Zheng Zhenduo
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Zheng Zhenduo | |||||||||
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Simplified Chinese | 郑振铎 | ||||||||
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Xidi (courtesy name) | |||||||||
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Zheng Zhenduo (December 19, 1898 – October 17, 1958)[a] was a Chinese journalist, writer, archaeologist and scholar.
He made a significant contribution towards the establishment of the Chinese literature and the editing of a variety of literary magazines. In 1921, he, Mao Dun, Jiang Baili, Geng Jizhi (耿濟
Biography[edit]
Family[edit]
Zheng Zhenduo was born on 19 December 1898 in Yongjia, Zhejiang Province. His ancestral home was in Changle, Fujian province. He was born in a poor family. Together with two younger sisters, he was raised by his mother because his father and grandfather died when he was still a teenager.
He was named "Zhenduo" (
Schooling[edit]
In 1917, Zheng began studying at the Beijing Railway Management School and graduated in March 1921. Beyond classroom, he read a lot of books and developed an enormous interest in social sciences, Chinese literature and Western literature and thus developed a critical mind. During the May Fourth Movement, he was a student representative, spreading the news of student movements in Beijing. In 1919, he helped publish two magazines called "New Society" (
In January 1921, Zheng Zhenduo and twelve others, including Mao Dun and Ye Shengtao founded the earliest literary society of the New Literature Movement, Literary Research Association (
Careers throughout his life[edit]
Zheng had been a journalist, a modern writer, archeology and a literature scholar throughout his life.
In May 1921, Zheng helped set up a drama society called "Demotic Opera Troupe" (
In 1922, Zheng established the first magazine for children, Children's World (
Zheng had been a scholar giving lectures in universities, a researcher of the academy and a journalist since 1931. He taught in the Department of Chinese in Yenching University, in Jinan University from 1935 to 1941 as the Dean of faculty of Arts and in Peking University since 1953. After 1949, he became the Secretary for the Culture Department and Cultural Heritage Department in China.
Exile to France[edit]
In April 1927, Chiang Kai-shek launched a sudden attack on thousands of suspected Communists in the area he controlled. Many innocent students and movement activists were killed. Writers, including Zheng, were under political pressure. Therefore, he left his family for France in May 1927. During the years living in Paris, he kept mailing his diary to his wife, which was published as a book named Diary of Travels in Europe (
Return to China[edit]
He continued his journalistic career after coming back to China in 1929 and founded Jiuwang Ribao (
Cultural Preservation[edit]
Due to the invasion of Japanese troops, Shanghai was besieged starting from 1937 and many significant cultural assets were lost. In the light of this, Zheng devoted himself to the rescue and protection of aged Chinese documents and antiques. Chen was a founding member of the Shanghai "Rare Book Preservation Society" and its leader. Disguising himself as a staff member in a stationery store, named Chan Sixun (
Death[edit]
On 17 October 1958, Zheng led national cultural delegates to visit Arabia and Afghanistan. He died in the crash of a Tupolev Tu-104 in Kanash, Chuvashia, Soviet Union during the journey.
Journalism[edit]
Zheng started his journalistic career in the 1920s during the May Fourth Movement. Together with some classmates including Zhong Tao (
As one of the founders of a youth magazine, Xin Shehui (
- advocate the social service
- discuss society problems
- introduce social theories
- research on common people education
- record society matters
- criticize society shortcomings
- narrate society real states
- report news of the organization
Zheng gave many speeches about the student movement in Beijing. On top of criticizing, he wanted to make good use of the New Culture Movement to publicize and promote new social ideals for the Chinese future development. Chen Duxiu suggested that Xin Shehui could be edited with a more approachable style accepted by the general public. The magazine was finally published on 1 November 1919 throughout China, arousing tides of attention from the public, especially amongst the young readers. However, as Zheng and his co-editors were still inexperienced in editing by that time, the magazine was thought to be immature in editing and too sloganeered. On the hand, the content of the magazine upset the military side of the government. Thus, in one month's time, the government called the publication to a halt.
In addition, he established Literary Study Society (
In June 1925, he founded a newspaper called Kongli Ribao (
Also, he contributed in various newspapers like Jiuguo Jiangyan Zhoubao (
Contribution to literature[edit]
Translation[edit]
Zheng was proficient in foreign languages including English, Russian, Indian languages, Greek and Latin. He did a great job in translating a lot of Russian and Indian literature.
Zheng had started translation of Russian literature since early 20s. His works included the works, paper and preface of Turgenev (1818-1883), Gogol (1809-1852), Chekov (1860-1904), Gorky (1868-1936) and Tolstoy (1828-1910).
Zheng also translated many Indian literature. He mainly translated the poems as well as the Indian ancient-times fable such as Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). Zheng had translated a prominent number of Tagore's poems to Chinese since the 1920s. In October 1922, he published his translation of Stray Birds (
Zheng started his study in Greek and Roman literature in his early age. In 1929, he published The Story of Love (
Literature Union[edit]
As the previous newspapers and magazines were banned by the government, Zheng believed that a proper established literature union would make things run easier. In January 1921, he established Wenxue Yanjiu Hui (Literary Study Society
The Union's first publication was Wenxue Xunkan (
He also expressed his view on the development of Chinese literature. As the connection between the Chinese literature and the world's literature was far too little, the Chinese lofty spirit could not be shared by the rest of the world. He treated that as the Chinese's biggest humiliation. Therefore, he was so devoted in the field of literature, eagered to strive for a higher position of the Chinese literature in the world. Under the influence of the May Fourth Movement, he thought that the major responstility of the Chinese Literature was to inspire youngsters' revolutionary mission in order to strengthen the power of China.
Realism[edit]
Within the May Fourth movement, he adhered the direction of realism for New literature era. He thought literature liked 'mirror of a life'. This means his writing mostly revealed the real faces of societies. Also, he put a lot of emphasis on the importance of creative living. During his long composing and researching career, he showed a fully comprehensive realism of literature. He thought that literature must contribute to "life":
- We need the "blood" of literature, "tears" of literature. Both of them will become the trend of Chinese literature; the writing consists of not only "blood" and "tears", but also consists of "literature"; the "blood" and "tears" experience and feeling of author are aesthetic for success in writing.
Literature should consist of the highest ideal of the author, which form the soul of the article, in order to make it meaningful to the readers and the whole of society.
Classical literature[edit]
Starting from the late 1920s, Zheng was teaching Chinese literature History in universities. At that time, he did much in making research in Chinese classical writing. For example, he used his pen name, Bao Fun, to write Yuenqu Xulu (
Romanticism[edit]
Zheng put heavy emphasis on emotional elements in literature, highlighting its importance in distinguishing between literature and science. He advocated that literature functions to instill a passion in the readers' heart. One example was the historical novel, Arrest of the Fire Stealer (
Works[edit]
Academic[edit]
- 《
中國 古代 木 刻 畫 選集 》 (Zhongguo gu dai mu ke hua xuan ji) (Selected ancient Chinese woodcuts) - 《
文學 大綱 》 (Wen xue da gang) (Outline of literature) - 《
插圖 本 中國 文學 史 》 (Cha tu ben Zhongguo wen xue shi) (Illustrated history of Chinese literature) - 《
中國 俗 文學 史 》 (Zhongguo su wen xue shi) (History of Chinese popular literature) - 《
中國 文學 論集 》 (Zhongguo wen xue lun ji) (Essays on Chinese literature) - 《
俄 國文學 史 略 》 (Eguo wen xue shi lüe) (Brief history of Russian literature) - 《
佝僂 集 》 (Goulou ji) (Rickets) - 《
西 諦 書 話 》 (Xidi shu hua) (Xidi on books) - 《
鄭 振 鐸文集 》 (Zheng Zhenduo wen ji) (Collected works of Zheng Zhenduo) - 《
談 〈金瓶 梅 詞 話 〉》 (Tan Jin Ping Mei Cihua) (On Plum in the Golden Vase) - 《
編輯 方針 與 編輯 計 劃》 (Bianji fangzhen yu bianji jihua) (Editing: policy and plan )
Novels[edit]
- 《
取 火 者 的 逮捕 》 (Arrest of the fire-stealer) - 《
桂 公 塘》 (Gui gong tang) - 《
家庭 的 故事 》 (Jia Ting de Gu Shi)
Prose[edit]
He wrote more than 20 prose texts and the following are some of the examples:
- 《
中山 集 記 》 (Shan zhong Za Ji) - 《
海燕 》 (Hai Yan) - 《
避暑 會 》 (Bei Shu Hui) - 《
大同 》 (Da Tong) - 《
山 市 》 (Shan Shi) - 《
離別 》 (Li Bie) - 《貓》 (Mao) (Cat)
- 《
歐 行 日記 》 (Ou xing ri ji ) (Diary of Travels in Europe) - 《
最後 一 課 》 (Zui Hou yi ke) - 《
月夜 之 話 》 (Rou Ye Ji Hua )
Magazines and newspapers[edit]
新 社會 (Xin Shehui) (New Society)兒童 世界 (Children's World)戲 劇 (Xiju)(Drama)救國 講演 周 刊 (Jiuguo Jiangyan Zhoukan)小說 月報 (Novel Monthly)新 學 報 (Xinxue Bao)時事新報 (Shishi xinbao) (Current events newspaper)救 亡 日報 (Jiuwang Ribao)
Chief editor[edit]
- 《
世界 文庫 》 (Shi jie wen ku) (The World's Library) - 《醒世
恒 言 》 (Xingshi hengyan) - 《
警世 通言 》 (Jingshi tongyan)
Translation works[edit]
- 《
戀愛 的 故事 》 (The Story of Love) - 《
飛鳥 集 》(StrayBird) - 《
俄 國 戰 曲 集 》 (The Russian War Collections) - 《
灰色 馬 》 (Grey Horse) - 《
印度 寓言 》 (The Indian Fable) - 《
希 臘羅馬 神話 傳說 中 的 英雄 傳說 》 (Heroes from Greek and Roman Mythology) - 《
希 臘神話 》 (Greek Mythology) - 《
列 那 狐 的 歷史 》 (The History of Liena Fox)
Notes[edit]
- ^ His pen names were Baofen (
寶 芬), Guo Yuanxin (郭 源 新 ) and CT. His courtesy name was Xidi.
References[edit]
- Chen, Fukang. (1996). Yi dai cai hua: Zheng Zhenduo zhuan 《
一 代 才 華 :鄭 振 鐸傳》 (Biography of Zheng Zhenduo). Shanghai: Shanghai People's Press (上海 人民 出版 社 ). ISBN 7-208-02371-9 - Zheng, Erkang. (1998). Shiliu you hong le: huiyi wo de fuqin Zheng Zhenduo 《
石榴 又 紅 了 :回 憶我的 父親 鄭 振 鐸》 (The pomegranates are red again: Remembering my father, Zheng Zhenduo). Beijing: Renmin University Press (人民 大學 出版 社 ). ISBN 7-300-02848-9 - Chen, Fukang. (1997). Ming jia jian zhuan shu xi:Zheng Zhenduo 《
名家 簡傳書 系 -鄭 振 鐸》(Biographies of famous figures: Zheng Zhenduo). Beijing: Zhong guo hua qiao publishing house (中國 華僑 出版 社 ). ISBN 7-80120-120-5 - Zheng, Zhenduo & Zheng, Erkang. (1986). Zhongguo xian dai zuo jia xuan ji - Zheng Zhenduo 《
中國 現代 作家 選集 –鄭 振 鐸》. (Selected works of modern Chinese authors – Zheng Zhenduo) Hong Kong: San lian shu dian Xianggang fen dian; Beijing: Renmin wenxue Press (人民 大學 出版 社 ). ISBN 962-04-0476-9 - Zheng, Erkang. (2002). Xing yun gao qiu : Zheng Zhenduo zhuan 《
星 隕高秋 :鄭 振 鐸傳》(Star fallen at height of autumn: Biography of Zheng Zhenduo). Beijing: Jinghua Press. ISBN 7-80600-589-7 - Lu, Rongchun. (1998). Zheng Zhenduo zhuan (Biography of Zheng Zhenduo) 《
鄭 振 鐸傳》. Fuzhou: Haixia wenyi Press (華 廈文藝 出版 社 ). ISBN 7-80640-086-9
External links[edit]
- A concise biography of Zheng (English)
- A description of famous scholar (Chinese)
- The literary works of Zheng Zhenduo
鄭 振 鐸文集 (Chinese) - The Love story between Zheng and Gao (Chinese) Archived 2004-12-13 at the Wayback Machine
- President of "Pole Raising Club". Zheng Zhenduo 抬杠
會長 鄭 振 鐸 (Chinese) - Content of The World's Library edited by Zheng Zhenduo (Chinese)
- 1898 births
- 1958 deaths
- Chinese archaeologists
- Academic staff of Yenching University
- 20th-century Chinese journalists
- 20th-century Chinese writers
- Writers from Fuzhou
- Chinese publishers (people)
- Educators from Fujian
- Academic staff of Tsinghua University
- Academic staff of Fu Jen Catholic University
- Academic staff of Jinan University
- Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the Soviet Union
- Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1958
- Chinese literary theorists
- 20th-century archaeologists