Selected Works of Shen Congwen

Author: Yang Fangfang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-12-01
Features: Shen Congwen (1902–1988) was a modern writer and historian of cultural relics. His original name was Shen Yuehuan, and his pen names included Xiaobing, Mao Lin, and Xiuyunyun. He was from Fenghuang, Hunan (now part of the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture), and belonged to the Miao ethnic group. After graduating from primary school in 1918, he joined the local troops in his hometown and traveled to various regions along the Yuan River basin, living in the border areas of Sichuan, Hunan, Hubei, and Guizhou. It was during this time that he began to read works of Chinese and foreign literature. In 1923, he moved to Beijing to study independently and learn writing. He also attended classes at Peking University. After 1924, he began publishing his works and co-edited the Beijing Daily Supplement and the People's Literature weekly with Hu Yeping. In 1928, he moved to Shanghai and edited the magazines Red and Black and Human World alongside Hu Yeping and Ding Ling. The following year, he taught at China University. From 1930, he taught at Wuhan University and Qingdao University. Starting in 1934, he edited the literary supplements of the Beijing Evening News and the Tianjin Evening News. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, he became a professor at Southwest Associated University in Kunming. After the war, he became a professor at Peking University and edited literary supplements for the Beijing Evening News, the Yi Shi Bao, and other publications. Since the publication of his first creative collection, Ducks, in 1926, Shen Congwen published over 70 works, earning him the reputation of a prolific writer. His major works published in the 1940s include: short story collections such as Citrus, After the Rain and Other Stories, Love of the Gods and Demons, Inns and Other Stories, The Stone Boat, The Tiger Cub, The Little History of Ah Hei, Moonlit Sceneries, Like a Wreath, and Eight Horses, the novella A Mother, and the novel Old Dreams, The Long River, and the essay collections Memoirs of Hu Yeping, Memoirs of Ding Ling, My Autobiography, Jiangxi Wanderings, and Western Hunan. His novels draw from a wide range of sources, depicting the lives of people in both rural and urban settings, with those reflecting the lives of the lower classes in Western Hunan being particularly distinctive. His masterpiece, Border Town, showcases his lyrical and prose-like style, portraying the beauty of nature, folk customs, and human nature. It presents a richly poetic rural landscape, filled with pastoral charm and local color, forming a unique lyrical pastoral novel. Shen Congwen's creative approach was unconventional, defying conventional genres and structures. He experimented with various forms and frameworks, becoming one of the rare "genre writers" in modern literary history. His essays also possess unique charm, adding artistic brilliance to modern prose. Many later writers were deeply influenced by his creative style. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Shen Congwen was assigned to the Chinese History Museum, where he engaged in the study of cultural relics, artistic patterns, and material cultural history. In 1957, he abandoned his literary career. In 1978, he was transferred to the Institute of History at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences as a researcher, dedicating himself to the study of ancient Chinese clothing and other historical fields. His research achievements include academic works such as Tang and Song Bronze Mirrors, Dragon and Phoenix Art, and Studies on Ancient Chinese Clothing. In 1980, he was invited to lecture in the United States, and in 1982, he was appointed as a member of the Chinese Writers' Federation. In addition to the works mentioned earlier, Shen Congwen also published essay collections such as Glimmerings, Letters from a Discarded Post Office, and Yunnan Notes, critical collections such as Selected Critiques of Modern Chinese Writers, and various selected collections of Shen Congwen, as well as the multi-volume Collected Works of Shen Congwen.