Baren (; 1901–1972) was a modern

Chinese writer This is a list of Chinese writers. Chronological list Qin dynasty and before * Gan De (fl. 4th century BC) * Gongsun Long (c. 325–250 BC) * Kong Qiu (551–479 BC) * Li Kui (fl. 4th century BC) * Lu Jia (d. 170 BC) * Han Fei (280–233 BC) ...

, critic and translator.

Biography

Baren was born Wang Renshu () in

Fenghua Fenghua (; ) is a district (China), district of the city of Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China. The district and its administrative hinterlands have a population of over 480,000. Fenghua is the hometown of two former president of the Republic of ...

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

. He went to elementary school when he was 8, and entered the Fourth Normal School of Zhejiang in 1915. After graduating in 1920, he became a grade school teacher. In 1923 he started to write short stories and poems, and joined the

Literature Research Society Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, plays, and poems. It includes both print and digital writing. In recent centuries, the ...

. One year later, Baren became a member 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 ...

. In 1930, he joined the

League of the Left-Wing Writers __NOTOC__ The League of Left-Wing Writers (), commonly abbreviated as the Zuolian in Chinese, was founded in Shanghai on 2 March 1930 and subsequently established branches in Beijing, Tianjin, and Tokyo, Japan. Upon creation, the group had over 50 ...

. When the

anti-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part of World War II, and often r ...

broke out, Baren stayed in

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 ...

to publicize anti-war culture. In 1942, he went to Indonesia, pursuing the anti-war movement. He returned to China in 1948. After the

founding of the People's Republic of China The proclamation of the People's Republic of China was made by Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), on October 1, 1949, in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The government of a n ...

, he served as Chinese ambassador to Indonesia and the director of the

People's Literature Publishing House The People's Literature Publishing House () is a large-scale publishing house in China. It was established in March 1951, and was attached to the China Publishing Group (). It is known for scholarly publications, editions of classical Chinese li ...

. Baren was persecuted and put to death during 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 ...

. Baren preferred fiction writing. He created collections of short stories including ''Jail'', ''Shack'', ''In the Decline'' and ''Martyrdom'', novellas such as ''Vagrant Life of Ah Quei'' and ''Badge'', and the novel ''Rebellion of Mang Xiucai''. His work on literary theory, ''On Literature'', was heavily influenced by the ideals of anti-Soviet critics.

References

* * 1992 /1 {{DEFAULTSORT:Baren 1972 deaths 1901 births Ambassadors of China to Indonesia Writers from Ningbo Politicians from Ningbo Victims of the Cultural Revolution 20th-century Chinese essayists Chinese male short story writers 20th-century Chinese journalists 20th-century Chinese historians Chinese male novelists 20th-century Chinese novelists Historians from Zhejiang Short story writers from Zhejiang 20th-century Chinese short story writers Chinese literary theorists