Seeking a Home for the Wanderer (Research on the Creation Society)

Author: Xian Liqiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: On March 2, 1930, the Left League (Chinese Left-Wing Writers' League) held its founding meeting on the second floor of the China Art University at Beisuhuan Road, Shanghai. Among all the attendees, members of the Creation Society accounted for more than one-third. In the initial list of Left League members, the Creation Society had 19 people included. They were: Feng Naichao, Hua Han, Gong Binlu, Shen Yechen, Qiu Yun duo, Peng Kang, Zhou Quanping, Zheng Boqi, Zhu Jingwo, Tian Han, Wang Yiliu, Jiang Guangci, Ye Lingfeng, Yu Dafu, Tao Jingsun, Li Chuli, Xu Xingzhi, Guo Moruo, and Shen Qiyu. Additionally, other members of the Creation Society such as He Wei, Wang Xuewen, Fang Guangtao, Bai Wei, Mu Mutian, and Zhou Yuying later joined the Left League. As some researchers have pointed out, "most of the Creation Society members later joined the Left-Wing Writers' League and achieved greater development." In reality, the Left League became another battlefield for the Creation Society members who were suppressed afterward. With the founding of the Left League, "the Creation Society faded away and became a term in literary history." At the time of the Left League's establishment, Jiang Guangci was a member of the Sun Society, Tian Han was a member of the Southern Country Society, and Zhou Quanping, Ye Lingfeng, Zhou Yuying, and Yu Dafu had already фактически left the Creation Society. After the failure of the Great Revolution, Pan Hanian no longer participated in the specific activities of the Creation Society. Although, for various reasons, they reunited under the banner of the Left League, the gaps that had already formed could not be completely erased, and the former conflicts and entanglements were also brought into the Left League. The factors that originally led them to leave the Creation Society once again pushed them to leave the Left League (in reality, they were expelled). Of course, due to changes in time, environment, and political factors, the specific manifestations of their reasons for leaving varied greatly. But no matter how great the differences were, if one reflects on the members who left the Left League, it becomes clear that the conflicts and entanglements continued. In April 1931, Zhou Quanping was expelled from the Left League. In August, Ye Lingfeng and Zhou Yuying were expelled. In October, Jiang Guangci withdrew from the Left League and was expelled from the party. On November 16, Yu Dafu was expelled from the Left League. The activities surrounding the Left League, to some extent, also determined the later life paths of each individual. In July 1937, Guo Moruo, who had lived in Japan for over ten years, returned to China and was appointed as the Director of the Third Department of the Political Department of the National Government. Under Guo Moruo's command, many Creation Society members gathered again: Yu Dafu, Tian Han, Feng Naichao, Ni Yide, Yang Hansheng, and others all worked in various departments of the Third Department. According to Yao Nan's, Yu Dafu "had set a plan with Mr. Guo Moruo in 1938 to revitalize the Creation Society, initially planning to publish a literary magazine. Mr. Dafu hoped this plan could be realized in Singapore, and later, on June 1, 1939, the Xingzhou Literature was indeed founded, combined with the Xingzhou Daily Monthly. In the Preliminary Statement, he explicitly stated this point. The magazine invited Mr. Guo to write the title, which also implied the collaboration between the two in reviving the Creation Society." The discussion on revival was naturally closely related to the reunion of the Creation Society members. As a literary society, the Creation Society had long dispersed, and revival was merely a pipe dream. Yet, the once glorious literary activities of the Creation Society left an unbroken thread of Creation Society sentiment in the hearts of the scattered members, making the "dead Creation Society" still possess "a natural cohesion," as one young member of the Creation Society once said: "The members of the Creation Society are scattered across the country, each one a fighter. Some may say that someone is aging or decadent, but even if we call this aging or decadence, their vitality is still beyond the reach of ordinary people." Shi Zhan, who seemed very familiar with the inner workings of the Creation Society, once recorded in detail the "fates" of the Creation Society members in the 1940s. "As for the current fate of the writers of the Creation Society, according to my knowledge, apart from Wang Duqing dying of illness, Hong Lingfei dying for his country, Peng Kang, Zhu Jingwo, and Zhou Quanping whose whereabouts are unknown, Cheng Fangwu and Pan Hanian are in Red Capital Yan'an, Guo Moruo, Feng Naichao, Huang Yamen, Li Chuli, Hua Han, Shen Qiyu, and Lin Boshou are in Chongqing and Guilin, Zhang Ziping, Tao Jingsun, Zhou Yuying, Gong Binlu, and Qiu Yundo have all participated in and operated, Yu Dafu has fled to Southeast Asia, Ye Lingfeng is traveling in Hong Kong, Zheng Boqi is in Xi'an, Mu Mutian is in Kunming, and the scattered and scattered, just mentioning them is enough to evoke a sense of life's vicissitudes!" Except for Hong Lingfei and Lin Boshou, who were not members of the Creation Society, the "fates" of the other members generally correspond to the actual situation. Additionally, Jing Yinyu committed suicide by drowning in 1929, Jiang Guangci died of illness in 1931, Li Chuli and Wang Xuewen went to Yan'an in 1937, Shen Xilin died of illness in 1940, and Zhu Jingwo heroically sacrificed in the Southern Anhui Incident in 1941. The vast differences in the fortunes of the Creation Society members and the diverse choices they made in life are rarely seen in modern literary societies. P278-279