Abstract: It is a common phenomenon to use a pen name when a writer publishes his critical works in China's "seventeen years period". There are several causes: 1. the author worries that his work is not mature; 2. the author is not confident of his reputation; 3. the author intends to express particular ideas. Underneath these apparent causes are deeper psychological motivations: 1. to express opposite ideas to someone else’s; 2. to criticize a friend or a teacher; 3. to publish politically alternative works; 4. to reinforce the validity of criticism with another name; 5. to express special aims. Because of politics, ideology and individual personalities, some authors choose pen names on their own, and some others are forced to do so. The psychology of using a pen name in the seventeen years periods reveals a complicated ecology of Chinese literary criticism.

Key words: pen names, psychological mechanism, literary criticism, ecology, the seventeen years periods