Abstract: The striking themes, extravagant narration, and imposition of creative subject upon the fate of characters in the root- seeking novels of 1980s all reveal the anxiety of a transitional society. Shen Congwen, in his novel “Count rymen”, gives an artist’s answer to the problems of a future society when the world will inevitably become economically and culturally integrated.He deals with the problem of nervousness and anxiety of the modern society from anangle of plural is tic aesthetics and creates a lot of excellent literay works. Af ter all, the novelists of the root- seeking school of the 1980s never went beyond the limitation of the current tendency, and never rose to the level of Shen Congwen.

Key words: Shen Congwen, root- seeking novels, calmness, anxiety