The Crescent Moon Society () was a
Chinese literary society
A literary society is a group of people interested in literature. In the modern sense, this refers to a society that wants to promote one genre of writing or a specific author. Modern literary societies typically promote research, publish newsle ...
founded by the poet
Xu Zhimo in 1923, which operated until 1931. It was named after ''The Crescent Moon'', a poem by
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
. The society began as a loosely-organized dining association.
In addition to Xu Zhimo, its other members included leading author and educator
Hu Shih
Hu Shih (; 17 December 1891 – 24 February 1962), also known as Hu Suh in early references, was a Chinese diplomat, essayist, literary scholar, philosopher, and politician. Hu is widely recognized today as a key contributor to Chinese liberal ...
, poets
Wen Yiduo
Wen Yiduo (; 24 November 189915 July 1946) was a Chinese poet and scholar known for his nationalistic poetry. Wen was assassinated by the Kuomintang in 1946.
Life
Wen Yiduo was born Wén Jiāhuá () on 24 November 1899 in what is now Xishui ...
and
Chen Mengjia, writers
Liang Shih-chiu
Liang Shih-chiu (January 6, 1903 – November 3, 1987), also romanized as Liang Shiqiu, and also known as Liang Chih-hwa (梁治華), was a renowned educator, writer, translator, literary theorist and lexicographer.
Biography
Liang was born in ...
and
Shen Congwen,
Rao Mengkan, and sociologist
Pan Guangdan
Pan Guangdan (; 1898–1967) known in English as Quentin Pan, was a Chinese sociologist, eugenicist, and writer. He was one of the most distinguished sociologists and eugenicists of China. Educated at Tsinghua University on a Boxer Indemnity ...
.
The Crescent Moon Society—along with other aspects of China's literary establishment at that time—was part of the larger
New Culture Movement.
It engaged in running debates with the "art for politics' sake" (and
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 Ci ...
-driven)
League of the Left-Wing Writers.
[to excerpt]
/ref>
The Society dissolved shortly after the death of Xu Zhimo in November 1931.
See also
* Chinese literature
* Chinese poetry
Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language. While this last term comprises Classical Chinese, Standard Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Yue Chinese, and other historical and vernacular forms of the language, its poetry ...
* Modern Chinese poetry
References
Literary Societies of Republican China
Modern Chinese Literary Thought
(p. 497)
The Columbia Companion to Modern East Asian Literature
(p. 368)
Twentieth-century Chinese Translation Theory
(p. 198)
The Cambridge History of China
(p. 430)
India and China in the Colonial World
(p. 94)
China
(p. 355)
Notes
Literary societies
Modern Chinese poetry
Chinese writers' organizations
Further reading
* Lee, Leo. (1973). ''The Romantic Generation of Chinese Writers''. Harvard University Press. .
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