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Yu Pingbo (; January 8, 1900 – October 15, 1990), original name Yu Mingheng () and courtesy name Pingbo (), was a Chinese
essayist An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...
,
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
,
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
,
redologist Redology () is the academic study of Cao Xueqin's ''Dream of the Red Chamber'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels of China. There are numerous researchers in this field; most can be divided into four general groups: the first group are the c ...
, and literary critic.


Early life

Yu Pingbo's ancestry can be traced to Deqing,
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 ...
. His pet name as a child was Sengbao (). He was a descendant of
Yu Yue Yu Yue (; December 1821 5 February 1907), courtesy name Yinfu, '' hao'' Quyuan, was a prominent scholar and official of Qing dynasty China. An expert in philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing ...
, a renowned scholar during the late
Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
period, and Yu Pingbo was trained in the Chinese classics from an early age. In 1915, he qualified by examination for a preparatory course at
Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...
, where he became one of
Hu Shih Hu Shih ( zh, t=胡適; 17 December 189124 February 1962) was a Chinese academic, writer, and politician. Hu contributed to Chinese liberalism and language reform, and was a leading advocate for the use of written vernacular Chinese. He part ...
's most prominent students. In 1917, he married Xu Baoxun (), a gifted female scholar from
Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...
, and then commenced composing melodies for
Kunqu Kunqu (), also known as Kunju (), K'un-ch'ü, Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. It evolved from a music style local to Kunshan, part of the Wu (region), Wu cultural area, and later came to dominate ...
operas. Meanwhile, he temporarily immersed himself in the
New Culture Movement The New Culture Movement was a progressivism, progressive sociopolitical movement in China during the 1910s and 1920s. Participants criticized many aspects of traditional Chinese society, in favor of new formulations of Chinese culture inform ...
, and in 1918 his first New Culture period poem ''Spring Waters'' (春水 ''Chūnshuĭ'') was published alongside
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 ...
's " Diary of a Madman" in ''
La Jeunesse ''New Youth'', also known as La Jeunesse, was a Chinese literary magazine founded by Chen Duxiu and published between 1915 and 1926. It strongly influenced both the New Culture Movement and the later May Fourth Movement. Publishing history ...
'', becoming one of the pioneering compositions to be written in contemporary Chinese vernacular. That same year, he established with classmates
Fu Sinian Fu Ssu-nien (; 26 March 1896 – 20 December 1950) was a Chinese historian, linguist, and writer. He was one of the leaders of the May Fourth Movement in 1919. He was also one of the creators of the Academia Sinica, and was named director of the ...
,
Luo Jialun Luo Jialun (; December 21, 1897 - December 25, 1969), was the former Chinese Minister of Education, historian, diplomat and political activist. A noted scholar, he was one of the leaders of the May Fourth Movement in 1919. Subsequently, being d ...
and others the New Wave Society. Other intellectual friends or writers included
Zhu Ziqing Zhu Ziqing (November 22, 1898 – August 12, 1948), born Zhu Zihua, was a renowned Chinese poet and essayist. Zhu studied at Peking University, and during the May Fourth Movement became one of several pioneers of modernism in China during the 1 ...
,
Feng Youlan Feng Youlan (; 4 December 1895 – 26 November 1990) was a Chinese philosopher, historian, and writer who was instrumental for reintroducing the study of Chinese philosophy in the modern era. The name he published under in English was 'Fung ...
, and
Ye Shengtao Ye Shengtao (28 October 1894 – 16 February 1988) also known as Ye Shaojun, was a Chinese writer, journalist, educator, publisher and politician. He was a founder of the Association for Literary Studies (), the first literature association dur ...
. He then went on to publish such compositions as the poem ''Winter's Night'' (冬夜 ''Dōngyè''). Yu Pingbo graduated from Peking University in December, 1919. After graduation, Yu took a brief trip to Europe, and in 1922 spent an equally brief period in the United States, but found neither place attractive.


Career during Republican China

In 1923, Yu published ''Debating Dream of the Red Chamber'' (紅樓夢辨 ''Hónglóumèng Biàn''), giving evidence for his claim that only the first eighty chapters of the original ''
Dream of the Red Chamber ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' or ''The Story of the Stone'' is an 18th-century Chinese novel authored by Cao Xueqin, considered to be one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It is known for its psychological scope and it ...
'' had been authored by
Cao Xueqin Cao Xueqin ( ; 4 April 171010 June 1765Briggs, Asa (ed.) (1989) ''The Longman Encyclopedia'', Longman, ) was a Chinese novelist and poet during the Qing dynasty. He is best known as the author of '' Dream of the Red Chamber'', one of the Four G ...
, the later forty chapters being penned by
Gao E Gao E (, c. 1738c. 1815) was a Qing dynasty Chinese scholar, writer, and editor. He attained the degree of ''juren'' in 1788 and ''jinshi'' in 1795. A Han Chinese who belonged to the Bordered Yellow Banner, he became a Fellow of the Hanlin Academ ...
. He thereby came to be known, along with Hu Shih, for establishing a new field in redological studies. These studies were not only important in developing an understanding of the text and its complexities, but in advancing the New Culture Movement's nationalistic project of using scientific methodology to replace old Chinese culture with a westernized version. In 1925 he took up post as a lecturer at
Yenching University Yenching University () was a Private university, private research university in Beijing, China, from 1919 to 1952. The university was formed out of the merger of four Christian colleges between the years 1915 and 1920. The term "Yenching" come ...
. In 1928 he went to
Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) 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 Constructio ...
. In 1935, he founded the Tsinghua Valley Music Society (清華谷音社 ''Qinghuá Gŭyīnshè'') Tsinghua to popularise his Kunqu compositions. In 1946, he transferred to Peking University for the post of professor. In 1935, he entered the Classical Literature Research Unit (古典文學研究室 ''Gŭdiăn Wénxué Yánjiūshì'') at the Literary Research Institute (文學研究所 ''Wénxué Yánjiūsuŏ'') of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research i ...
, there revising his old publication ''Discussing Dream of the Red Chamber'' and redistributing it under the title ''Study of the Dream of the Red Chamber'' (紅樓夢研究 ''Hónglóumèng Yánjiū'').Joey Bonner, "Yü P'ing-Po and the Literary Dimension of the Controversy over Hung Lou Meng," ''The China Quarterly''.67 (1976): 546-581; Merle Goldman, ''Literary Dissent in Communist China'' (Cambridge,: Harvard University Press, 1967).


People's Republic of China

In September 1954, two recent graduates
Li Xifan Li Xifan (; 11 December 1927 – 29 October 2018) was a Chinese Marxist literary scholar and Redology, redologist. He became nationally famous in 1954, when his critique of the revered redologist Yu Pingbo was praised by Mao Zedong, who seized the ...
and Lan Ling () published a critique of an article about ''
Dream of the Red Chamber ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' or ''The Story of the Stone'' is an 18th-century Chinese novel authored by Cao Xueqin, considered to be one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It is known for its psychological scope and it ...
'' written by Yu. On October 10, their critique of Yu's ''Study of the Dream of the Red Chamber'' was published in the major national newspaper ''
Guangming Daily The ''Guangming Daily'', also known as the ''Enlightenment Daily'', is a national Chinese-language daily newspaper published in the People's Republic of China. It was established in 1949 as the official paper of the China Democratic League. S ...
'', which criticizes the book for lacking "scientific analysis" and for failing to notice the "great anti-feudal trend" represented in the classical novel. Li and Lan's critiques caught the attention of
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
, who seized the opportunity to launch an attack against Yu, and ultimately, the idealism espoused by the scholar
Hu Shih Hu Shih ( zh, t=胡適; 17 December 189124 February 1962) was a Chinese academic, writer, and politician. Hu contributed to Chinese liberalism and language reform, and was a leading advocate for the use of written vernacular Chinese. He part ...
. Mao wrote a letter on 16 October praising Li and Lan's courage for attacking an established authority. The letter was circulated within China's top leadership, and Chinese media began a national campaign praising the "nobodies" such as Li and Lan while criticizing bourgeois "big wigs" such as Yu. 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 ...
, Yu was persecuted and sent to a
May Seventh Cadre School May Seventh Cadre Schools () were a system of rural communes throughout mainland China established during the Cultural Revolution to train Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Cadre system of the Chinese Communist Party, cadres to follow the mass line, in ...
in
Xi County, Henan Xi County or Xixian () is a county in the southeast of Henan province, China. It is the northernmost county-level division of Xinyang. The primary dialect is Zhongyuan Mandarin. Administrative divisions , this county is divided to 6 towns and ...
for manual labour. He was rehabilitated after Mao's death in 1976. On 15 October 1990, at ninety years of age, he died at his home in Beijing.


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, Pingbo 1900 births 1990 deaths 20th-century Chinese poets Scholars of Chinese literature National University of Peking alumni Poets from Jiangsu Academic staff of Tsinghua University Victims of the Cultural Revolution Writers from Suzhou Redologists