. Taken together, the keyword-based comparison offers a quantitative basis for examining variation in narrative style, emotional tone, and thematic emphasis across the two corpora.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eActivity, Descriptivity, Nominality.\u003c/b\u003e Activity, Descriptivity, and Nominality are widely used indicators in the field of quantitative stylistics research (Z\u0026ouml;rnig, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e). Chen and Kub\u0026aacute;t (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e) emphasize that texts can generally be divided into two categories: static texts (which focus on depicting objects such as landscapes, characters, and places) and more dynamic texts (which focus on the development of the storyline).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e, both authors exhibit similar pattern characteristics across the three stylistic indicators, with the Activity value being the highest, the Nominality value in the middle, and the Descriptivity value the lowest. The consistency in the distribution of these indicators suggests a similarity in their writing styles. Specifically, both authors tend to use high-frequency verbs to create a dynamic narrative rhythm, select moderately conceptualized expressions, and the significantly low Descriptivity value reflects their tendency to use fewer modifying elements. The t-test and Mann-Whitney U test revealed significant differences between the two authors on the three indicators: Activity (\u003cem\u003eu\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;10158.0, \u003cem\u003ez\u003c/em\u003e = -3.800, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.00), Descriptivity (\u003cem\u003eu\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;10158.0, \u003cem\u003ez\u003c/em\u003e = -3.800, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.00), and Nominality (\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;9.554, \u003cem\u003edf\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;416, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.00).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpecifically, the texts of SCW exhibit a higher level of Activity, indicating that SCW frequently uses verbs to create a dynamic narrative rhythm and emphasizes the progression of the storyline, while WZQ shows a higher level of Descriptivity, suggesting that he focuses more on the depiction of landscapes, characters, and places (Chen and Kub\u0026aacute;t, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). Figure. 3c shows that the difference in Nominality is more significant, with the average Nominality value in the WZQ corpus (0.529) being higher than that of the SCW corpus (0.482). To investigate the underlying causes of this difference, a more detailed textual analysis was carried out. The three articles with the highest Nominality values in the WZQ corpus are \u003cem\u003eQingtang Guomian\u003c/em\u003e (0.624), \u003cem\u003eKunming de Hua\u003c/em\u003e (0.62), and \u003cem\u003eDiling Renjie Hua Huai\u0026rsquo;an\u003c/em\u003e (0.618). These works all involve the description of local cuisine, flowers, or regional characteristics, requiring the use of numerous nouns to depict specific objects and their features. For example, in \u003cem\u003eKunming de Hua\u003c/em\u003e, WZQ uses nouns such as \u0026ldquo;leaf,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo; petal,\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;flowering period\u0026rdquo; to provide detailed descriptions of the types, appearance, color, shape, and growing environment of flowers like \u0026ldquo;camellia,\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;orchid,\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;cherry blossom.\u0026rdquo; The frequent use of nouns contributes to the increase in the Nominality value in his texts. It is worth noting that, as shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003ea and Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003eb, WZQ exhibits a greater number of outliers, indicating a higher degree of variation in Activity and Descriptivity in his works, which reflects the adaptability and flexibility of WZQ\u0026rsquo;s linguistic style. In contrast, SCW shows fewer outliers, highlighting the stability and consistency of his linguistic style.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLexical richness.\u003c/b\u003e In the extensive practice of quantitative stylistic research, the validity of lexical richness has been thoroughly empirically tested and validated, and it has become an indispensable and important analytical dimension in this field of study (Kub\u0026aacute;t and Milička \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e). However, the majority of lexical richness indicators exhibit length-dependency, meaning that the measurement results are significantly affected by token count, leading to notable fluctuations. Accordingly, this study adopts the Moving-Average Type-Token Ratio (MATTR), a text-length-independent measure of lexical richness proposed by Covington and McFall (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e). We measured the text in segments by setting different window length parameters (L\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;50, 100, 150) and calculated the arithmetic mean of three independent measurements to obtain the lexical richness (MATTR_mean).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBoth SCW and WZQ exhibit a high level of lexical richness, with MATTR_mean values exceeding 0.7. This result suggests that both authors demonstrate a sophisticated command of language through their varied lexical choices. The lexical richness of SCW (0.752) is slightly higher than the value of WZQ (0.747). Mann-Whitney U test reveals a significant difference in lexical richness between the two authors (\u003cem\u003eU\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;11590.0, \u003cem\u003eZ\u003c/em\u003e = -2.347, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.019). The higher lexical richness observed in texts by SCW indicates an ability to employ a more diverse vocabulary for describing objects, conveying emotions, and articulating perspectives.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e, the lexical richness of WZQ exhibits a greater number of outliers, indicating a higher degree of variability in vocabulary usage across his literary works. To investigate this lexical variability in greater depth, we conducted a close analysis of two representative texts. \u003cem\u003eSuo Xiyu\u003c/em\u003e demonstrates the highest lexical richness (0.836), whereas \u003cem\u003eShu Ren\u003c/em\u003e exhibits the lowest (0.244). In \u003cem\u003eSuo Xiyu\u003c/em\u003e, WZQ creatively integrates Chinese classical poetry into modern prose narrative. He draws on traditional poetry and allusions in his writing, frequently using four-character phrases such 青山倒影 (qīngshān d\u0026agrave;oyǐng, reflections of green mountains), 开门见山 (kāim\u0026eacute;n ji\u0026agrave;nshān, get straight to the point) and 游目骋怀 (y\u0026oacute;um\u0026ugrave;chěnghu\u0026aacute;i, enjoying the scenery to one's heart's content) to enhance the rhythmic quality of the text, thereby increasing its lexical richness. However, in \u003cem\u003eShu Ren\u003c/em\u003e, WZQ records the casual conversation between two unfamiliar elderly men. The discourse demonstrates prototypical features of spontaneous spoken interaction, including syntactically loose constructions, limited and repetitive lexical selection, and coherent turn-taking organization. Such characteristics contribute to a vivid simulation of quotidian oral discourse. This stylistic manifestation further substantiates the hybridized linguistic register in WZQ\u0026rsquo;s writings, characterized by the interplay between classical literary language and vernacular Chinese forms (Gu, 2009).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart-of-Speech (POS).\u003c/b\u003e The frequency of POS usage is a key indicator for measuring text style, and its variation can effectively reveal the distinctive features of different authors\u0026rsquo; linguistic styles. During the annotation process, certain POS subcategories were consolidated. Specifically, direction nouns (nd), personal names (nh), organization names (ni), location nouns (nl), geographical names (ns), temporal nouns (nt), and other proper nouns (nz) were grouped under the general noun category (n), while numbers (m) and quantities (q) were merged into a single category labeled numbers and quantities (mq). The top nine POS categories from each author\u0026rsquo;s corpus were selected for statistical comparison.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese nine POS categories can be broadly divided into two types. The first type comprises content words, which carry semantic meaning and serve as primary vehicles for conveying information, thus reflecting the informational density of a text. This group includes nouns, verbs, adjectives, numerals and quantities, and pronouns. The second type consists of function words, which do not contribute to the thematic content of the text but instead provide grammatical structure. This category includes adverbs (d), conjunctions (c), auxiliaries (u), and prepositions (p). This classification corresponds to the visual representations shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003ea and Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003eb, respectively. Overall, the percentages of content words in WZQ (74.8%) are higher than those in SCW (72.4%), suggesting that the texts of WZQ contain more information.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe analysis using the t-test and Mann-Whitney U test reveals significant differences in the distribution of POS between the two authors, except for auxiliaries. Specifically, SCW uses more frequently than WZQ in terms of verbs (\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e = -4.291, \u003cem\u003edf\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;154.982, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.00), prepositions (\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e = -12.760, \u003cem\u003edf\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;175.188, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.00), adjectives (\u003cem\u003eu\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;11021.5, \u003cem\u003ez\u003c/em\u003e = -2.924, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.00), conjunctions (\u003cem\u003eu\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;7624.5, \u003cem\u003ez\u003c/em\u003e = -6.372, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.00), and pronouns (\u003cem\u003eu\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;6313.0, \u003cem\u003ez\u003c/em\u003e = -7.703, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.00). In comparison, WZQ uses more frequently in nouns (\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;9.468, \u003cem\u003edf\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;416, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.00), adjectives (\u003cem\u003eu\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;11021.5, \u003cem\u003ez\u003c/em\u003e = -2.924, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.00), numbers and quantities (\u003cem\u003eu\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;7096.500, \u003cem\u003ez\u003c/em\u003e = -6.907, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.00).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis section offers a close analysis of several key categories of content words. First, the proportion of verbs is higher in the writing of SCW (26.29%) compared to that of WZQ (25.47%), suggesting that the frequent use of verbs by SCW contributes to a more dynamic narrative and a quicker pace of plot development. This finding aligns with the discovery of his high Activity value. In \u003cem\u003eSanSan\u003c/em\u003e, SCW vividly portrays the intricate emotional responses of an adolescent girl, who simultaneously experiences repulsion and desire, as well as shyness and curiosity, upon hearing a joke about a marriage proposal. These conflicting emotions are embodied in her physical responses, including 呸 (pēi, bah), 停顿 (t\u0026iacute;ngd\u0026ugrave;n, pause), and 跟上前去 (gēn sh\u0026agrave;ng qi\u0026aacute;n q\u0026ugrave;, catch up with and go forward), all of which dramatize her inner conflict and emerging emotional complexity. Through specific actions and dialogue by the characters, which function as external expressions of psychological states, SCW reveals the abstract dimensions of mental activity and exposes the internal tensions within consciousness. This narrative technique reflects a sustained focus on inner traits and highlights the depth and complexity of internal experience in the writing.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSecond, WZQ demonstrates a higher overall proportion of nouns (see Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003ea), including directional nouns, proper names, and locative nouns. This suggests a greater focus on setting construction and environmental detail, reflecting WZQ\u0026rsquo;s stylistic preference for establishing contextual richness and narrative atmosphere.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThird, the use of mq is also more prominent in WZQ\u0026rsquo;s work (8.29%) compared to SCW\u0026rsquo;s (6.57%). These elements frequently co-occur with concrete nouns and serve to enhance descriptive precision. WZQ\u0026rsquo;s reliance on specific quantities underscores his attentiveness to sensory detail, particularly in the depiction of objects, characters, and scenes. For instance, in \u003cem\u003eShou Ba Yangrou\u003c/em\u003e, he employs expressions such as 大块 (d\u0026agrave;ku\u0026agrave;i, a big chunk of ), 一手 (yīshǒu, handful), and 一碗 (yīwǎn, a bowl of) to convey the distinctive preparation and consumption rituals of Chinese Mongolian cuisine. These descriptions not only reinforce the materiality of the narrative but also authentically represent cultural specificity.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFourth, WZQ exhibits a higher frequency of adjectives. Adjectives function to delineate the properties, states, and emotional tones of entities within a narrative. The high frequency of adjectives in WZQ\u0026rsquo;s work underscores his stylistic orientation toward precision and affective richness, especially in descriptive passages involving characters and settings. Finally, pronoun usage is more frequent in SCW\u0026rsquo;s writing (10.21%) than in WZQ\u0026rsquo;s (7.18%) (see Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003ea). Pronouns, including demonstrative and personal forms, function anaphorically to reference previously introduced nouns. This usage pattern complements SCW\u0026rsquo;s lower noun density, suggesting a cohesive strategy that emphasizes textual economy and referential continuity over repetitive nominal expression.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHaving examined the distribution and stylistic functions of content words, this section proceeds to a detailed analysis of function words, which are widely recognized as linguistic markers of unconscious authorial tendencies and thus serve as critical indicators for profiling writing habits and stylistic patterns (Chung and Pennebaker, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). The percentage of function word usage in SCW (26.4%) is higher than that in WZQ (23.46%).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFirst, as illustrated in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003eb, SCW uses adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions more frequently than WZQ, indicating a significant divergence in function word usage between the two authors. Adverbs are primarily used to modify verbs and other content words, and their usage frequency is positively correlated with that of verbs. The higher frequency of adverb usage in SCW aligns with the conclusion that he uses verbs more frequently. The data show that SCW employs prepositions at a significantly higher rate than WZQ, indicating a more literarily sophisticated and rhetorically elaborate style (Zeng and Zhu, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e). In addition, the frequent use of conjunctions in the writing of SCW suggests a stylistic preference for complex sentence structures, as conjunctions primarily serve to link clauses and phrases. This is consistent with the observation by Gao (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e) that SCW frequently uses parallel constructions, which typically involve multiple coordinated clauses or phrases. The internal cohesion of such structures often relies on conjunctions, which helps explain their elevated frequency in texts written by SCW. Previous research has also noted his distinctive lexical choice within this category. Yan and Su (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e) observe that SCW habitually replaces disyllabic conjunctions with their monosyllabic counterparts, giving the language a concise, classical charm and enhancing its defamiliarizing effect. For example, SCW tends to favor monosyllabic conjunctions over their disyllabic counterparts. This study analyzes the frequency of the four sets of synonymous conjunctions identified by Yan and Su (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e presents the results.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eUsage Frequencies of Synonymous Conjunctions in the SCW Corpus\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1-Chinese-character words\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eUsage frequency\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2-Chinese-character words\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eUsage frequency\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e若 (ru\u0026ograve;, if)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e500\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e如果 (r\u0026uacute;guǒ, if)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e35\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e故 (g\u0026ugrave;, therefore)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e266\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e所以 (suǒyǐ, therefore)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e642\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e且 (qiě, and)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e726\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e而且 (\u0026eacute;rqiě, and)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e102\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e或 (hu\u0026ograve;, or)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e463\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e或者 (hu\u0026ograve;zhě, or)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e297\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1955\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1076\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e, SCW uses the disyllabic conjunction 所以 (suǒyǐ, therefore) with significantly greater frequency than its synonymous monosyllabic counterpart 故 (g\u0026ugrave;, therefore), a finding that diverges from the results reported by Yan and Su (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). This discrepancy may be attributed to divergences in corpus selection and analytical methodology between the present study and Yan and Su (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). While their investigation was confined to a single excerpt from \u003cem\u003eBian Cheng\u003c/em\u003e, it lacked a comprehensive, large-scale quantitative analysis across SCW\u0026rsquo;s broader oeuvre. However, when considering the overall frequency statistics of the four sets of synonymous conjunctions examined in this study, SCW still demonstrates a clear preference for monosyllabic forms, which are more characteristic of classical Chinese. Classical Chinese is marked by its linguistic economy, often conveying profound meanings with minimal lexical material, thereby achieving a rhetorical effect of brevity and depth. SCW draws upon this stylistic principle by integrating the concise features of classical function words into his vernacular prose, producing a seamless synthesis of classical elegance and modern grammatical structure. This distinctive usage not only contributes to SCW\u0026rsquo;s refined and literarily sophisticated style but also generates a defamiliarization effect that enhances the aesthetic impact of his writing.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDistribution of Word Length.\u003c/b\u003e In Chinese, word length typically refers to the number of characters contained in a word. This study primarily analyzes the usage differences between the two authors in terms of 1-character words, 2-character words, 3-character words, and 4-character words in their literary texts, see Figure. 4.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe t-test and Mann-Whitney U test revealed significant correlations in the usage of 1-character words (\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;3.060, \u003cem\u003edf\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;416, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.002), 2-character words (\u003cem\u003eu\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;6201.0, \u003cem\u003ez\u003c/em\u003e = -7.816, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.00), 3-character words (\u003cem\u003et\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;12.378, \u003cem\u003edf\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;416, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.000), and 4-character words (\u003cem\u003eu\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;5582.5, z = -8.444, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.00) between the two authors.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e, the percentage of 2-character words is higher in SCW (38.43%) than in WZQ (34.06%). However, the percentages of 1-character words, 3-character words, and 4-character words are significantly higher in WZQ than in SCW. Zhang (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) conducted a systematic study of modern Chinese vocabulary, indicating that the average word length for nouns, adjectives, and verbs is closest to disyllabic words, while the average word length for exclamations, auxiliaries, and quantities is closer to monosyllabic words. The percentages of quantities show that SCW\u0026rsquo;s proportion is 2.37%, while WZQ\u0026rsquo;s proportion is 3.42%. Based on the statistical analysis presented in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e, it can be observed that the distribution of words with an average word length close to disyllabic categories (such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives) in SCW texts is 55.53%, which is significantly higher than WZQ\u0026rsquo;s 33.78%. On the other hand, in terms of words with an average word length closer to monosyllabic categories (such as auxiliaries and quantities), WZQ usage is 12.89%, surpassing SCW usage is 11.83%. In summary, these findings suggest that differences in part-of-speech distribution between the two authors may account for their divergent patterns in the usage of one- and two-character words. Additionally, WZQ\u0026rsquo;s higher proportion of 3-character words can be attributed to his frequent use of dialectal and colloquial vocabulary. A closer examination of the corpus reveals numerous regionally flavored expressions, such as 一转子 (yī zhu\u0026agrave;nzǐ, a while), 鞋头花 (xi\u0026eacute;t\u0026oacute;uhua, decorative shoelace), and 土坷垃 (tǔgēlā, clod of earth), alongside colloquial terms like 老丈母 (lǎozh\u0026agrave;ngmǔ, informal for mother-in-law) and 咯吱窝 (gēzhiwō, armpit). These lexical choices imbue WZQ\u0026rsquo;s writing with a vivid sense of daily life and a distinctly rural tone, underscoring his stylistic preference for colloquial expression. Furthermore, four-character words (especially idioms and fixed expressions) typically have stable structures and rich cultural connotations in the Chinese lexical system, enabling them to convey complex meanings in a highly condensed manner. The frequent use of 4-character words by WZQ reflects the incorporation of allusions in his works, highlighting the essence of classical Chinese literature (Liu, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePCA results.\u003c/b\u003e The literary style characteristics of the two authors are analyzed through dimensionality reduction and visualization using PCA, in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e. A total of 18 indicators were selected as input variables for the analysis, including Activity, Descriptivity, Nominality, Lexical Richness, Word Length Distribution, and Part-of-Speech Distribution. The first principal component (PC1) and the second principal component (PC2) jointly account for 42.2% of the total variance, with PC1 explaining 25.1% and PC2 explaining 17.1%.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs illustrated in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e, the textual distributions of SCW (the yellow region) and WZQ (the blue region) reveal both areas of overlap and distinct separation. The overlapping regions suggest shared linguistic features between the two authors, whereas the distinct clusters indicate stylistic divergences that are characteristic of each author\u0026rsquo;s individual writing style.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe PC1 dimension is primarily associated with positive correlations in descriptivity, nominality, and the distribution of four-character and three-character words. Negatively correlated features include activity, pronoun usage rate, and the distribution of one-character words. In this dimension, the SCW samples are primarily concentrated on the left side of the axis, while the samples of WZQ are distributed on both sides, with a higher concentration on the right. This suggests that the linguistic style of SCW is more inclined towards dynamic scene narration, whereas WZQ tends to favor static descriptive narration.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe PC2 dimension primarily reflects variations in language formality and complexity, as well as differences in conciseness and the degree of colloquialism. In this dimension, the SCW samples are primarily concentrated above the axis, while the samples of WZQ are scattered on both the upper and lower sides, with a greater concentration at the bottom. The distributional differences in this dimension suggest that SCW tends to adopt a more complex and ornate literary style, whereas WZQ favors a simpler, more natural, and colloquial expression.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMoreover, the elliptic distribution patterns of the two data sets suggest a centralized linguistic style and lower stylistic variability in the works authored by SCW. In contrast, the broader and more dispersed distribution observed in the texts produced by WZQ indicates higher stylistic diversity and greater creative flexibility. This observation may also account for the limited effectiveness of the method employed by Hou and Huang (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e), which utilized word-final tone patterns, segment-final tone patterns, and word length motifs to represent textual features when attempting to distinguish literary texts written by WZQ. The relatively low degree of internal stylistic consistency within the WZQ text corpus suggests considerable variation in linguistic features across different creative periods and thematic domains, thereby reducing the reliability of such features for text classification or authorship identification.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis study employs a range of lexical quantitative indicators, including keywords, activity, nominality, descriptivity, lexical richness, word length distribution, and part-of-speech (POS) patterns, to investigate the stylistic similarities and differences in the literary language of SCW and WZQ, a master-disciple pair in the Beijing school of modern Chinese literature. The analysis reveals that while their linguistic styles reflect a clear lineage of stylistic inheritance, they also demonstrate distinct individual characteristics in literary expression.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn terms of stylistic inheritance, SCW and WZQ, as representative authors of the Beijing School, continue the tradition of celebrating pure human nature and sincere human emotions in their literary themes. Through nuanced depictions of ordinary daily life, rural memory, and the inner world of intellectuals, both authors exemplify the Beijing School\u0026rsquo;s characteristic humanistic ethos and aesthetic aspirations. Second, their stylistic profiles exhibit notable convergence across the dimensions of Activity, Nominality, and Descriptivity, manifested in high Activity scores, moderate Nominality, and relatively low Descriptivity. These shared stylistic features reflect a common tendency toward dynamic narrative progression, economical language use, and a selective integration of descriptive elements focused on setting and character portrayal. Moreover, both authors demonstrate a high level of lexical sophistication, as indicated by mean MATTR values exceeding 0.7, which reflects their literary competence. Their pursuit of defamiliarization through deviation from conventional linguistic patterns further contributes to a novel and engaging reading experience. Finally, both SCW and WZQ inherit the classical aesthetic orientation of the Beijing School. Their writing consistently incorporates Chinese traditional literary techniques, endowing their texts with a distinctive classical aesthetic and stylistic elegance.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite their shared literary lineage, SCW and WZQ also exhibit marked differences in their literary linguistic styles, stemming from variations in personal experience, literary philosophy, and historical context. To begin with, while both authors continue the Beijing School tradition of exploring human nature and emotions, they differ in their focus on character construction. SCW primarily concentrates on women and youth, with an emphasis on the psychological and spiritual dimensions of the characters. In contrast, WZQ tends to center his narratives on ordinary people, engaging with a broader thematic spectrum and offering a more diversified portrayal of mundane life. Second, although the two authors display a high degree of consistency in the overall distribution patterns of Activity, Descriptivity, and Nominality, notable differences still exist in the specific values of these indicators. Specifically, SCW places greater emphasis on dynamic narrative progression, as evidenced by his higher Activity scores, reflecting a stronger focus on plot development. WZQ, by comparison, places greater emphasis on static scene description, as indicated by his higher Descriptivity scores, frequently employing adjectives and quantities to enhance textual detail and vividness. As far as linguistic strategies for defamiliarization are concerned, the two authors also exhibit distinct differences. SCW tends to use classical Chinese 1-character words to convey the essence of classical literature, striving for a style where brevity leads to boundless meaning. His continuation of classical Chinese linguistic characters, along with the frequent use of prepositions and conjunctions, collectively constructs a formal, rigorous, and intricate linguistic style. WZQ adopts a different approach by blending poetic allusions with colloquial expressions. The rhythmic cadence of 4-character phrases intertwines with the earthy tones of dialect and slang, producing a distinctive linguistic style that seamlessly blends classical and vernacular elements while balancing elegance with simplicity (Peng, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Finally, the stylistic tendencies of WZQ exhibit greater variability, while those of SCW reflect higher stability and internal consistency.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhereas previous studies primarily relied on introspective methods to compare the linguistic styles of SCW and WZQ, the present study approaches the comparison from the perspective of their master-disciple relationship. By combining distant reading with close reading, it examines both the commonalities and differences in their literary works and provides a quantitative foundation for the comparative analysis of stylistic variation across generations of authors. It is important to recognize that stylistic features are multidimensional. Future research could further compare the two writers across multiple dimensions such as syntax, semantics, and emotional tone, in order to better distinguish between texts produced by authors within a master-disciple relationship or those belonging to the same literary school.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ch2\u003eEthical Approval\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInformed Consent\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAuthor Contribution\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eJB (Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis Investigation, Resources, Software, Validation, Visualization, Methodology, Writing\u0026mdash;original draft)Xl Wang (Conceptualization, Supervision, Software, Project administration, Methodology, Writing\u0026mdash;review and editing)\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAcknowledgements\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by a national scholarship for doctoral studies.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eData Availability\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe SCW and WZQ literary corpora generated during this study are not publicly available due to copyright and intellectual property considerations but are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eBinongo, JNG, Smith, MWA (1999) The application of principal component analysis to stylometry.Lit Linguist Comput 14(4):445-466\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eBrooke J, Hammond A, Hirst G (2017) Using models of lexical style to quantify free indirect discourse in modernist fiction.\u0026nbsp;Digit Scholarsh Humanit\u0026nbsp;32(2):234-250\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eChe W, Feng Y, Qin L, Liu T (2020) N-LTP: An open-source neural language technology platform for Chinese.\u0026nbsp;arXiv preprint arXiv:2009.11616\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eChen X, Kub\u0026aacute;t M (2022) Rural versus urban fiction in contemporary Chinese literature-Quantitative approach case study. Digit Scholarsh Humanit\u0026nbsp;37(3):681-692\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eChung C, Pennebaker J (2011) The psychological functions of function words. In: Social communication. Psychology Press, p 343\u0026ndash;359\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eCovington MA, McFall JD (2010) Cutting the Gordian knot: The moving-average type\u0026ndash;token ratio (MATTR). J Quant Linguist 17(2):94\u0026ndash;100\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eFang Y, Liu H (2023) Seeing various adventures through a mirror: Detecting translator\u0026rsquo;s stylistic visibility in Chinese translations of Alice\u0026rsquo;s Adventure in Wonderland. Digit Scholarsh Humanit 38(1):50\u0026ndash;65\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eGao ZM (2019) Corpus stylistics and Chinese literary discourses: A comparative study of four novels by Shen Congwen and Chang Eileen. In: The routledge handbook of Chinese discourse analysis. Routledge, p 519\u0026ndash;535\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eHerrmann B, van Dalen-Oskam K, Sch\u0026ouml;ch C (2015) Revisiting style, a key concept in literary studies. J Lit Theory 9(1):25\u0026ndash;52\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eHolmes TJ (1998) The effect of state policies on the location of manufacturing: Evidence from state borders.J Polit Econ 106(4):667\u0026ndash;705\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eHoover DL (2003) Multivariate analysis and the study of style variation. Lit Linguist Comput 18(4):341\u0026ndash;360\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eHou R, Huang CR (2020) Robust stylometric analysis and author attribution based on tones and rimes.\u0026nbsp;Nat Lang Eng 26(1):49\u0026ndash;71\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eHou R, Jiang M (2016) Analysis on Chinese quantitative stylistic features based on text mining.\u0026nbsp;Digit Scholarsh Humanit 31(2):357\u0026ndash;367\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eHu Y, He Q (2022) A Corpus-Driven Study of the Style Variation in The Grapes of Wrath.\u0026nbsp;Glottometrics\u0026nbsp;52\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eHuang W, Liu HT (2009) Application of quantitative characteristics of Chinese genres in text clustering [in Chinese]. Comput Eng Appl 45(29):25-27\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eHui H (2023) What can digital humanities do for literary adaptation studies: distant reading of children\u0026rsquo;s editions of Robinson Crusoe.Digit Scholarsh Humanit 38(4):1564\u0026ndash;1576\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eKub\u0026aacute;t M, Milička J (2013) Vocabulary richness measure in genres. J Quant Linguist 20(4):339\u0026ndash;359\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eLei M (2007) Homodirectional Discrepancies in Poetic Rural Writing: A Comparison of Shen Congwen\u0026apos;s and Wang Zengqi\u0026apos;s Rural Novels [in Chinese]. J China Univ Pet (Ed Soc Sci) 5:89\u0026ndash;92\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eLi ZG, Li DX (2023) Non-Communicative Intergenerational Inheritance Among Modern and Contemporary Chinese Writers: A Case Study of Shen Congwen and Wang Zengqi [in Chinese]. Jiangxi Soc Sci 43(7):150\u0026ndash;157\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eLin, CR (2015) Wang Zengqi and the Modernization of the Chinese Language [in Chinese]. Lit Art Crit 3:58\u0026ndash;60.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eLiu X (2015) From Literati Ideology to Connecting Literary History: An Analysis of Wang Zengqi\u0026rsquo;s Novelistic Language Patterns [in Chinese]. Chin J Lit Crit 3:42\u0026ndash;50+126\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eLiu Y, Xiao T (2020) A stylistic analysis for Gu Long\u0026rsquo;s Kung Fu novels. J Quant Linguist 27(1):32\u0026ndash;61\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eMcIntyre D, Walker B (2022) Using corpus linguistics to explore the language of poetry: a stylometric approach to Yeats\u0026apos; poems.In: The Routledge Handbook of Corpus Linguistics. Routledge, p 499\u0026ndash;516\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003ePeng L (2019) Language ideologies in early history of modern Mandarin: A study of Shen Congwen\u0026apos;s minor literature. J Linguist Anthropol 29(3):417\u0026ndash;435\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eShklovsky V (1917) Art as technique.\u0026nbsp;Lit Theory Anthol 3:8\u0026ndash;14\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eSp\u0026auml;rck Jones K (1972) A statistical interpretation of term specificity and its application in retrieval.\u0026nbsp;J Doc 28(1):11\u0026ndash;21\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eShen CW (1985) Shen Congwen\u0026rsquo;s Speech at Jishou University [in Chinese].\u0026nbsp;J Jishou Univ (Soc Sci Ed) 3:1\u0026ndash;5\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eTai Y (2003) The Comparison between the Styles of Creation of Shen Congwen and Wang Zengqi [in Chinese]. J Jiangsu Second Norm Univ 3:75\u0026ndash;79\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eXia YT (1990) Melancholy Ethereality and Bright Unrestraint: A Stylistic Comparison of Novels by Shen Congwen and Wang Zengqi [in Chinese]. Res Chin Lit 4:75\u0026ndash;80+112\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eXiao J (2013) Nature, woman and lyrical ambiguity in Shen Congwen\u0026apos;s writing. Rocky Mt Rev 67(1):41\u0026ndash;60\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eYildirim O, Can F (2024) A quantitative style analysis of four Turkish authors: Changes over time, and differences. J Quant Linguist 31(4):353\u0026ndash;384\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eYan N, Su K (2011) On the defamiliarization of language in The Border Town [in Chinese]. J Dalian Univ 4:38\u0026ndash;42\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eZeng YP, Zhu XW (2006) Application of computational methods to the study of stylistics in China [in Chinese]. J Univ Chin Acad Soc Sci 44(5):64\u0026ndash;80+158+161\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eZhang YW (2024) Quantitative analysis of word classes, word lengths and word meanings in modern Chinese [in Chinese]. J Univ Chin Acad Soc Sci 44(5):64\u0026ndash;80+158+161\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eZ\u0026ouml;rnig P, Kelih E (2015) Descriptiveness, activity and nominality in formalized text sequences. J Quant Linguist 22(1):1\u0026ndash;31\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"humanities-and-social-sciences-communications","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"palcomms","sideBox":"Learn more about [Humanities \u0026 Social Sciences Communications](http://www.nature.com/palcomms/)","snPcode":"41599","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/41599/3","title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"stylometric, stylistic variation, literary inheritance, Shen Congwen, Wang Zengqi","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7557501/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7557501/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eShen Congwen (SCW) and Wang Zengqi (WZQ), as prominent figures in modern Chinese literature, are widely known for their well-established master-disciple relationship. Although this literary connection implies a transmission of aesthetic and linguistic values, their works exhibit marked stylistic differences. This study examines the stylometric inheritance and divergence of SCW and WZQ. We constructed a dedicated corpus of their writings, with a total size of several million words, and analyzed 18 linguistic features, including lexical richness, descriptivity, activity, nominality, keyword extraction, word length distribution, and part-of-speech distribution. In addition, the study employed principal component analysis to uncover potential clustering and distinguishing patterns among different stylistic features. The findings show that both authors inherited the thematic orientation of the Beijing School and shared a preference for defamiliarized expression. SCW demonstrates a stylistic tendency toward dynamic narration, lyrical tone, and lexical density, whereas WZQ exhibits a more hybrid style that integrates vernacular elements with classical allusions. By integrating quantitative stylometry with close reading, this study provides empirical evidence that literary inheritance is not a static process of imitation but a dynamic interplay between inheritance and innovation.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"A Stylometric Analysis of Chinese Literary Inheritance and Divergence: Evidence from Shen Congwen and Wang Zengqi","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-24 18:08:07","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7557501/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-12-15T08:50:06+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-10-23T00:58:24+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"222321599573654275297499509746597423320","date":"2025-10-22T12:47:33+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-10-15T01:38:04+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"81537066762246050442152899195473152169","date":"2025-10-11T05:02:53+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-10-10T09:37:23+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-10-07T09:24:10+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-10-07T09:11:55+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-09-30T05:20:09+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","date":"2025-09-30T05:17:09+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"humanities-and-social-sciences-communications","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"palcomms","sideBox":"Learn more about [Humanities \u0026 Social Sciences Communications](http://www.nature.com/palcomms/)","snPcode":"41599","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/41599/3","title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"c4489d17-ac73-4e81-bcdf-0563c6f8f7ed","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 24th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":56737257,"name":"Humanities/Cultural and media studies"},{"id":56737258,"name":"Social science/Cultural and media studies"},{"id":56737259,"name":"Humanities/Language and linguistics"},{"id":56737260,"name":"Social science/Language and linguistics"},{"id":56737261,"name":"Humanities/Literature"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-27T16:08:46+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-7557501","link":"https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-07300-1","journal":{"identity":"humanities-and-social-sciences-communications","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications"},"publishedOn":"2026-04-21 15:59:04","publishedOnDateReadable":"April 21st, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-24 18:08:07","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1057/s41599-026-07300-1","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-07300-1","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7557501","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7557501","identity":"rs-7557501","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}