Xu Zhimo
Encyclopedia
Xu Zhimo was an early 20th century Chinese
poet
. He was given the name of Zhangxu (章垿) and the courtesy name of Yousen (槱森). He later changed his courtesy name to Zhimo (志摩).
He is romanticized as pursuing love, freedom, and beauty all his life (from the words of Hu Shi). He promoted the form of modern Chinese poetry, and therefore made tremendous contributions to modern Chinese literature
.
To commemorate Xu Zhimo, in July, 2008, a white marble stone has been installed at the back of King's College
, University of Cambridge
, on which is inscribed a verse from Xu's best-known poem, 'Saying Goodbye to Cambridge Again'.
and graduated from the famous Hangzhou High School
(浙江省杭州高级中学). In 1915, he married Zhang Youyi
and next year he went to Peiyang University (Beiyang University, now Tianjin University
) to study Law. In 1917, he transferred to Peking University due to the law department of Peiyang University merging into Peking University
. In 1918, after studying at Peking University
, he traveled to the United States
to study history in Clark University
. Shortly afterwards, he transferred to Columbia University
in New York
to study economics and politics in 1919. Finding the States "intolerable", he left in 1922 to study at King's College, Cambridge
in England
, where he fell in love with English romantic
poetry like that of Keats and Shelley
, and was also influenced by the French romantic and symbolist poets, some of whose works he translated into Chinese. In 1922 he went back to China
and became a leader of the modern poetry movement. In 1923, he founded the Crescent Moon Society
. When the Bengali poet
Rabindranath Tagore
visited China, Xu Zhimo played the part of oral interpreter. Xu's literary ideology was mostly pro-western, and pro-vernacular
. He was one of the first Chinese writers to successfully naturalize Western romantic forms into modern Chinese poetry. He worked as an editor and professor at several schools before dying in a plane crash on November 19, 1931 near Tai'an, Shandong
while flying from Nanjing
to Beijing
. He left behind four collections of verse and several volumes of translations from various languages.
,and Lu Xiaoman, spread widely in China. On October 10th,1915, Xu married Zhang Youyi, the sister of Junyou Zhang who is a famous politician. This is an arranged marriage that ran counter to Xu’s faith of pursue love freely.Although, Zhang is a very virtuous wife and gave birth to two sons of Xu, she still couldn’t be accepted by Xu. Finally, they divorced in March, 1922. This is the first divorced case in China. The failure of marriage didn’t destroy Zhang, instead it stimulated she to become an independent woman. Lin Huiyin, the daughter of Changmin Lin, is the second important woman of Xu. Xu met her in London in 1921. Lin is a beautiful and talented girl they fell in love with each other at first sight. The love to Lin sparked Xu’s inspiration of writing poem. He started to write poem for Lin when he was pursuing. However, Xu was afraid to tell Lin he was already married, and felt sick of his married. So he asked his wife to divorce. Before long, Lin knew the truth she was hurt. She went back to China without saying goodbye to Xu. Although, Xu divorced with Zhang late, Lin still couldn’t accept Xu again. In 1928, Lin married Sicheng Liang, the son of Liang Qichao
. Lin and Xu became bosom friends.The third and last lover of Xu is Lu Xiaoman, who was a beautiful woman in Beijing and knew a lot about literature. When the first time they met each other, Lu was already married Wang Geng, a friend of Xu. Her marriage was arranged by her parents just like Xu’s marriage. Although, Wang Geng was a good husband, Lu didn’t love him at all. She felt herself like a bird which was locked in a cage. When the two who had the similar experiences of arranged marriage met, they understand each other so much. They fell in love soon. However, their relationship was criticized by their parents and many friends. In 1925 Lu was move to Shanghai with Wang Geng and got divorced later. She finally gained freedom. In 1926, Xu and Lu married. After the marriage, they lived together happily for a while, but the happiness didn’t last long.In the late of their marriage Lu became more and more passive. Because Lu spent a lot of money and Xu’s parents rejected to provide money to them, Xu had to take several jobs at the same time at different cities of China to meet the high expense of Lu. Finally Xu died in an air crash.
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. He was given the name of Zhangxu (章垿) and the courtesy name of Yousen (槱森). He later changed his courtesy name to Zhimo (志摩).
He is romanticized as pursuing love, freedom, and beauty all his life (from the words of Hu Shi). He promoted the form of modern Chinese poetry, and therefore made tremendous contributions to modern Chinese literature
Chinese literature
Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese...
.
To commemorate Xu Zhimo, in July, 2008, a white marble stone has been installed at the back of King's College
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
, University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, on which is inscribed a verse from Xu's best-known poem, 'Saying Goodbye to Cambridge Again'.
Brief Biography
Xu was born in Haining, ZhejiangHaining
Haining is a county-level city in Zhejiang Province, China, and under the jurisdiction of Jiaxing. It is in the south side of Yangtze River Delta, and in the north of Zhejiang. It is 125 kilometers west of Shanghai, and 61.5 kilometers east of Hangzhou, the capital of the province. To its south...
and graduated from the famous Hangzhou High School
Hangzhou High School
Hangzhou High School , or Hangzhou Senior High School, established in 1899, is a high school in China. There are 46 academicians who graduated from the institution.-Hanggao Observatory:...
(浙江省杭州高级中学). In 1915, he married Zhang Youyi
Zhang Youyi
Zhang Youyi , was the first wife of the Chinese poet Xu Zhimo. Zhang was famous in her own right as a banker and educator.-Marriage and children:*Hsu Chi-kai...
and next year he went to Peiyang University (Beiyang University, now Tianjin University
Tianjin University
Tianjin University is a national university under the direct administration of the Ministry of Education of China. It is the first university in modern Chinese education history. It was part of Peiyang University in 1895...
) to study Law. In 1917, he transferred to Peking University due to the law department of Peiyang University merging into Peking University
Peking University
Peking University , colloquially known in Chinese as Beida , is a major research university located in Beijing, China, and a member of the C9 League. It is the first established modern national university of China. It was founded as Imperial University of Peking in 1898 as a replacement of the...
. In 1918, after studying at Peking University
Peking University
Peking University , colloquially known in Chinese as Beida , is a major research university located in Beijing, China, and a member of the C9 League. It is the first established modern national university of China. It was founded as Imperial University of Peking in 1898 as a replacement of the...
, he traveled to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to study history in Clark University
Clark University
Clark University is a private research university and liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts.Founded in 1887, it is the oldest educational institution founded as an all-graduate university. Clark now also educates undergraduates...
. Shortly afterwards, he transferred to Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to study economics and politics in 1919. Finding the States "intolerable", he left in 1922 to study at King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, where he fell in love with English romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
poetry like that of Keats and Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
, and was also influenced by the French romantic and symbolist poets, some of whose works he translated into Chinese. In 1922 he went back to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and became a leader of the modern poetry movement. In 1923, he founded the Crescent Moon Society
Crescent Moon Society
The Crescent Moon Society was a Chinese literary society founded by the poet Xu Zhimo in 1923, which operated until 1931. It was named after The Crescent Moon, a poem by Rabindranath Tagore...
. When the Bengali poet
Bengali poetry
Bengali poetry is a form that originated in Pāli and other Prakrit socio-cultural traditions. It is antagonistic towards Vedic rituals and laws as opposed to the shramanic traditions such as Buddhism and Jainism...
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
visited China, Xu Zhimo played the part of oral interpreter. Xu's literary ideology was mostly pro-western, and pro-vernacular
Spoken Chinese
Chinese comprises many regional language varieties sometimes grouped together as the Chinese dialects, the primary ones being Mandarin, Wu, Cantonese, and Min. These are not mutually intelligible, and even many of the regional varieties are themselves composed of a number of...
. He was one of the first Chinese writers to successfully naturalize Western romantic forms into modern Chinese poetry. He worked as an editor and professor at several schools before dying in a plane crash on November 19, 1931 near Tai'an, Shandong
Tai'an
Tai'an is a prefecture-level city in western Shandong province, People's Republic of China.Centered around Mount Tai, the city borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the north, Laiwu to the northeast, Zibo to the east, Linyi to the southeast, Liaocheng to the extreme west and Jining to the south...
while flying from Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. He left behind four collections of verse and several volumes of translations from various languages.
The Romance of Xu Zhimo
The love stories of Xu Zhimo and three women,Zhang Youyi, Lin HuiyinLin Huiyin
Lin Huiyin was a noted 20th century Chinese architect and writer. She is said to be the first female architect in China. Her niece is Maya Lin.-Biography:...
,and Lu Xiaoman, spread widely in China. On October 10th,1915, Xu married Zhang Youyi, the sister of Junyou Zhang who is a famous politician. This is an arranged marriage that ran counter to Xu’s faith of pursue love freely.Although, Zhang is a very virtuous wife and gave birth to two sons of Xu, she still couldn’t be accepted by Xu. Finally, they divorced in March, 1922. This is the first divorced case in China. The failure of marriage didn’t destroy Zhang, instead it stimulated she to become an independent woman. Lin Huiyin, the daughter of Changmin Lin, is the second important woman of Xu. Xu met her in London in 1921. Lin is a beautiful and talented girl they fell in love with each other at first sight. The love to Lin sparked Xu’s inspiration of writing poem. He started to write poem for Lin when he was pursuing. However, Xu was afraid to tell Lin he was already married, and felt sick of his married. So he asked his wife to divorce. Before long, Lin knew the truth she was hurt. She went back to China without saying goodbye to Xu. Although, Xu divorced with Zhang late, Lin still couldn’t accept Xu again. In 1928, Lin married Sicheng Liang, the son of Liang Qichao
Liang Qichao
Liang Qichao |Styled]] Zhuoru, ; Pseudonym: Rengong) was a Chinese scholar, journalist, philosopher and reformist during the Qing Dynasty , who inspired Chinese scholars with his writings and reform movements...
. Lin and Xu became bosom friends.The third and last lover of Xu is Lu Xiaoman, who was a beautiful woman in Beijing and knew a lot about literature. When the first time they met each other, Lu was already married Wang Geng, a friend of Xu. Her marriage was arranged by her parents just like Xu’s marriage. Although, Wang Geng was a good husband, Lu didn’t love him at all. She felt herself like a bird which was locked in a cage. When the two who had the similar experiences of arranged marriage met, they understand each other so much. They fell in love soon. However, their relationship was criticized by their parents and many friends. In 1925 Lu was move to Shanghai with Wang Geng and got divorced later. She finally gained freedom. In 1926, Xu and Lu married. After the marriage, they lived together happily for a while, but the happiness didn’t last long.In the late of their marriage Lu became more and more passive. Because Lu spent a lot of money and Xu’s parents rejected to provide money to them, Xu had to take several jobs at the same time at different cities of China to meet the high expense of Lu. Finally Xu died in an air crash.
Famous Works
再别康橋 輕輕的我走了， 正如我輕輕的來； 我輕輕的招手， 作別西天的雲彩。 那河畔的金柳， 是夕陽中的新娘； 波光裡的艷影， 在我的心頭蕩漾。 軟泥上的青荇， 油油地在水底招搖； 在康河的柔波裡， 我甘心做一條水草！ 那榆蔭下的一潭， 不是清泉，是天上虹； 揉碎在浮藻間， 沉澱著彩虹似的夢。 尋夢？撐一支長篙， 向青草更青處漫溯； 滿載一船星輝， 在星輝斑斕裡放歌。 但我不能放歌， 悄悄是別離的笙簫； 夏蟲也為我沉默， 沉默是今晚的康橋！ 悄悄的我走了， 正如我悄悄的來； 我揮一揮衣袖， 不帶走一片雲彩。 |
Saying Good-bye to Cambridge Again Very quietly I take my leave, As quietly as I came here; Quietly I wave good-bye, To the rosy clouds in the western sky. The golden willows by the riverside, Are young brides in the setting sun; Their reflections on the shimmering waves, Always linger in the depth of my heart. The floating heart growing in the sludge, Sways leisurely under the water; In the gentle waves of Cambridge, I would be a water plant! That pool under the shade of elm trees, Holds not water but the rainbow from the sky; Shattered to pieces among the duckweeds, Is the sediment of a rainbow-like dream. To seek a dream? Just to pole a boat upstream, To where the green grass is more verdant; Or to have the boat fully loaded with starlight, And sing aloud in the splendor of starlight. But I cannot sing aloud, Quietness is my farewell music; Even summer insects keep silence for me, Silent is Cambridge tonight! Very quietly I take my leave, As quietly as I came here; Gently I flick my sleeves, Not even a wisp of cloud will I bring away. |