Zhu Pu (1902-December 9, 1970), born Zhu Shengzhai, was a Chinese writer, art collector, and civil servant. While renowned for his poems and short stories about daily life, he remains a controversial figure due to his association with the pro-Japanese

Wang Jingwei regime The Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China, commonly described as the Wang Jingwei regime, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in eastern China. It existed coterminous with the Nationalist government of the Republic of ...

Early life

Zhu Pu was born in Jingyun Village,

Wuxi County Wuxi County () is a county of Chongqing Municipality, People's Republic of China, bordering Shaanxi to the north and Hubei to the northeast and east. Sitting at the upper reaches of Daning River and the southern slopes of the central Daba Mounta ...

Jiangsu Province Jiangsu is a coastal province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the third smallest, but the fifth most populous, with a population of 84. ...

to a formerly wealthy family. His father, Zhu Shushan () was a famous painter who died sometime after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. 樸園文存
蕙風堂 His birth name was Zhu Shengzhai(). His

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

was Pu Zhi(). He later used the names Pu Yuan (), and finally Zhu Pu () in his writings.滿城風雨話朱樸
柯博文. March 2016. Issue 157. 僑協雜誌朱万章｜朱省斋与书画鉴藏著述
He was a student in the

Donglin Academy The Donglin Academy (, Wade–Giles ''Tung-lin''), also known as the Guishan Academy (龜山書院 ''Guīshān Shūyuàn''), was a former Chinese educational institution in Wuxi, China. It was originally built in 1111 during the Northern Song dyna ...

from the ages of 7 to 10 years old. After graduating, he briefly became an apprentice in a paper mill due to his father lacking funds to send him to secondary school. Eventually, Zhu secretly returned home due to the unbearable labor. By this time, his family raised enough money to have him go to secondary school. After graduating, Zhu enrolled in commerce courses at the Public University of China ().

Meeting Wang Jingwei

Although Zhu was enrolled in the Public University of China, his family's financial status threatened his path towards graduation. However, his determination as a student convinced the Dean of the university to let him continue his studies. After graduating, he became friends with the future

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 ...

Governor of Jiangsu The governor of Jiangsu, officially the Governor of the Jiangsu Provincial People's Government, is the head of Jiangsu, Jiangsu Province and leader of the Jiangsu Provincial People's Government. The governor is elected by the Jiangsu Provincial Pe ...

Chen Guofu Chen Guofu or Chen Kuo-fu (; 27 October 1892 – 25 August 1951), was a Chinese politician in the Republic of China. His given name was Zudao (), though he was more widely known as Guofu. He was born in Wuxing, Zhejiang, China (modern Huzhou) ...

. In 1928, Zhu traveled to Europe to open up additional business opportunities between the West and China. While in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, he met

Lin Bosheng Lin Baisheng () (1902 – October 8, 1946) was a politician of the Republic of China. He was born in Maoming, Guangdong. He was executed in Nanjing for collaboration with the Empire of Japan.徐友春主編『民国人物大辞典増訂版』は� ...

, , and

Wang Jingwei Wang Zhaoming (4 May 188310 November 1944), widely known by his pen name Wang Jingwei, was a Chinese politician who was president of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China, a puppet state of the Empire of Japan. He was in ...

Writings and work under the Wang Jingwei regime

Zhu Pu contributed to the Oriental Magazine. He wrote poems and stories about local customs in China and the daily lives of people. During 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 ...

, Zhu briefly worked as a deputy minister for Wang Jingwei's propaganda department. When his wife and eldest son died in 1941, he stopped working for the regime due to grief and despair. He then established the Gujin () journal in March 1942 where he would write stories and poetry. Gujin was eventually shut down in 1944.

Later life and death

After the war, Zhu Pu briefly moved to

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 ...

. He then finally immigrated to Hong Kong in 1947 where he would run a calligraphy and art business. On December 9, 1970, he died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

under mysterious circumstances. A rumor about his death involved Zhu attempting to smuggle

Qi Baishi Qi Baishi (1 January 1864 – 16 September 1957) was a Chinese painting, Chinese painter, noted for the whimsical, often playful style of his works. Born to a peasant family from Xiangtan, Hunan, Qi taught himself to paint, sparked by the Ma ...

's paintings from Communist China. Border guards attempted to arrest him, frightening Zhu to the point of death. 1902 births 1970 deaths Chinese expatriates in France Chinese magazine writers Chinese magazine editors Chinese male short story writers People from Wuxi 20th-century Chinese male writers 20th-century Chinese short story writers 20th-century Chinese novelists 20th-century Chinese poets 20th-century Chinese historians Kuomintang collaborators with Imperial Japan Chinese people of World War II

References

{{reflist