近年來誕生了兩部重要的英語中國文學史：梅維恒（Victor Mair）主編的《哥倫比亞中國文學史》以及孫康宜（Kang-I Sun-Chang）、宇文所安（Stephen H. Owen）連袂主編的《劍橋中國文學史》。這兩部作品之不同結構讓我們有理由重新思索中國文學史的分期問題。大量中國文學史遵循以基於朝代的分期模式，而我認為，對文學生產和消費均產生影響的文學系統中的最根本性變遷，並非緣於政權更迭，而是因為技術變革：例如紙的發明，印刷術的傳播，近現代印刷技術的引進，以及我們當代的數字化革命。其中一些每次技術改革的最重要影響將在下文簡要探討。

In recent years two major histories of Chinese Literature have appeared in English: ＂The Columbia History of Chinese Literature＂, edited by Victor Mair, and ＂The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature＂, edited by Kang-I Sun-Chang and Stephen H. Owen. The different organization of these two works is reason to reconsider the periodization of Chinese literature. Whereas many histories of Chinese literature follow a periodization based on dynasties, I will argue that the most fundamental changes in the system of literature, affecting both its production and its consumption, are not due to political changes but to technological changes, such as the invention of paper, the spread of printing, the introduction of modern printing technologies, and our current digital revolution. Some of the most important consequences of each of the technological changes will be briefly discussed.