Shen Dehong (Shen Yanbing; 4 July 1896 – 27 March 1981), best known by the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

of Mao Dun, was a Chinese novelist, essayist, journalist, playwright, literary and cultural critic. He was highly celebrated for his realist novels, including ''

Midnight Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours. ...

'', which depicts life in cosmopolitan

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. Mao was one of the founders of the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

and participated in a number of left-wing cultural movements during the 1920s and 1930s. He was the editor-in-chief of '' Fiction Monthly'' and helped lead the League of Left-Wing Writers. He formed a strong friendship with fellow left-wing Chinese author

Lu Xun Lu Xun ( zh, c=魯迅, p=Lǔ Xùn, ; 25 September 188119 October 1936), pen name of Zhou Shuren, born Zhou Zhangshou, was a Chinese writer. A leading figure of modern Chinese literature, he wrote in both vernacular and literary Chinese as a no ...

. From 1949 to 1965, Mao served as the first

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organiza ...

in the People's Republic of China. In addition to novels, Mao Dun published a number of essays, scripts, theories, short stories, and novellas. He was well known for translating

Western literature Western literature, also known as European literature, is the literature written in the context of Western culture in the languages of Europe, and is shaped by the periods in which they were conceived, with each period containing prominent weste ...

, as he had gained academic knowledge of European literature from his studies at

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

. Additionally, although he was not the first person in China to translate the works of Scottish historical novelist

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

, he is considered to be the first person to popularize Walter Scott's work in China through his "Critical Biography". He adopted the pen name "Mao Dun" () to express the tension in the conflicting revolutionary ideology within China in the 1920s. The name means "contradiction", as Mao means spears and Dun means shields. His friend

Ye Shengtao Ye Shengtao (28 October 1894 – 16 February 1988) also known as Ye Shaojun, was a Chinese writer, journalist, educator, publisher and politician. He was a founder of the Association for Literary Studies (), the first literature association dur ...

changed the first character from to , which literally means "thatch".

Early life

His father, Shen Yongxi () taught and designed the curriculum for his son, but he died when Mao Dun was ten. Mao Dun's mother Chen Aizhu () then became his teacher. He mentions in his memoirs that "my first instructor is my mother". Through learning from his parents, Mao Dun developed great interest in writing as well as reading during his childhood. Mao Dun had already started to develop his writing skills when he was still in primary school. In one examination the examiner commented on Mao Dun's script: '12 year old young child, can make this language, not says motherland nobody'. There were other similar comments which indicate that Mao Dun had been a brilliant writer since his youth. While Mao Dun was studying in secondary school in

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

, extensive reading and strict writing skills training filled his life. He read the ''

Wen Xuan The ''Wen Xuan'' (; ), usually translated ''Selections of Refined Literature'', is one of the earliest and most important anthologies of Chinese poetry and literature, and is one of the world's oldest literary anthologies to be arranged by top ...

'', ''

Shishuo Xinyu ''A New Account of the Tales of the World'', also known as ''Shishuo Xinyu'' (), was compiled and edited by Liu Yiqing (Liu I-ching; ; 403 – 26 February 444) during the Liu Song dynasty (420–479) of the Northern and Southern dynasties (420� ...

'', and a large number of classical novels, which influenced his writing style. Mao Dun entered the three-year foundation school offered by

in 1913, in which he studied Chinese and Western literature. Due to financial difficulties, he had to quit in the summer of 1916, before his graduation. After quitting from university, he immediately got married with the daughter of Kong family, Kong Dezhi (孔德沚). The trainings in Chinese and English as well as knowledge of Chinese and Western literature provided by the fifteen years of education Mao Dun received had prepared him to show up in the limelight of the Chinese journalistic and literary arena.

Journalistic career

After graduation, Mao Dun soon got his first job in the English editing and translation sections of the

Commercial Press The Commercial Press () is the first modern publishing organization in China. The Commercial Press is known for its academic publishing and translation work in humanities and social sciences, as well as the '' Xinhua Dictionary''. History In ...

branch. At the age of 21, he was invited to be the assistant editor of ''Xuesheng Zazhi'' ( zh, t=學生雜誌, l= ) under the Commercial Press, which had published many articles about the new ideologies that had emerged in China at that time. Apart from editing, Mao Dun also started to write about his social thoughts and criticisms. To some extent, he was inspired by the famous magazine ''

New Youth ''New Youth'', also known as La Jeunesse, was a Chinese literary magazine founded by Chen Duxiu and published between 1915 and 1926. It strongly influenced both the New Culture Movement and the later May Fourth Movement. Publishing history ...

''. Like in 1917 and 1918, he wrote two editorials for ''Xuesheng Zazhi'': ''Students and Society'' (學生與社會) and ''The Students of 1918'', those were significant in stimulating political consciousness among the young educated Chinese. His early literary career also included writing children's literature. At 24 years of age, Mao Dun was already renowned as a novelist by the community in general, and in 1920, he and a group of young writers took over the magazine '' Fiction Monthly'', to publish literature by western authors, such as

Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

, Balzac,

Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , ; ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. He has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country and abroad. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flaubert, realis ...

, Zola,

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tub ...

, and Shaw, and make new theories of literature better known. Despite the fact that he was a naturalistic novelist, he admired writers like

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

for their great artistic style. In 1920, he was invited to edit a new column: ''The Fiction-New-Waves'' () in ''Fiction Monthly''. He even took up the post of Chief Editor of the Monthly in the same year and was obliged to reform it thoroughly, in response to the

May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese cultural and anti-imperialist political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen to protest the Chinese government's weak response ...

. His young writer friends in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

supported him by submitting their creative writings, translating Western literature and their views on new literature theories and techniques to the magazines. Literary Study Group () was formed partly because of this. The reformed Monthly was proved to be a success. It had facilitated the continuation of the New Culture Movement by selling ten thousand copies a month and more importantly by introducing Literature for life, a brand new realistic approach to Chinese literature. In this period, Mao Dun had become a leading figure of the movement in the southern part of China. On the notion of content reformation, both the innovative and conservative parties in the Commercial Press could not make a compromise. Mao Dun resigned from the Chief Editor of Fiction Monthly in 1923, but in 1927 he became the chief columnist of the ''Minguo yuebao'' (民国月报). He wrote more than 30 editorials for this newspaper to criticize Chiang Kai-shek, and to support revolutions.

Political life

Inspired by the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

of 1917 in Russia, Mao Dun took part in the

in China. In 1920, he joined the Shanghai Communist Team, and helped to establish the

(CCP) in 1921. At first, he worked as a liaison for the party. He also wrote for the party magazine ''The Communist Party''. At the time, the CCP was allied with the Kuomintang in the

First United Front The First United Front , also known as the KMT–CCP Alliance, of the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was formed in 1924 as an alliance to end Warlord Era, warlordism in China. Together they formed the National Revolution ...

. Mao Dun participated in Chiang Kai-shek's

Northern Expedition The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT) against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The purpose of the campaign was to reunify China prop ...

to reunite the country. He quit, however, when Chiang's

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

broke with the Communists in 1927. In July 1928, he went to Japan in order to take refuge. As he returned to China in 1930, he joined the League of Left-Wing Writers. Later, China went to war with Japan and he actively engaged in resisting the Japanese attack in 1937. In 1949, the communist government took over and he was responsible for working as

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

's secretary and Culture Minister until 1965.

Literary career

As a literary man, Mao Dun had a great number of achievements. His reforms at ''Fiction Monthly'' were his first contribution to Chinese literature. The magazine then became a place where "New Literature" circulated. Many famous writers like

, Xu Dishan, Bing Xin,

, had their works published through it. Mao Dun supported movements such as "New Literature" and "New Thinking". He believed that Chinese literature should have a place in the world. The experience of political conflict broadened his horizon in literature, therefore the theme of his later writing was mostly based on this. He helped to found the League of Left-Wing Writers in 1930. After that, he worked together with

to fight for the right of the society and the revolutionary movement in literature. The harvest period of Mao Dun's writing is considered to have been from 1927 to 1937. ''Shi'' (蚀), also translated in English as ''The Eclipse'', was Mao's first novel. It was published in three volumes: ''Disillusions'' (幻灭, 1927), ''Wavering'' (动摇, 1928), and ''Pursuits'' (追求, 1928). It tells the story of a generation of young intellectuals caught up in the world of revolutionary fervor without a true understanding of the nature of social change. His next major work was ''Rainbow'' (虹, 1929), which became famous for having no less than 70 main characters and numerous plot twists and turns. In 1933 came his next work, ''

'', which gained great popularity, to a point that it was also published in French and English, and it allowed to develop a sense of revolutionary realism. It is a naturalistic novel exploring the commercial world of Shanghai in detail. In addition, his fiction offered a sympathetic portrayal of working-class life and praise of revolution. He left a work unfinished, the trilogy ''Shuangye Hongsi Eryuehua'' (霜叶红似二月花, 1942). The League of Left-Wing Writers was dissolved in a quarrel in 1936. After the initiation of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937, Mao traveled to many places and started a literary magazine in

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

. He edited the periodical ''Literary Front'' and the literary page of the newspaper ''Libao'' in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and worked as a teacher. In May 1940, Mao and his family traveled to

Yan'an Yan'an; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi Province of China, province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several c ...

. In Yan'an, he wrote essays praising the Communist Party's transformation of the region through both cultivation of culture and of labor. After 1943 Mao Dun did not produce any major works, but still wrote some articles and essays. In 1946 he visited the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. When the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

was established in 1949, he became active in several committees and he worked as the Secretary and then the Minister of Culture for

until 1965. He started the monthly literary journal Chinese Literature, which became the most popular for western readers. He was dismissed from his position as minister in 1964 due to the ideological upheavals. Despite this fact, Mao Dun survived the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

and was afterwards rehabilitated. In the 1970s he became an editor of a children's magazine, and began working on his memoirs, which were serialized in the Party publication, the quarterly ''Historical Materials on New literature'' (), but he died on 27 March 1981, before he could finish it. His influence on Chinese literature continues to the present day because he used his savings to set up a fund called the Mao Dun Literature Scholarship to promote an atmosphere for writing fiction. Mao Dun's achievements in literature were also seen at his 50th birthday, which was also the 25th anniversary of his literary life. More than five hundred guests came to celebrate with him. Russian and American friends also joined the celebration. Wong Roufei wrote an essay as congratulations on behalf of the

. Mao Dun's influence and achievements in the literary field were witnessed. On the other hand, he was twice elected as the chairman and then once elected as the vice-chairman of the China Literary Arts Representative Assembly. His status in the literary field has been highly recognized. Although he suffered great pain from illness in his old age, he still kept writing his memoirs, called ''The Road I Walked'' (). Besides his achievements, Mao Dun also had great influence on Chinese literature. The Mao Dun Literature Prize was created due to Mao Dun's wish that outstanding novels should be encouraged and communist literature should be promoted. It is one of the most honorable literature awards in China. Many famous modern Chinese literary authors like Wei Wei and Zhou Keqin have received the prize.

Marriage and personal life

Mao Dun had a typical traditional Chinese marriage. His family got him engaged to the Kong family when he was five years old and he married the daughter of Kong family after he quit from university. After their marriage, the daughter of Kong family had been renamed as Kong Dezhi (孔德沚), and she would go on to assist Mao Dun with his literary and political career during their marriage. However, Mao had had a two-year long affair with Qin Dejun (秦德君) during his marriage, which is also believed to have effects on his novel ''Rainbow''. In the end, Mao Dun ended the affair and returned to his own family.

List of works

Mao Dun has over 100 publications throughout his life, which includes short stories, novels, theories etc. Some of his most famous works include:

Short stories

* ''Wild Rose'' ( ''Ye Qiangwei'' (1929) * ''The Smoke and Cloud Collection'' ''Yanyunji'' (1937)

Novellas

* ''Disillusions'' ''Huanmie'' (1927) * ''Wavering'' ''Dongyao'' (1927) * ''Pursuits'' ''Zhuiqiu'' (1928) * ''Three people walking'', ''Sanrenxing'' (1931) * ''The Shop Of the Lin Family'' ''Linjia Puzi'' (1932) * ''Spring Silkworms'', ''Chuncan'' (1932) * ''Autumn Harvest'' ''QiuShou''

Novels

* ''Rainbow'' ''Hong'' (1930) * ''Midnight'' ''Ziye'' (1933) * ''Giving to the poet festival'Xian Gei Shi Ren Jie'' (1946)

Theories

* ''The recent works of Mao Dun'Mao Dun Jin Zuo'' (1980) * ''Mao Dun's comment on creativity'Mao Dun Lun Chuang Zuo'' (1980)

Essays

* "Travelling Diary of USSR"''Su Lian Jian Wen Lu'' (1948) * "Talks on USSR"''Ji Tan Su Lian'' (1949)

Drama script

* ''Front and rear Pure Brightness'', ''QianMingQianHou'' (1945)

Translation

* Modern drama ''Russian Question'' (1946) * Novelette ''Group's Son'' (1946)

Others

* ''Works of Mao Dun'Mao Dun Quanji'' (vol. 1–15, 1984–1987) * ''Introduction to the books of Mao Dun'Mao Dun Shujian'' (1st edition, collection of letters, 1984) later changed the name into ''Mao Dun Shuxinji'' (1988)

Transition of female characters

The 1930s is a turning point of the female characters' identity in Mao Dun's works. Between the 1920s and the 1930s, which was also the early period of Mao Dun's writing career, the female characters occurring in his works mostly were in identity of "

New Woman The New Woman was a feminist ideal that emerged in the late 19th century and had a profound influence well into the 20th century. In 1894, writer Sarah Grand (1854–1943) used the term "new woman" in an influential article to refer to indepe ...

", for instance, Mrs. Gui (桂阿姨) and Qionghua (琼华) in ''Wild Rose'' (野蔷薇, 1929), Ms. Mei (梅小姐) in ''Rainbow'' (虹, 1930). However, from the 1930s, the "New Woman" characters in Mao Dun's works started to be replaced by the women who were living in traditional Chinese family. Furthermore, female characters even started to lose their own names. As in one of Mao Dun's short novels, which was released in the 1930s, Shui zaoxing (水藻行), the only female character did not even have an actual name but only be called as "Xiusheng (one of the two main male characters)'s wife (秀生妻)" in the novel.

References

Sources

*
Bartleby.com article on Mao-Tun

Encyclopedia.com article on Mao-Tun

Yahoo Encyclopedia article on Mao-Tun
* Feng, Liping (April 1996). "Democracy and Elitism: The May Fourth Ideal of Literature". Modern China (Sage Publications, Inc.) 22 (2): 170–196. . .

External links

Mao Dun, Master Craftsman of Modern Chinese Literature
by Fan Jun
The Sad End of Mao Dun

Mao Dun. A Portrait by Kong Kai Ming
at Portrait Gallery of Chinese Writers (Hong Kong Baptist University Library). {{DEFAULTSORT:Mao, Dun 1896 births 1981 deaths 20th-century Chinese short story writers 20th-century Chinese dramatists and playwrights Chinese communists Commercial Press people Chinese male novelists Chinese male short story writers National University of Peking alumni Marxist theorists Chinese Marxist writers Ministers of culture of the People's Republic of China 20th-century Chinese journalists People from Tongxiang 20th-century Chinese essayists 20th-century Chinese novelists Short story writers from Zhejiang Writers from Jiaxing Vice chairpersons of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference 20th-century pseudonymous writers Chinese male dramatists and playwrights