The Final Years of Shen Congwen's Life
As befitting the tumultuous times that he lived in, Shen Congwen (沈从文) was once again caught up in the 1983 campaign against "spiritual pollution" where he was attacked by ultra-leftist and literary hacks.
Shen was accused of "yellow" (obscene) writings, and also of overlooking the dark side of old society and representing "bourgeois tendencies" in literature.
Shen died in 1988 still insisting that none of his works before 1949 was useful. He once described himself as "a fake intellectual" and that "my stuff belongs to another generation". He added that his writings described a society which no longer existed and should be regarded as "negative material", and that there was no point in researching his works because they all belonged to the past.
He also noted that he had simply "muddled along for 60 years with an undeserved reputation", and that after 1949, he never understood abstract concepts and easily made mistakes.
As John Gittings wrote: "Researchers who sought him out in Beijing were strongly advised to choose another subject. This insistence on belittling his own talents went well beyond the formal requirements of Chinese literary self-deprecation. No wonder that in Fenghuang the memorial stone (dedicated) to him, on a hillside overlooking the river he loved, records that "throughout his life, he treated his reputation like water."
Behind Shen's wry humor lies sadness and a measure of self-disgust. As Gittings pointed out, Shen probably saved his life by accepting the Party's verdict and not writing seriously even during the short periods of political relaxation.
A researcher who knew Shen well said that of all Chinese writers, Shen was the "most firm in not being influenced by politics" as he believed that politics twisted people's hearts and was against human nature. Shen also believed that "Communism was disgusting and Marxism did not suit China."
The researcher's final verdict was: "Shen Congwen never hurt anyone in his life, but he was hurt by others all his life."
In a rare tribute, the Guangming Daily (光明日报) on 19 December 1985 observed that Shen's literary career has been cut off in mid-course because of the "misunderstanding of history".
Shen was accused of "yellow" (obscene) writings, and also of overlooking the dark side of old society and representing "bourgeois tendencies" in literature.
Shen died in 1988 still insisting that none of his works before 1949 was useful. He once described himself as "a fake intellectual" and that "my stuff belongs to another generation". He added that his writings described a society which no longer existed and should be regarded as "negative material", and that there was no point in researching his works because they all belonged to the past.
He also noted that he had simply "muddled along for 60 years with an undeserved reputation", and that after 1949, he never understood abstract concepts and easily made mistakes.
As John Gittings wrote: "Researchers who sought him out in Beijing were strongly advised to choose another subject. This insistence on belittling his own talents went well beyond the formal requirements of Chinese literary self-deprecation. No wonder that in Fenghuang the memorial stone (dedicated) to him, on a hillside overlooking the river he loved, records that "throughout his life, he treated his reputation like water."
Behind Shen's wry humor lies sadness and a measure of self-disgust. As Gittings pointed out, Shen probably saved his life by accepting the Party's verdict and not writing seriously even during the short periods of political relaxation.
A researcher who knew Shen well said that of all Chinese writers, Shen was the "most firm in not being influenced by politics" as he believed that politics twisted people's hearts and was against human nature. Shen also believed that "Communism was disgusting and Marxism did not suit China."
The researcher's final verdict was: "Shen Congwen never hurt anyone in his life, but he was hurt by others all his life."
In a rare tribute, the Guangming Daily (光明日报) on 19 December 1985 observed that Shen's literary career has been cut off in mid-course because of the "misunderstanding of history".
posted by Maria Siow @ 12:05 AM
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