Five Martyrs of the League of 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 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 ...

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

, and

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Upon creation, the group had over 50 members, many of whom were also members of the Chinese Communist Party. The league eventually grew to have an estimated count of over 400 members. Due to danger from the

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 ...

party and the common threat of betrayal from within the league, the league kept no records of its membership and was structured in cells of four to five members. Within the cells, members were only allowed contact with their immediate supervisor.

History

Before the official inauguration of the league, a preparatory committee of twelve members was formed by the Cultural Committee of the Central Propaganda Section. The preparatory committee members included,

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 ...

Rou Shi Rou Shi (; 28 September 1902 – 7 February 1931) was a prominent left-wing Chinese writer and member of the May Fourth Movement. Executed on either 7 or 8 February 1931 by the Kuomintang government in Shanghai for his pro-Communist activities, ...

Feng Xuefeng Feng Xuefeng ( ; ; 2 June 1903 – 31 January 1976) was a Chinese writer and activist known for his contributions to socialist literary criticism, particularly as an authority on Lu Xun. Initially a prominent member of the Chinese Communist Party ...

, Xia Yan,

Jiang Guangci Jiang Guangci (; September 11, 1901 – August 31, 1931), was a Chinese fiction writer active during the time of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China. Biography Jiang Guangci's ancestors were originally from Henan, and his fam ...

, Hong Lingfei, Zheng Boqi, Feng Naichao,

Qian Xingcun Qian Xingcun (, 6 February 1900 17 June 1977), also known by the pen name (), was a Chinese literary critic, author, and screenwriter. Born in Wuhu, Anhui, Qian moved to Shanghai in 1918 to attend the Shanghai Zhonghua Industrial College. Fol ...

, and probably Dai Pingwan and Pang Keng. All members of this committee were members 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 ...

, with the exception of Lu Xun. The preparatory committee deemed the following four kinds of behavior unacceptable: # Sectarianism and even individualism. # Incorrect methods of criticism--failure to adopt scientific methods and attitudes in literary criticism # Inability to take notes of the real enemies # Neglect of the role of literature in assisting political movements In addition to these unacceptable behaviors, the committee assigned three roles to writers: # Destruction of the old society and all its ways of thought # Propagation and promotion of the ideals of a new society # Establishment of new literary theories The league's inauguration was held at the Chinese Arts University on March 2, 1930. Lu Xun delivered the opening address to the organizational meeting where he criticized the bourgeois writers of the

Crescent Moon Society The Crescent Moon Society (; pinyin: Xīn Yuè Shè) was a Chinese literary society founded by the poet Xu Zhimo in 1923, which operated until 1931. It was named after ''The Crescent Moon'', a poem by Rabindranath Tagore. The society began as a lo ...

.Leo Oufan Lee, "Literary Trends: The Road to Revolution 1927-1949," Ch 9 in Left-Wing Writers not only active in the literary field, but also played an important role in other cultural organizations. After the establishment of the League of Left-Wing Writers in March 1930, the Cultural Committee successively established other left-wing cultural groups such as the Social Scientists Union, the Left-Wing Dramatists Union, the Left-Wing Journalists Union, and multiple film and music groups. All of these groups and unions were assimilated into a parent organization, the All-China Left-Wing Cultural Federation (), which was established by the Cultural Committee in Shanghai in October 1930. Due to the leagues strong affiliation with the CCP, it was quickly banned in September 1930 by the

party, and arrests were issued for the league's members. On 7 February 1931, the

party executed five members of the League: Li Weisen (),

Hu Yepin Hu Yepin (; 4 May 1903 – 7 February 1931) was a Chinese writer, poet, and playwright. Hu was a member of the League of Left-Wing Writers and was executed in February 1931 by the Kuomintang government along with other writers such as Li Weisen ...

, Yin Fu (), and Feng Keng 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 support ...

. Some have suggested that the five may have been betrayed by others in the Communist Party, perhaps as a result of a power struggle. 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.

Activities

The purpose of the League was to promote socialist realism in support of the Communist Revolution, and it eventually became very influential in Chinese cultural circles. To accomplish this goal, the league launched new magazines, seminars, and study groups. The League articulated theories on the political role of literature that foreshadowed Mao's influential

Yan'an Talks on Literature and Art The Yan'an Forum on Literature and Art () was a May 1942 forum held in the Yan'an Soviet and a significant event in the Yan'an Rectification Movement. It is most notable for the speeches given by Mao Zedong, later edited and published as ''Talks ...

, and engaged in running debates with the "art for art's sake"

. In June 1930, the Nationalist Literature Movement was founded with influence from the

. In June 1931, under the leadership of Qu Qiubai, the league began an attack on the Nationalist Literature Movement, where a series of articles were written by

Qu Qiubai Qu Qiubai (; 29 January 1899 – 18 June 1935) was a Chinese writer, poet, translator, and a political activist. In the late 1920s and early 1930s he was the de facto leader of the Chinese Communist Party. In 1935, he was arrested and executed ...

, and

Mao Dun Shen Dehong (Shen Yanbing; 4 July 1896 – 27 March 1981), best known by the pen name of Mao Dun, was a Chinese novelist, essayist, journalist, playwright, literary and cultural critic. He was highly celebrated for his Literary realism, rea ...

. In 1931, the league's executive committee passed "The New Missions of Chinese Proletarian Revolutionary Literature" which placed greater importance on literature and set a clear political agenda for the league. During that period, New Culture writers established several literary groups, such as the Mangyuan Society (), Weiming Society (), and Chaohua Society (), and published related literary magazines like Sprout Monthly, Pioneer, and Literary Journalism. These publications were founded with the purpose of uniting their efforts against the

writers like Hu Shi,

Xu Zhimo Xu Zhimo (, , Mandarin: , 15 January 1897 – 19 November 1931) was a Chinese poet. Best known for his work in modern Chinese poetry, he strove to loosen Chinese poetry from its traditional forms and to reshape it under the influences of Weste ...

, and Liang Shiqiu, whom they saw as representatives of the "oppressive class" in literature. These publications played a significant role in the Left-Wing Writers' League period, exerting considerable influence but eventually were all banned by the Kuomintang government. Other well known literary works produced by members of the league include Mao Dun's "Midnight" () and the league's magazine titled "The Dipper". () In 1932, Qu Qiubai argued that the revolutionary literature movement could not progress if writers could not find an understandable and universal Chinese language to use. Shortly after, debates within the party began on this topic, with

and

forming arguments against

. Despite the disagreements, a notable shift towards the proposals popularized by Qu Qiubai eventually took hold.

Notable Members

Ding Ling Ding Ling ( zh, c=丁玲, p=Dīng Líng; October 12, 1904 – March 4, 1986), formerly romanized as Ting Ling, was the pen name of Jiang Bingzhi ( zh, s=蒋冰之, t=蔣冰之, p=Jiǎng Bīngzhī), also known as Bin Zhi (彬芷 ''Bīn Zhǐ''), ...

Mei Zhi Mei Zhi (22 June 1914 – 8 October 2004) was a Chinese children's author and essayist. Biography Mei Zhi was born in Nanchang, Jiangxi, the eldest daughter of three children. Mei joined the League of Left-Wing Writers in Shanghai in 19 ...

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 member ...

Zhou Yang (literary theorist) Zhou Yang or Chou Yang (November 7, 1908 – July 31, 1989), courtesy name Qiying (起应), was a Chinese literary theorist, translator and Marxist thinker, active from the founding of the League of the Left-Wing Writers in 1930. In the 1930s h ...

* Feng Keng * Guo Moruo *

Yu Dafu Yu Wen, better known by his courtesy name Yu Dafu (December 7, 1896 – September 17, 1945) was a modern Chinese short story writer and poet. He was one of the new literary group initiators, and this new literary group was named the Creation Soc ...

Tian Han Tian Han ( zh, 田汉; 12 March 1898 – 10 December 1968), formerly romanized as T'ien Han, was a Chinese drama activist, playwright, a leader of revolutionary music and films, as well as a translator and poet. He emerged at the time of the ...

Hong Shen Hong Shen (; 31 December 1894 – 29 August 1955) was a Chinese playwright, film director and screenwriter, film and drama theorist, and educator. He is considered by drama historians as one of the three founders of the modern Chinese spoken dra ...

Notes

References

* *{{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 Chinese literature Organizations based in Shanghai 1930 establishments in China Arts organizations established in 1930 Culture in Shanghai Modern Chinese poetry 1936 disestablishments in China Organizations disestablished in 1936

History

Activities

Notable Members

See also

Notes

References