The Tragic Twists and Turns of Shen Congwen's Life
Still on Chinese writer Shen Congwen (沈从文).
In 1953, Shen's path crossed directly with Mao Zedong (毛泽东) when he was allowed to attend the second All-China Cultural Congress - though in his capacity as a museum employee rather than as a writer. When Shen was introduced to Mao at a reception, the latter enquired about Shen's work and state of health and then casually asked "why don't you write some stories?"
Shen reportedly gave a slight smile but did not reply. He had just received a letter from his publishers in Shanghai informing him that all copies of his works had been burnt as they were guo shi (过时, or "out of date").
This, in the view of Shen's only Chinese biographer, was the moment when Shen's surviving spark of creativity was finally extinguished.
When the first political thaw arrived in the Hundred Flowers Movement of 1956-57, some of Shen's short stories were published. In an introduction, Shen expressed rare optimism, saying that he now hoped to write "something quite good and quite new."
In 1957, he returned to his hometown in Fenghuang (凤凰) Hunan (湖南) hoping to seek new inspiration in a familiar territory. But the trip made him painfully aware how much life had already changed and how little he now understood it.
As John Gittings wrote: "Instead of being inspired by the rural cooperatives and factories in the towns, Shen's imagination seems to have been paralysed ... everything he knew about the countryside belonged to the remote past. How could he possibly understand how the peasants of China had become "masters of their own land?" And how (his readers might infer) could he possibly write about it?"
Shen then returned to his work at the Palace Museum (故宫博物院), and due to his diligent work, his name was thrown up in 1963 when then Premier Zhou Enlai (周恩来) suggested that someone should compile a book on China's costume to be presented to official visitors to China.
After Zhou had given Shen the go-ahead, Shen plunged into this new work with a team of researchers and the book was completed in a little more than a year. But by then, the political mood was shifting as Mao prepared to launch the Cultural Revolution (文化大革命).
Two years later, Shen's Study of Chinese Costume and Adornment in Ancients Times formed part of the dossier against him for "prettifying the past" and engaging in "reactionary scholarship". His rooms were searched eight times until there was nothing left to steal or smash.
He was struggled against in public meetings where his arms were pulled back and shoulders forced forward in the "airplane position". As other intellectuals were either tortured and crippled or had committed suicide, Shen counted himself to be "fortunate among the unfortunate".
He later spent a year cleaning the toilets in the north-east corner of Tiananmen Square (天安门广场) before being sent down to the countryside in Hubei province (湖北省).
In 1953, Shen's path crossed directly with Mao Zedong (毛泽东) when he was allowed to attend the second All-China Cultural Congress - though in his capacity as a museum employee rather than as a writer. When Shen was introduced to Mao at a reception, the latter enquired about Shen's work and state of health and then casually asked "why don't you write some stories?"
Shen reportedly gave a slight smile but did not reply. He had just received a letter from his publishers in Shanghai informing him that all copies of his works had been burnt as they were guo shi (过时, or "out of date").
This, in the view of Shen's only Chinese biographer, was the moment when Shen's surviving spark of creativity was finally extinguished.
When the first political thaw arrived in the Hundred Flowers Movement of 1956-57, some of Shen's short stories were published. In an introduction, Shen expressed rare optimism, saying that he now hoped to write "something quite good and quite new."
In 1957, he returned to his hometown in Fenghuang (凤凰) Hunan (湖南) hoping to seek new inspiration in a familiar territory. But the trip made him painfully aware how much life had already changed and how little he now understood it.
As John Gittings wrote: "Instead of being inspired by the rural cooperatives and factories in the towns, Shen's imagination seems to have been paralysed ... everything he knew about the countryside belonged to the remote past. How could he possibly understand how the peasants of China had become "masters of their own land?" And how (his readers might infer) could he possibly write about it?"
Shen then returned to his work at the Palace Museum (故宫博物院), and due to his diligent work, his name was thrown up in 1963 when then Premier Zhou Enlai (周恩来) suggested that someone should compile a book on China's costume to be presented to official visitors to China.
After Zhou had given Shen the go-ahead, Shen plunged into this new work with a team of researchers and the book was completed in a little more than a year. But by then, the political mood was shifting as Mao prepared to launch the Cultural Revolution (文化大革命).
Two years later, Shen's Study of Chinese Costume and Adornment in Ancients Times formed part of the dossier against him for "prettifying the past" and engaging in "reactionary scholarship". His rooms were searched eight times until there was nothing left to steal or smash.
He was struggled against in public meetings where his arms were pulled back and shoulders forced forward in the "airplane position". As other intellectuals were either tortured and crippled or had committed suicide, Shen counted himself to be "fortunate among the unfortunate".
He later spent a year cleaning the toilets in the north-east corner of Tiananmen Square (天安门广场) before being sent down to the countryside in Hubei province (湖北省).
posted by Maria Siow @ 12:18 AM
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