Shen Congwen and the Da Gong Bao

Author: Du Sujuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: The Dagongbao was a renowned private newspaper in China before liberation. Its literary supplement was initially edited by the master of Chinese studies Wu Mi; later, it was taken over by the famous writer Shen Congwen as the chief editor, and named Dagongbao·Literary Supplement. Dagongbao·Literary Supplement became a pivotal literary hub in China's literary scene in the 1930s, uniting literary and philosophical elites such as Zhu Ziqing, Lin Huiyin, Zhu Guangqian, and Jin Yulan, forming the famous "Beiping School." It also established a literary prize in the Chinese literary world. At the same time, it presented a unique landscape of literary figures, narrated many interesting anecdotes and stories in the literary world, and gave rise to numerous disputes and controversies. This book vividly describes and critiques the literary world and life behind Dagongbao·Literary Supplement with fluent prose, rich details, and vivid imagery. Shen Congwen, through long-term artistic practice, developed a unique aesthetic philosophy of "beauty in life." In his writing, he used a passionate tone to affirm and praise the vitality and passion of the "Xiangxi" world, revealing the beauty of life in its original state. He set aside his deep ethnic nostalgia and exposed the inherent flaws and fatal weaknesses of the "Xiangxi" world, expressing his fear and anxiety about the stagnation or decline of life. In artistic creation, due to the lack of rational emotional control, the praise and condemnation of life created a contradiction between artistic expression and discourse reception.