Duffy's Journey

Author: Yu Dafu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Yu Dafu (December 7, 1996 – September 17, 1945), originally named Yu Wen, styled Dafu, was a native of Fuyang, Zhejiang. He began writing classical poetry and submitting articles to newspapers starting in 1911. In 1912, he enrolled in the preparatory department of Zhijiang University but was expelled for participating in student protests. In July 1914, he entered the preparatory department of Tokyo Imperial University's High School and began experimenting with fiction. In 1919, he entered the Department of Economics at Tokyo Imperial University. In June 1921, he helped found the New Literature group, the Creation Society, alongside Guo Moruo, Cheng Fangwu, Zhang Ziqi, and others. In July, the short story collection "Sinking" was published, which had a significant impact at the time. In March 1922, after graduating from Tokyo Imperial University, he returned to China. In May, the first issue of the magazine he edited, "Creation Quarterly," was published. In July, the novel "Evening of a Drunken Spring" was published. Between 1923 and 1926, he taught at Peking University, Wuchang Normal School, and Guangdong University. In late 1926, after returning to Shanghai, he took charge of the Creation Society's publishing department, editing "Creation Monthly" and "Flood" (a bimonthly magazine), and published numerous literary and artistic essays such as "On Fiction" and "On Drama." In 1928, he joined the Sun Society and, with the support of Lu Xun, edited "Mass Literature." In March 1930, the Chinese Left-Wing Writers' League was founded, and he was one of the initiators. In December, the novel "Late Osmanthus" was published. In April 1933, after moving to Hangzhou, he wrote a large number of landscape essays and poems. In 1936, he became a councilor of the Fujian Provincial Government. In 1938, he went to Wuhan to participate in the anti-Japanese publicity work of the Third Department of the Military Council's Political Department and was elected as a standing committee member of the All-China Literary and Artistic Association for Fighting the War. From December 1938 to Singapore, he edited the supplements of "Xingzhou Daily" and other newspapers, writing numerous political essays, short comments, and poems. In 1942, when Japanese forces advanced on Singapore, he retreated with Hu Yuizi and Wang Renshu to Bayan Work, Sumatra, under the pseudonym Zhao Lian. In 1945, after Japan surrendered, he was killed by Japanese military police.