Five Martyrs of the League of Left-Wing Writers

__NOTOC__ The League of Left-Wing Writers (), commonly abbreviated as the Zuolian in Chinese, was an organization of writers formed in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

, China, on 2 March 1930, at the instigation of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

and the influence of the celebrated author

Lu Xun Zhou Shuren (25 September 1881 – 19 October 1936), better known by his pen name Lu Xun (or Lu Sun; ; Wade–Giles: Lu Hsün), was a Chinese writer, essayist, poet, and literary critic. He was a leading figure of modern Chinese literature. ...

. Other prominent members included

Ding Ling Ding Ling (; October 12, 1904 – March 4, 1986), formerly romanized as Ting Ling, was the pen name of Jiang Bingzhi (), also known as Bin Zhi (彬芷 ''Bīn Zhǐ''), one of the most celebrated 20th-century Chinese women authors. She is known ...

Hu Feng Hu Feng (, November 2, 1902 – June 8, 1985) was a Chinese Marxist writer, poet and literary theorist. He was a prominent member of the League of Left-Wing Writers. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Hu Feng became a memb ...

, and Mei Zhi. The purpose of the League was to promote

socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is c ...

in support of the Communist Revolution, and it eventually became very influential in Chinese cultural circles. Lu Xun delivered the opening address to the organizational meeting, but he became disillusioned when it quickly became clear that he would have little influence.Leo Oufan Lee, "Literary Trends: The Road to Revolution 1927-1949," Ch 9 in Other members included leaders of the Sun Society and the

Creation Society The Creation Society was a left-wing cultural organisation in China to encourage literary and cultural exploration. The founders wished to establish a 'society of art for art's sake'. The Society was established by a group of students who were ...

, and Zhou Yang, who became

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

's favorite literary figure and after 1949 zealously enforced political orthodoxy. The League articulated theories on the political role of literature that foreshadowed Mao's influential Yan'an Talks on Literature and Art, and engaged in running debates with the "art for art's sake" Crescent Moon Society. Due to the League's prominent political views, it was quickly banned by the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

government. On 7 February 1931, the government executed five members of the League: Li Weisen, Hu Yepin, Rou Shi,

Yin Fu Yin Fu () ( Chanhuaicun (), Jixian (), China, 1840 – China, June, 1909) was a Baguazhang (a martial art) disciple of Dong Haichuan responsible for the creation of the Yin Style Baguazhang. Yin Fu was Dong's earliest disciple in Prince ...

, and Feng Keng. They are known as the

Five Martyrs of the League of Left-Wing Writers __NOTOC__ The League of Left-Wing Writers (), commonly abbreviated as the Zuolian in Chinese, was an organization of writers formed in Shanghai, China, on 2 March 1930, at the instigation of the Chinese Communist Party and the influence of the cel ...

. The League was disbanded voluntarily in 1936. This was mainly in order to encourage authors to unite across political boundaries and face the rapidly increasing threat from Japan.

Five Martyrs

The Five Martyrs of the League of Left-Wing Writers were five Chinese writers associated with the League of Left-Wing Writers Li Weisen, Hu Yepin, Rou Shi,

, and Feng Keng executed on 7 February 1931 by the

in the "White Terror" period that followed the 1927

Shanghai massacre The Shanghai massacre of 12 April 1927, the April 12 Purge or the April 12 Incident as it is commonly known in China, was the violent suppression of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organizations and leftist elements in Shanghai by forces supportin ...

. Eighteen other communists were executed on the same day, including a pregnant woman. Some have suggested that the five may have been betrayed by others in the Communist Party, perhaps as a result of a power struggle.

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* *{{cite book , last=Wong , first=Lawrence Wang-Chi , title=Politics and Literature in Shanghai: The Chinese League of Left-Wing Writers , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-FRAQAAIAAJ , publisher=Manchester University Press , year=1991 , isbn=0-7190-2924-4

Five Martyrs

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