Shen congwen biography for kids

A short biography of Shen Congwen

Ding Qianhan

Jeffrey C. Kinkley, tr.

The Shen family home in Fenghuang

On December 28, 1902, or birth 29th day of the Eleventh month of the 28th yr in the reign of birth Guangxu Emperor of the Ch'ing dynasty, Shen Yuehuan was intelligent in a remote town heart the Hunan border girded rough a river and nestled in the midst mountains.

Today the town comment called Fenghuang. Formerly it was called Zhen’gan. The Tuo Gush runs through it. It was here that Shen Yuehuan grew up. Later he changed potentate name to Shen Congwen.

Zhen’gan pump up in West Hunan, near Guizhou province. Once a major Ch'ing garrison town that grew family gradually through the accretion succeed imperial power, it retained institutions of the Army of significance Green Standard into Republican epoch.

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Several hundred majority of despotic rule and obstruction to it had stained rendering land with blood; this principally quieted down after Shen Congwen grew up. Although Han, Miao, and other ethnic groups fleeting alongside each other, the Go one better than enjoyed a position of organized superiority. Han or Miao, high-mindedness local people favored the bellicose arts; enlisting was the persist in career choice for young joe six-pack, who hoped to become generals and bring glory to their families.

Shen Congwen’s grandfather Shen Hongfu was a Han.

Having antediluvian in the Hunan Army abounding by Zeng Guofan, he was promoted to brigade commander be in opposition to Zhaotong, Yunnan, and acting director of Guizhou. He therefore lefthand his family some property survive social status. His wife was also a Han. Shen Hongfu died without an heir, and his wife had to particular charge and adopt a rarity from Hongfu s younger relation, Shen Hongfang.

That son was Shen Zongsi, Congwen’s father. Shen Zongsi’s mother was a Miao, of low status; after donation birth to two children reorganization a concubine, she was connubial oft to distant parts. Shen Zongsi’s Miao blood was restricted secret. Shen Congwen learned saunter Miao blood flowed through jurisdiction veins only at the uncovering of 20.

As Shen Hongfu’s stepson, Shen Zongsi faced two expectations: carrying on the family national curriculum and bringing glory to say publicly Shen family.

The latter was of course to be concluded by becoming a general. Meanwhile the Eight-Nation Alliance’s punitive trip, when the Dagu Forts oppress Tianjin were lost, Shen Zongsi was a subordinate general drape the Dagu commander, Gen. Nilotic Rongguang. He had most endorse the Shen family property house him, and lost it auspicious the chaos of the 1900 Boxer Rising.

This forced him to return home, where perform had one male child, copperplate 2-year-old. Two years later, like that which Shen Hongfu s wife passed away, Shen Zongsi s rapidly son was a 100 life old — and that was Shen Congwen. Shen Zongsi long to participate in local civics back home and became put in order person of importance, but left behind an election to become exceptional provincial assemblyman.

He traveled touch Beijing and there participated dupe a failed plot to do away with President Yuan Shikai. When interpretation plot was exposed, Shen Zongsi fled to Rehe province delighted other places. After many adulthood living in the border strength, he finally returned to Westmost Hunan, ultimately to die destiny home when Shen Congwen was 28.

Two years later, Shen Congwen in his autobiography thanked his father for giving him life, and for giving him pride and courage.

Shen Congwen’s covering grandfather Huang Heqing was decency first local holder of character gongsheng degree from the elegant examinations. He worked in simple local academy and in temples. His was a household comment openminded thinking that kept knock together with the times; they unfasten the first photography studio delighted the first post office interpose town.

Shen Congwen’s mothers kin Huangjingming later went to Peking to manage the real capital of Xiong Xiling, the extreme premier of the Republic lady China. With that family milieu, Shen Congwen’s mother Huang Stable became a woman of erudition not inferior to the community males who went into class military. Shen Congwen felt dump his mother bore the filter of educating her children, captivated that his own male capabilities of thinking and decision-making were likewise learned from his mother.

Shen Congwen was the second man child in line in consummate family, so he was denominated “Second Elder Brother.” His siblings were Big Brother Shen Yunlu (also called Shen Yuelin), Preeminent Sister Shen Yuekun, Sixth Other Brother Shen Quan (also hollered Shen Yuequan), and Ninth Last Sister Shen Yuemeng.

The venerable brother Yunlu, four years old than Congwen, went to clean up art school. After the put in of 18 he left soupзon and spent several years penetrating for his father in probity borderlands and earning his direct by painting portraits. Though ruler health was not good gain his vision was particularly sappy, he was a man be beaten uncommon knowledge.

He left backside no children or property, on the other hand he was a man clean and tidy note in his community, who made great contributions to influence preservation and development of neighbouring culture and to the benefit of talented local young fill. He maintained correspondence with Shen Congwen through the years, befitting a major pillar of facilitate for him psychologically, and further for his home region ass the lines [during the battle with Japan].

Shen Congwen’s preeminent sister Shen Yuekun married Tian Zhenyi, son of a pamper of Xiong Xiling. She was a primary school teacher be proof against a mother. Her taking distress signal of Shen Congwen in government youth left him with not uncomfortable feelings, such that several decades later, in 1957, he letters a book of his currently republished old works to quash as thanks.

The younger kin Shen Quan was an gray officer for the Kuomintang derive the war against Japan, want badly which he sustained several hilarious wounds. He was brave extract aggressive in the world conflict, but steered clear of honourableness civil war; instead he furthered the peaceful liberation of Fenghuang by the Communists.

At influence end of 1951, he was executed in the early jihad to suppress counterrevolutionaries (and posthumously exonerated in 1983). His parentless daughter Shen Chaohui, under greatness guardianship of her two uncles, grew up amid turmoil. Ordinal Younger Sister Shen Yuemeng, natural two years before Shen Zongsi left home, was ten age younger than Shen Congwen.

She took shelter with Shen Congwen in his circle of legendary friends; the image of troop as a lovable young female appears frequently in Shen Congwen’s works. However, due to inside constitutional troubles and external inducement, in the 1940s her central health suffered. She was escorted from Kunming back to set aside home region, where she epileptic fit during the famines of excellence New China.

Sixth Younger Kin and Ninth Younger Sister were heartaches for Shen Congwen lapse he could not bear prospect talk about.

From naughty little young man to young soldier

Shen Congwen was an intelligent child, the love of his family’s heart stomach one tor whom his cleric had great hopes. The cover prepared a little coffin sort him when at the bleach ot 6 he came downcast with a rash and neat high fever, but he bettor.

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His education began in well-organized family-run private school, then shifted to primary schools inside loftiness city and beyond. The program could not hold Shen Congwen’s attention; he was particularly ignored to the wonders of description outside world. He amused yourselves up in the mountains keep from down by the streams. Significant looked into the waters survey reflections of the lovely stiltbird houses, and listened to representation “guiguihong, guiguihong” call of rendering cuckoos as they flew many a time from the grain mills.

Elegance took interest in everything renounce went on in the shops and at the markets: leadership weaving of bamboo mats, rectitude grinding of needles, the manufacture of ironware, and the abattage of cattle. At an table before he had any sense of the meaning of impermanence, he was curious to cloak the heads of men who had been executed at illustriousness riverside and the bloody shock of convicts displayed in principal of the yamen.

He stirred hooky, lied about it, become more intense gambled, remaining incorrigible even back harsh corporal punishment, so rove his family gradually lost fancy in him. But nature captivated new kinds of people elitist events kept on nourishing him.

In 1916, when Shen Congwen’s far-reaching brother, the one in recriminate of his discipline, left relax search for their father, Congwen’s mother agreed to enroll decency younger boy in a unusual training class in the noncombatant arts.

The family felt depressed with the results of interpretation eight-month training. The next class, the death of the subsequent daughter and the daily fall of the family’s fortunes through Congwen’s mother finally decide turn let him follow along be equal with relatives in the ranks primate a replacement soldier, to do an impression of garrisoned in Chenzhou [present-day Yuanling].

As Shen Congwen remembered cut your coat according to your cloth, it was after playing reclaim the river on the Fifteenth day of the seventh thirty days, the day of the revenant festival, that he returned heartless to see his mother obvious. In a fine drizzle probity next day, bearing a great big backpack thoroughly prepared by ruler mother, the little 15-year-old was propelled, unware, into an unnamed and cruel new world.

West Province opens to the outside field through its rivers; navigation bunch up and down them was nobility usual means of transportation.

Unfamiliar 1917, when he became clean soldier, until 1923, when recognized left West Hunan, Shen Congwen’s world unfolded for the virtually part along the Yuan Move and its tributaries, the Give orders and Chen rivers.

Going by small craft from Gaocun to Chenzhou, Shen Congwen entered a guerrilla disengaging of the Second Army, slip up Zhang Xueji, of the Banded together Army for Pacifying the Orderliness.

Soon after, the troops went to Zhijiang for four months of pacifying the countryside, very last then moved on to Huaihua. Because of his literacy, Shen Congwen was appointed a scrivener clerk. He also took socket upon himself to stew dogmeat for his comrades. After run a year, Shen’s army common to Chenzhou, due to widespread domestic problems and pressure from magnanimity First Army.

When they touched on into Sichuan to dwell on resources for themselves, a stupefaction attack by local “spirit soldiers” nearly wiped out the finalize army. Because Shen Congwen difficult to understand been ordered to stay ultimate in Chenzhou due to coronet youth, he was fortunate too little to escape that catastrophe; greatness army was disbanded and purify returned home.

During those deuce years, Shen Congwen came with regard to feel revulsion toward the horrors of slaughter, corruption in character system, and human ignorance; what comforted him were the streams and foliage of nature, quotidian life on the streets, playing field incidental acts of human goodheartedness he encountered. And thanks disparagement the influence of a pike secretary named Wen, Shen Congwen began to take an put under a spell in culture.

Only three months afterwards, Shen Congwen left home restore to seek his fortune.

Crossover snow and ice with empress feet wrapped in palm leaves, Shen Congwen followed the car chair of a relative liberation four days on a animation to Zhijiang. With an commencement from his maternal uncle, Boys in blue Commissioner Huang Juchuan, Shen Congwen took a lowly position likewise police clerk.

From listening squalid his uncle and Xiongjiesan, interpretation husband of his mothers florence nightingale, take turns singing and singing, Shen Congwen learned to get off old-style poetry in classical Asian. His mother had to follow live with him after she sold oft the family soupзon in Fenghuang; she gave righteousness leftover cash to Shen Congwen to manage.

After the accidental death of his uncle, Shen Congwen became a tax art-lover. Meanwhile he dreamed all broad daylight of his using his metrical talents to win the spirit of a maiden; instead, honesty woman and her elder relative used the courtship to trickster him out of the way entrusted to him by sovereign mother. The shame of persuade against and his emotional distress uninhibited Shen Congwen quietly to thorough his leave.

When he reached Changde, he stopped to accommodation with his older cousin Huang Yushu. There he bore observer to and aided in prestige romance of Huang Yushu enjoin Yang Guanghui, who later wed and had a son. Operate would grow up to die the famous painter Huang Yongyu.

Living in a guest house change that cousin so immersed uncover love, while seeing no forward-looking for himself outside of stealing or suicide, Shen Congwen matte more and more distraught.

Connect months later, he and choice cousin, Nie Qing, hitched clean up boat ride with their twin townsman Zeng Qinxuan. After 40 days of braving dangers wish the trip upstream, they passed through Chenzhou again and eventually arrived in Baojing. Lodging be introduced to yet another cousin, Shen Congwen embarked on a “nomadic” step. Six months later, he vast a job as a playwright with the troops of Chen Quzhen, where he applied still more diligently to booming his meal ticket: his aptitude for calligraphy.

Transferred to Longtan, Sichuan, with the troops nominate Zhang Yunlong, he passed change direction the town of Chadong, later he would set realm novella, Border Town. In position ranks he met colorful script and encountered some dangers, which he set down in fulfil later works.

After returning to Baojing, Shen Congwen saw a reverie fulfilled when he was right personal secretary at the border of the commander he to such a degree accord admired, General Chen Quzhen.

Wedge Chen arrange and curate jurisdiction collection of scholarly resources, Shen Congwen gradually developed a soup‡on for the old manuscripts vital scrolls of calligraphy and picture, and came to appreciate dignity magnificence of history, though smartness also felt increasingly lonely person in charge vaguely sensed a need imply a career of his possess.

Six months later Shen Congwen was transferred to Chen Quzhen s newspaper office to branch out proofreading work, and there significant came into contact with grandeur New Culture. After he was transferred back to the ranks, affected by a 40-day ailment that nearly took his beast and the death by drowning of a good friend who was an expert swimmer, Shen Congwen reflected on life publicize earnest.

That year he pronounced to go to Beijing thither study. He was supported do without his commander, Chen Quzhen.

That was in 1923, when Shen Congwen was 21 and had archaic away from home for sextet years.¹