Yu Dafu

Yu Dafu (December 7, 1896 – September 17, 1945) was a modern Chinese short story writer and poet. He was one of the new literary group initiators, and this new literary group was named Chuangzao she (創造社, Creation Society). His literary masterpieces include Chenlun (沈淪, Sinking), Chunfeng chenzui de wanshang (春風沈醉的晚上, Intoxicating Spring Nights), Guoqu (過去, The Past), Chuben (出奔, Flight) and so on. Yu Dafu's literary works' writing style and main themes profoundly influenced a group of young writers and formed a spectacular romantic trend in Chinese literature in the 1920s and 1930s. He died in the Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies, likely executed.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Yu (郁).
Yu Dafu
Born(1896-12-07)December 7, 1896
Fuyang, Zhejiang, China
DiedSeptember 17, 1945(1945-09-17) (aged 48)
Pajakoemboeh, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies
OccupationWriter and poet
NationalityChinese
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese郁達夫
Simplified Chinese郁达夫

Early years
Yu Dafu

Yu was born in Fuyang, Zhejiang province. His father died when he was three, leaving the family poverty-stricken and destitute. He received a number of scholarships through the Chinese government and went on to receive a traditional Chinese education in Hangzhou. Chronologically he studied in Jiangxing Middle School (before he came to Hangzhou), Hangzhou Middle School, Yuying Academy (育英学堂, formerly of Zhejiang University).

In 1912, he entered Hangchow University (later its major part merged into Zhejiang University) preparatory through examination. He was there only for a short period before he was expelled for participation in a student strike.

He then moved to Japan, where he studied economics at the Tokyo Imperial University between 1913 and 1922, where he met other Chinese intellectuals (namely, Guo Moruo, Zhang Ziping, and Tian Han). Together, in 1921 they founded the Chuangzao she (創造社, Creation Society), which promoted vernacular and modern literature. He published one of his earlier works, the short story Chenlun (沈淪, Sinking), his most famous, while still in Japan in 1921.[1] "Sinking" reflects a problem, which is that both China and Japan were once powerful countries in Asia, but at that time, in contrast to Japan's successful national modernization, China has not successfully achieved national modernization. Yu Dafu was ashamed of this, and he used such a story to express a sense of national shame, but in fact, this story's background does not match the facts.[1] The work had gained immense popularity in China, shocking the world of Chinese literature with its frank dealing with sex, as well as grievances directed at the incompetence of the Chinese government at the time.

In 1922, he returned to China as a literary celebrity and worked as the editor of Creation Quarterly, editing journals and writing short stories. In 1923, after an attack of tuberculosis, Yu Dafu directed his attention to the welfare of the masses.

In 1927, he worked as an editor of the Hongshui literary magazine. He later came in conflict with the Communist Party of China and fled back to Japan.

Second Sino-Japanese War

After the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, he returned to China and worked as a writer of anti-Japanese propaganda in Hangzhou. From 1938 to 1942, he worked as a literary editor for the newspaper Sin Chew Jit Poh in Singapore.

In 1942 when the Imperial Japanese Army invaded Singapore, he was forced to flee to Pajakoemboeh, Sumatra, and Indonesia. Known under a different identity, he settled there among other overseas Chinese and began a brewery business with the help of the locals. Later he was forced to help the Japanese military police as an interpreter when it was discovered that he was one of the few "locals" in the area who could speak Japanese.

In 1945, he was arrested by the Kempeitai when his true identity was finally discovered. It is believed that the Japanese executed him shortly after the surrender of Japan.

Works
Yu Dafu 「沈淪」in Nagoya University
  • Chenlun 沈淪 Sinking (1921)
  • Chunfeng chenzui de wanshang 春風沈醉的晚上 Intoxicating Spring Nights (1924)
  • Nine Diaries 日記九種 (1927)
  • Guoqu 過去 The Past (1927)
  • Chuben 出奔 Flight (1935)

Writing style

Yu Dafu's literary works mainly belong to the autobiography, and there are many expressions with personal subjective colors in his works. He expresses his thoughts and feelings through the protagonist in the story; moreover, the plot in the story is created based on his personal experience.[2] Besides, his relationships with people around him are included in his works, such as his relationship with his mother and wife. It is precise because his works are derived from his own life that contemporary readers are very interested in his literary works.[3]

The story "Sinking" is considered one of the earliest psychological novels in modern Chinese novel history. At the same time, this story is viewed as a representative of romanticism, which satisfies one of the main literature characteristics during the May Fourth period.[1] The protagonist in the "Sinking" quotes from Chinese literature texts, like the verses of Wang Bo 王勃 (Poet of Tang Dynasty) and Huang Zhongze 黄仲则 (Poet of Qing Dynasty). Besides, the protagonist in the story not only quotes from Chinese literature texts, but he also quotes from Western literature texts, like the poems of Wordsworth (British poet) and Heine (German poet).[1]

In the mid-1920s, Yu Dafu changed his writing style. His writing style changed from romantic individualism to collectivism, especially in new women's image expression.[4] In the "Intoxicating Spring Nights", Yu Dafu described how a female factory worker regained her self-confidence in a difficult situation. He created an image of a proletarian woman who can strengthen the protagonist.[4]

Main themes

Yu Dafu's work is considered by leading scholars to be iconoclastic and controversial.[5]:102–103 His heroes, which supposedly reflect the author[5]:109 are "By turns voyeur, fetishist, homosexual, masochist, and kleptomaniac."[5]:109 The sexually repressed heroes cannot relate to women.[6] No matter whether the Chinese literature text or the Western literature text is cited in the "Sinking" short story, the same theme is expressed: loneliness. Yu Dafu believes this is a kind of thoughts and feelings that are not understood by other people.[1] He used this melancholy state of mind to express the degeneration of the characters in the short story. At the same time, Yu Dafu laid the foundation for the criticism and self-reflection of Chinese international students' literature.[7] The alleged 'decadence' of Yu Dafu's novels, whether in a pejorative or in an aesthetic sense (i.e.'Decadence' as an artistic movement) has been considered by some Chinese Marxist critics to be a sign of Yu Dafu's moral corruption,[8]:111 but Shih argues that Yu Dafu's writings constitute a serious-minded critique of China's political plight and perceived social conformism.[8]:113–114 Indeed, concern for the person and the nation are intimately linked in his work, and the effeminate and ailing body serves as a metaphor for the weak and sickly nation.[8]:115–123

References
  1. Denton, Kirk A. (1992). "The Distant Shore: Nationalism in Yu Dafu's "Sinking"". Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR). 14: 107–123. doi:10.2307/495405. ISSN 0161-9705. JSTOR 495405.
  2. Goldman, Merle (1977). Modern Chinese Literature in the May Fourth Era. Harvard University Press. pp. 309–324. ISBN 978-0-674-57911-8.
  3. "Romantic Sentiment And The Problem Of The Subject: Yu Dafu", The Columbia Companion to Modern East Asian Literature, Columbia University Press, pp. 378–384, 2003-12-31, doi:10.7312/most11314-007, ISBN 978-0-231-50736-3, retrieved 2020-12-17
  4. Feng, Jin (2004). The New Woman in Early Twentieth-century Chinese Fiction. Purdue University Press. pp. 60–82. ISBN 978-1-55753-330-2.
  5. C T Hsia 1999: A History of Modern Chinese Fiction
  6. Wolfgang Kubin: Geschichte der chinesischen Literature: Band 7, p. 60.
  7. "From the De-Based Literati to the Debased Intellectual: A Chinese Hypochondriac in Japan". MCLC Resource Center. 2014-09-23. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  8. Shu-Mei Shih 2001, The Lure of the Modern: Writing Modernism in Semi-Colonial China, 1917-1937
  • Encyclopædia Britannica 2005 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, article- "Yü Ta-fu"

Further reading
  • Lee, Leo. (1973). The Romantic Generation of Chinese Writers. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674492776
  • Yu, Dafu. (1984). Nights of Spring Fever and Other Writings. Beijing: Panda Books. ISBN 9780835110792

Portrait


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