Wen Yiduo Poetry Classics Complete Collection

Author: Zhang Hong, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Time: Not Available
Features: Wen Yiduo (1899.11.24—1946.7.15), originally named Wen Jiahua, styled You San, was born in Xishui, Hubei. From a young age, he loved classical Chinese poetry and art. In 1912, he entered Tsinghua School in Beijing, enjoying reading ancient Chinese poetry collections, poetic discussions, historical books, and notes. Starting in 1916, he began publishing a series of reading notes in Tsinghua Weekly, collectively titled Notes from Er Yue Lu. Simultaneously, he wrote classical-style poems. During the May Fourth Movement of 1919, he actively participated in student movements and was elected as a representative of Tsinghua students to attend the National Student Federation conference in Shanghai. In April 1920, he published a vernacular essay titled A Traveler's Life as a Student. That same year in September, he published his first new-style poem, West Bank. In November 1921, he co-founded the Tsinghua Literature Society with Liang Shiqiu and others. The following March, he wrote A Study of Regulated Verse, beginning a systematic study of the theory of new-style poetic meter. In July 1922, he went to the United States for studies. By the end of the year, he published Winter Night and Grass, a Critical Review with Liang Shiqiu, representing Wen Yiduo's early views on new-style poetry. In September 1923, he published his first new-style poetry collection, Red Candles, which had an aesthetic inclination. In May 1925, he returned to China and served as the Academic Director of the Beijing Art College. In 1926, he participated in founding Morning News · Poetry, publishing the famous essay The Meter of Poetry. In 1927, he became the Art Director of the Wuhan National Revolutionary Army Political Department. That same autumn, he served as the Head of the Foreign Languages Department at Nanjing Fourth Normal University. In January 1928, he published his second poetry collection, Still Water. In March 1928, he joined New Moon magazine as an editor but resigned the following year due to disagreements over views. In autumn 1928, he became the Dean of the College of Arts and the Head of the Chinese Department at National Wuhan University, dedicating himself to the study of classical Chinese literature thereafter. In late autumn 1930, he moved to Shandong to serve as the Dean of the College of Arts and the Head of the Chinese Department at Qingdao University. In August 1932, he returned to Beijing to become a professor in the Chinese Department at Tsinghua University. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, he moved south with the university and walked from Changsha to Kunming with his students. He taught at Southwest Associated University for eight years, actively participating in anti-Japanese movements and struggles against autocracy and for democracy. Academically, he extensively studied the cultural heritage of his country, authoring works such as Myths and Poetry and A Supplemental Correction of the Chu Ci. In 1944, he joined the China Democratic League. After the war, he became a Central Executive Committee member of the League and frequently attended progressive meetings and demonstrations. On July 15, 1946, at a memorial meeting for Li Gongpu, he furiously condemned the Kuomintang's assassination of Li Gongpu and delivered his famous Last Speech. That same afternoon, he was murdered by Kuomintang agents.
List of Works:
Winter Night and Grass, a Critical Review (co-authored with Liang Shiqiu), 1922, Tsinghua Literature Society;
Red Candles (poetry collection), 1923, Taiping; 1981, Humanistic Press;
Still Water (poetry collection), 1928, New Moon; 1980, Humanistic Press;
Collected Works of Wen Yiduo (volumes 1-4), 1948, Kaiping; 1982, Joint Publishing House;
Selected Works of Wen Yiduo, 1951, Kaiping;
Selected Poems and Prose of Wen Yiduo, 1955, Humanistic Press;
The Youthful Age of Wen Yiduo: Poems and Prose, 1983, Yunnan People's Publishing House;
Wen Yiduo on New Poetry (criticism), 1985, Wuhan University Press;
A Supplemental Correction of the Chu Ci (classical literature studies), 1942, Chongqing National Publishing House;
Myths and Poetry (classical literature studies), 1956, Ancient Books Publishing House;
Classical Studies: Volumes 1-2 (classical literature studies), 1956, Ancient Books Publishing House;
Miscellaneous Essays on Tang Poetry (classical literature studies), 1956, Ancient Books Publishing House;
Wen Yiduo on Classical Literature, 1984, Chongqing Publishing House;
An Interpretation of Encountering Sorrow (classical literature studies), 1985, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House.
He was a warrior, a poet, and a scholar. These three personalities converged in him, appearing or vanishing with the changing times. The scholar in him was the longest-lasting, while the warrior was the shortest-lived. Yet he remained a poet at all times. With a clear-eyed gaze, he observed all aspects of life, neither blinded by desire nor disgusted by filth, nor escaping from the mundane and base aspects of existence. He always remained as fragrant and transparent as ever, with a mature and composed demeanor, making poetry an art that "gives readers a serene understanding of life" and elevating its true value to "inspiring the wisdom and spirit of thousands through poetry." Then, Still Water would undoubtedly be a poem that no one could forget!