Bao Hu lao Biographic Library · Giant Hundred Biography Series -- Tagore

Author: Han Ren
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-10-01
Features: We are delighted to recommend the "Giant Biographies Series" to young friends. In this era of the turn of the century, having such a fine series accompany you is a joy in wisdom. We believe that from the footsteps of these giants and masters, you can learn how to properly handle success and failure, comfort and hardship, joy and pain, smoothness and tribulation, understand how to face life, how to learn to be a person, how to pursue knowledge, how to shape oneself, and how to shape the future.
Principal of Peking University, Zhao Yulin Secretary of the Party Committee, Dong Lingsheng
Every great figure with global influence contains a deeply moving story. Their rich experience and life experiences, their spirit of struggle and elements of success, their character of pursuing excellence and their ability to seize opportunities, undoubtedly have a great enlightening and educational role for today's youth.
Principal of Tsinghua University, Zhao Qinggang
Giants are the elite of humanity. They have made outstanding contributions to the progress and civilization of human society. Their spirit of struggle and superhuman achievements are deeply admired by people, becoming models for people to learn from. Giants are human, not gods. They come from ordinary people but are above ordinary people. Their lofty ideals and the belief that they want to benefit their country and humanity are the driving force behind their relentless struggle and fearlessness of difficulties.
Principal of Tianjin Nankai Middle School, Kang Xiuyan
To carefully read this series of books is like seeing their appearance, speech, and behavior, feeling their ideals, beliefs, aspirations, and sentiments. This will help you learn to be a person, learn to pursue knowledge, and learn to build a career.
Principal of Fudan University, Cao Tianren
Tagore (1861-1941) was born in Calcutta, West Bengal. His father was a famous philosopher and poet, and many family members were progressive patriots with academic achievements. Tagore began writing poems in his childhood and published his patriotic poem "Offerings to the Hindu Temple" at the age of 14. In 1878, he went to England to study law and returned in 1880. In 1881, Tagore published his first poetry collection, "Songs of the Evening," which attracted attention in literary circles. During his early creative period (1880 to the late 1890s), his works mainly included short stories and narrative poems. These included more than 10 poetry collections such as "The Golden Boat" (1894), "Fruit-Gathering" (1896), "The Ganges and the Jumna" (1896), "Harikeerti" (1899), "Fruit-Gathering" (1900), "Stray Birds" (1900), and "The Gardener" (1900), along with more than 60 short stories and other works. These works either drew on folk tales to promote patriotism and express anti-colonial sentiments, such as "Gobind Singh" in "The Gardener" (1886), "More Giving" (1900), and "The Captive Hero" (1900); or were based on reality, criticizing feudal marriage and caste systems through the tragic stories of poor women, expressing humanitarian sentiments, such as the short story "The Steps by the River" (1884), "Kabuliwala" (1893), and "Sapna" (1893). The representative short story "Kabuliwala" critiques India's feudal marriage system and the evil practice of sati through the love story of Moharana and Rahib. The narrative poem "Two Acres of Land" exposes the crimes of feudal landlords who exploit and oppress the people. From the early 20th century to 1919, Tagore entered his mid-career creative period, which was dominated by middle and long novels and philosophical lyric poetry. This was also an important period for Tagore to explore the path of national liberation. During this time, Tagore actively participated in the national liberation movement against colonial rule, writing famous poems such as "The Land of My Country," "Blessings of Bengal," and "Victory Over Self." Although he had disagreements with the leaders of the Indian National Congress, who were leading the movement for national autonomy, Tagore felt frustrated and confused, but his creative output was exceptionally rich. According to incomplete statistics, during this period, he published 8 Bengali poetry collections, including "Gitanjali" (1914), "The Crescent Moon" (1916), and "Stray Birds" (1916); 8 English poetry collections, including "Gitanjali" (1912), "The Gardener" (1913), "Stray Birds" (1913), "Gitanjali" (1916), and "Fruit-Gathering" (1916); as well as the novels "Gora" (1910) and "The Home and the World" (1916), and the novella "The Four" (1916); in addition to short stories, plays, song collections, essays, miscellaneous works, memoirs, and correspondence. Besides philosophical lyric poetry, middle and long novels were a highlight of Tagore's creative output during this period. "The Boat of the Dead" tells the story of a young intellectual named Hemchandra, who listens to his father's orders to return to his hometown for marriage. On the night he takes his wife back to the city by boat, they encounter a storm. When he wakes up on the shore, he mistakes Narayanksha, another newly married woman who also perished in the shipwreck, for his wife and brings her home. A series of twists and turns then unfold. From this, we can see Hemchandra's kind heart, his weakness in submitting to his father's wishes, and the author's critique of India's feudal customs. "Gora" expresses the author's reflections on the path to India's independence. Gora is a typical Indian democrat who firmly believes that his country will surely become independent. "Gora is the embodiment of the Indian soul that yearns for freedom and fiercely fights against its social and political subjugation." However, Gora narrowly believed that to achieve his goals, he must completely adhere to the traditions of Hinduism, including the caste system and other backward or even reactionary traditions. The reality of India and the actual struggles made him change this view, especially when he realized that he was not descended from a Brahmin family. He finally broke free from the constraints of caste and sect. Gora finally understood that to be independent, one must oppose both colonialism and feudalism. Tagore unambiguously expressed his anti-colonial, anti-feudal, and anti-religious views. Both works have complex plots and suspenseful arrangements, but "Gora" has passionate, argumentative dialogues, while "The Boat of the Dead" has delicate psychological descriptions and poetic imagery, creating different styles. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919 led to a new high tide of the national liberation movement. Tagore rose in protest. From 1920 onwards, he frequently traveled abroad, and his perspective broadened to the world. His late creative period (1919 until his death) was dominated by political lyric poetry and plays. He recognized the errors of reformism and non-violent thought, and the historical position of anti-imperialism, national liberation, and the working people became the themes of his works. During this period, he wrote plays such as "The Post Office" (1922) and "Red Oleanders" (1926), as well as poetry collections such as "Creative Thoughts" (1922), "Culmination" (1932), "Recollections" (1932), "Last Week" (1935), "Chitra" (1936), "Black Bull" (1936), "Marginalia" (1938), "New Life" (1940), "On the Sickbed" (1940), "Recovery" (1941), and "Birthday" (1941), along with other works. These were love-hate, passionate political lyric poems. He condemned imperialism, mocked Japanese soldiers, affirmed the great role of the working people in creating the world, and made a profound self-analysis. Tagore wrote more than 50 poetry collections, 30 essays, 12 middle and long novels, nearly 100 short stories, and more than 30 plays, as well as other works. His works reflect the path taken by the Indian people in their struggle against imperialism, colonialism, and feudalism. He was India's greatest modern poet and novelist.