Shen Yanbing

Mao Dun (4 July 1896 – 27 March 1981) was the pen name of Shen Dehong (Shen Yanbing), a 20th-century Chinese novelist, cultural critic, and the Minister of Culture of People's Republic of China (1949–65). He is one of the most celebrated left-wing realist novelists of modern China. His most famous works are Ziye, a novel depicting life in cosmopolitan Shanghai, and Spring Silkworms. He also wrote many short stories.

He adopted "Mao Dun" (Chinese:矛盾), meaning "contradiction", as his pen name to express the tension in the conflicting revolutionary ideology in China in the unstable 1920s. His friend Ye Shengtao changed the first character from 矛 to 茅, which literally means "thatch".

Early life

His father, Shen Yongxi (Chinese: 沈永錫) taught and designed the curriculum for his son, but he died when Mao Dun was ten. Mao Dun's mother Chen Aizhu (Chinese: 陳愛珠) then became his teacher. He mentions in his memoirs that "my first instructor is my mother". Through learning from his parents, Mao Dun developed great interest in writing during his childhood.

Mao Dun had already started to develop his writing skills when he was still in primary school. In one examination the examiner commented on Mao Dun's script: '12 year old young child, can make this language, not says motherland nobody'. There were other similar comments which indicate that Mao Dun had been a brilliant writer since his youth.

While Mao Dun was studying in secondary school in Hangzhou, extensive reading and strict writing skills training filled his life. He read the Wen Xuan, Shishuo Xinyu, and a large number of classical novels, which influenced his writing style.

Mao Dun entered the three-year foundation school offered by Peking University in 1913, in which he studied Chinese and Western literature. Due to financial difficulties, he had to quit in the summer of 1916, before his graduation.

The trainings in Chinese and English as well as knowledge of Chinese and Western literature provided by the fifteen years of education Mao Dun received had prepared him to show up in the limelight of the Chinese journalistic and literary arena.

Journalistic career

After graduation, Mao Dun soon got his first job in the English editing and translation sections of the Commercial Press (商務印書館), Shanghai branch. At the age of 21, he was invitied to be the assistant editor of Xuesheng Zazhi (學生雜誌) (Students' Magazine) under the Commercial Press, which had published many articles about the new ideologies that had emerged in China at that time.

Apart from editing, Mao Dun also started to write about his social thoughts and criticisms. To some extent, he was inspired by the famous magazine New Youth. Like in 1917 and 1918, he wrote two editorials for Xuesheng Zazhi: Students and Society (學生與社會) and The Students of 1918, those were significant in stimulating political consciousness among the young educated Chinese.

At 24 years of age, Mao Dun was already renowned as a novelist by the community in general, and in 1920, he and a group of young writers took over the magazine Xiaoshuo Yuebao (小說月報), which translated means "fiction monthly", to publish literature by western authors, such as Tolstoy, Chekhov, Balzac, Flaubert, Zola, Byron, Keats, Shaw, etc., and make new theories of literature better known. Despite the fact that he was a naturalistic novelist, he admired writers like Leo Tolstoy, for their great artistic style.

In 1920, he was invited to edit a new column: Xiaoshuo Xinchao (小說新潮) (The Fiction-New-Waves) in Xiaoshuo Yuebao. He even took up the post of Chief Editor of the Monthly in the same year and was obliged to reform it thoroughly, in response to the New Cultural Movement (五四運動/新文化運動). His young writer friends in Beijing supported him by submitting their creative writings, translating Western literature and their views on new literature theories and techniques to the magazines. Wenxue Yanjiuhui (文學研究會) (Literature Study Group) was formed partly because of this. The reformed Monthly was proved to be a success. It had facilitated the continuation of the New Cultural Movement by selling ten thousand copies a month and more importantly by introducing Literature for life, a brand new realistic approach to Chinese literature. In this period, Mao Dun had become a leading figure of the movement in the southern part of China.

On the notion of content reformation, both the innovative and conservative parties in the Commercial Press could not make a compromise. Mao Dun resigned from the Chief Editor of Fiction Monthly in 1923, but in 1927 he became the chief columnist of the Minguo yuebao. He wrote more than 30 editorials for this newspaper to criticize Chiang Kai-shek, and to support revolutions.

Political life

Inspired by the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia, Mao Dun took part in the May Fourth Movement in China. In 1920, he joined the Shanghai Communist Team, and helped to establish the Chinese Communist Party in 1921. At first, he worked as a liaison for the party. He also wrote for the party magazine The Communist Party (共產黨).

At the same time, Mao Dun participated in Chiang Kai-shek's Northern Expedition (1926–28), the main purpose was to unite the country. He quit, however, when Chiang's Kuomintang broke with the Communists. In July 1928, he went to Japan in order to take refuge. As he returned to China in 1930, he joined the League of Left-Wing Writers. Later, China went to war with Japan and he actively engaged in resisting the Japanese attack in 1937. In 1949, the communist government took over and he was responsible for working as Mao Zedong's secretary and Culture Minister until 1964.

As a literary man

Xiaoshuo Yuebao Reform was Mao Dun's first contribution to Chinese literature. The magazine then became a place where "New Literature" circulated. Many famous writers like Lu Xun, Xu Dishan, Bing Xin, Ye Shengtao, had their works published through it. Mao Dun supported movements such as "New Literature" and "New Thinking". He believed that Chinese literature should have a place in the world.

List of works

Mao Dun has over 100 publications throughout his life, which includes short stories, novels, theories etc. Some of his most famous works include:

Short stories

Wild Rose 《野薔薇》 Ye Qiangwei (1929)
The Smoke and Cloud Collection 《煙雲集》Yanyunji (1937)

Novellas

Disillusions 《幻滅》 Huanmie (1927)
Waverings 《動搖》 Dongyao (1927)
Pursuits《追求》 Zhuiqiu (1928)
Three people walking,《三人行》Sanrenxing (1931)
The Shop Of the Lin Family 《林家铺子》 Linjia Puzi (1932)
Spring Silkworms《春蚕》 Chuncan (1932)
Autumn Harvest 《秋收》 QiuShou

Novels

Hong, 《虹》 [Rainbow] (1930)
Ziye, 《子夜》 [Midnight] (1933)
|Xian Gei Shi Ren Jie, 《獻給詩人節》[Giving to the poet festival] (1946)

Theories

《茅盾近作》 Mao Dun Jin Zuo [The recent works of Mao Dun] (1980)
《茅盾論創作》 Mao Dun Lun Chuang Zuo [Mao Dun's Comment on Creativity] (1980)

Essays

《蘇聯見聞錄》 Su Lian Jian Wen Lu [Travelling Diary of USSR] (1948)
《雜談蘇聯》 Ji Tan Su Lian [Talks on USSR] (1949)

Drama script

Qingming Qianhou, 《清明前後》 QianMingQianHou [Front and rear Pure Brightness] (1945)

Translation

話劇《俄羅斯問題》 (Modern drama "Russian Question") (1946)
中篇小說《團的兒子》 (Novelette "Group's Sons") (1946)

Others

《茅盾全集》 Mao Dun Quanji [Works of Mao Dun] (vol. 1-15, 1984–1987)
《茅盾書簡》Mao Dun Shujian [Introduction to the books of Mao Dun] (1st edition, collection of letters, 1984) later changed the name into《茅盾書信集》Mao Dun Shuxinji (1988)