| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
| Mao Dun | |
|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese: | 茅盾 |
| Pinyin: | Máo Dùn |
| Wade-Giles: | Mao Tun |
| Real name: | Shen Dehong (沈德鴻) |
| Courtesy name: | Yanbing (雁冰) |
| Pseudonyms: | Shen Yan-bing |
Mao Dun ( July 4, 1896– March 27, 1981) was the pen name of Shen Dehong, a 20th century Chinese novelist, cultural critic, and journalist.
He adopted 'Mao Dun' (矛盾), meaning "contradiction", as his pen name to express his sigh for the contradicting revolutionary ideology in China in the unstable 1920s. His friend Ye ShengtaoYe Shengtao ( 28 October 1894— 1988) was a prominent author, educationist and publisher. He was one of the founders of the Association for Literary Studies , the first literature association during the May Fourth Movement. Throughout his life, he was dedi changed the first word from 矛 to 茅, which literally means "thatch", to prevent him from political persecution.
Mao Dun was born in Tongxiang County, Zhejiang Province of China. His father Shen Yongxi (沈永錫) taught and designed the curriculum for his son, but he was died when Mao Dun was ten. Mao Dun's mother Chen Aizhu (陳愛珠) then became his teacher. He mentioned in his memoirs that "my first instructor is my mother". Through learning from his parents, Mao Dun developed great interest in writing during his childhood.
Mao Dun had already started to develop his writing skills when he was still in primary school. In one examination the examiner commented on Mao Dun's script: '12 year old young child, can make this language, not says motherland nobody'. There were other similar comments which indicate that Mao Dun had been a brillant writer since his youth.
While Mao Dun was studying in secondary school in HangzhouHangzhou (; pinyin: Hangzhou; WG: Hang-chou) is a sub-provincial city in China, and the capital of Zhejiang province. Located 180 km southwest of Shanghai, the population in the city proper is now 1. In China, the city is well known for its beautiful scen, extensive reading and strict writing skills training filled his life. He finished reading Illustrious Definite orders (《昭明文選》), Shi Shuo Xin Yu (《世說新語》) and a large number of classical novels. These novels influenced his writing style and his idea of writing.
Mao Dun entered the three-year foundation school offered by Peking UniversityPeking University Established 1898 School type Private President Xu Zhihong Location Beijing Enrollment 36,982 Faculty 17,203 Campus City Homepage Peking University or Beijing University ( pinyin Beijing Daxu , colloquially Beida (, pinyin beid , is one o in 1913, in which he studied Chinese and Western literature. Due to financial difficulties, he had to quit in the summer of 1916, before his graduation.
The trainings in Chinese and English as well as knowledge of Chinese and Western literature provided by the fifteen years' education Mao Dun received had prepared him to show up in the limelight of the Chinese journalistic and literary arena.