Li Guangtian (1906–1968, born Wang Xijue) was a 20th-century Chinese essayist.

Biography

Born into an indigent peasant family with the surname Wang, he was adopted by his uncle, and changed his surname into Li. In 1923, he entered the First Normal School of Shandong, and was arrested later because of recommending left-wing literature. In 1929, Li sat entrance examinations for and was accepted at the foreign language department of

Beijing University Peking University (PKU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. It i ...

. In 1936, The poetry anthology ''The Han Garden Collection'' (《汉园集》) co-written by Li, Bian Zhilin and

He Qifang He Qifang (5 February 1912 – 24 July 1977; ) was a Chinese poet, essayist, literary critic and redology, redologist. He was born in Wanzhou District, Wanxian, Sichuan Province, which is now Wanzhou District, Chongqing Municipality. He studi ...

was published. He published three prose collections before the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), 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 ...

: the ''Gallery Collection'' (《画廊集》, 1936), the ''Silver Fox Collection'' (《银狐集》, 1936), and the ''Quesuo Collection'' (《雀蓑集》, 1939). After the outbreak of the war, he went into exile at southwest China. He wrote several essay collections during this time, including ''Outside the Circle'' (《圈外》, 1942), ''the Echoes'' (《回声》, 1943) and the ''Essays under the Sun'' (《日边随笔》, 1948). After 1949, he contributed himself into educational cause. He also did some research about the literature of the minority groups of China. He collated the long love poems like '' Ashima'' (《阿诗玛》) of the

Yi people The Yi or Nuosu people (Nuosu language, Nuosu: , ; see also #Names and subgroups, § Names and subgroups) are an ethnic group in South China, southern China. Numbering nine million people, they are the seventh largest of the 55 Ethnic minorit ...

and ''Xianxiu'' (《线秀》) of the

Dai people The Dai people ( Burmese: ရှမ်းလူမျိုး; ; ; ; , ; , ; zh, c=, p=Dǎizú) are several Tai-speaking ethnic groups living in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and the Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture ...

. Cai Qingfu. ''Li Guangtian'', ''Encyclopedia of China'' (Chinese Literature Edition), 1st ed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Guangtian Suicides during the Cultural Revolution Suicides by drowning in China People from Zouping 1968 deaths 1906 births Poets from Shandong 20th-century Chinese poets 20th-century Chinese male writers Chinese male short story writers 20th-century Chinese short story writers Chinese adoptees Writers from Binzhou Short story writers from Shandong Presidents of Yunnan University National University of Peking alumni