Who would have expected that only five years later, Zhu Xiang, who had returned to China and served as a professor and director of the Department of Foreign Literature of Anhui University, threw himself into the river near Caishiji, Anhui Province in the early morning of 19331February 5 due to many complicated reasons such as unemployment and increasingly tense family relations. Leng Yue in the Han River buried the soul of poetry. Zhu Xiang's death became a sensational tragedy in China's literary world at that time.
Zhu Xiang died before he was 30 years old, which is another inestimable loss in China's new poetry circle after Xu Zhimo's Wandering, and also another misfortune of "Crescent Poetry School". What needs to be clarified here is whether Zhu Xiang is a member of the Crescent Poetry School (note that it is the Crescent Poetry School, not the Crescent Society, and the Crescent Poetry School is broader). Since 1980s, many Zhu Xiang researchers, including Wu Fangxiong, a late friend, have cleared Zhu Xiang's name. They think that Zhu Xiang has made bad friends with Xu Zhimo and has not published his works in Crescent School magazine, so he is not a "Crescent School" poet. However, I think that since Zhu Xiang devoted almost all his life to the creation of new poetry meter, he has been echoing Wen Yiduo from a distance. Since Zhu Xiang published his famous poem "Picking Lotus Songs" and other poems in Xu Zhimo's and Wen Yiduo's deputy engraved poems, since Zhu Xiang wrote a poem including the sonnet "Mourning Xu Zhimo" for the later "Crescent Poetry School" organ newspaper, it's a pity that my brother died young, so I can't discuss with him for advice.
Zhu Xiang's death initiated the suicide of modern new poets in China, which caused deep mourning and great discussion in the literary world at that time. His poetry and literary friends wrote articles accusing the society of indifference and injustice at that time. In the early 1990s, my friends Qin, Qin, Qin and Qin also compiled a thick Collection of Memories of Zhu Xiang, which was published in Taiwan Province. However, Zhu Xiang is special. What makes him special is not only that he doesn't adapt to the "school rules" when he was studying in Tsinghua, not only that he doesn't value American diplomas and degrees, but also that he is aloof, extreme and sensitive, never gets along with others and leaves without saying a word. Living in poverty did great harm to the poet, but "personality is fate" and Zhu Xiang's self-esteem and self-love were not satisfied at that time. If he lived today, I am afraid he would not be satisfied today. Liang Shiqiu, an early classmate of Zhu Xiang, even thought that Zhu Xiang's death "should be borne mostly by his own insanity, and a small part by the' ruthlessness' of society." ("In memory of Mr. Zhu Xiang")
However, Zhu Xiang's departure is extremely regrettable after all. He is very talented, not just brilliant, but a genius and a freak! His poetry, prose, translation and even his maverick left an indelible mark on the history of China's new literature. In memory of Zhu Xiang, 19341February, Shanghai Beixin Bookstore published six "love letters" written by Zhu Xiang to Liu Nijun, entitled "Sending Nijun Overseas". In the history of China's new literature, Lu Xun's letter to Xu Guangping, Xu Zhimo's letter to Lu Xiaoman, Yu Dafu's letter to Wang Yingxia and Shen Congwen's letter to Zhang Zhaohe are all "classics" of modern "love letter" literature. Although the author's style is different, Lu Xun's calmness, Xu Zhimo's lingering, Yu Dafu's enthusiasm and Shen Congwen's enthusiasm. Zhu Xiang's "Send a Ni Jun Overseas" can rival them. Zhu Xiang didn't intend to publish these "love letters" before his death, so today we "peek", and a real Zhu Xiang with rich and delicate feelings and full of love for his lover is just around the corner. Today, this euphemistic and touching classical "love letter" has become a masterpiece.
1936 In March, Zhu Xiang's Letters, edited by Zhu Xiang's good friend Luo Niansheng, was published by Tianjin Life Literature Society. Only 1000 copies were printed in the first edition. The first edition is out of print. Zhu Xiang "talked and laughed with great scholars", and Zhu Xiang discussed life in his letters to poets, such as Peng Jixiang, Wang Jingzhi, Liang, Cao, Dai Wangshu, Lv Pengzun, Xu Xiacun, Zhao, Liu Wuji, Luo, Luo Niansheng and Sun Dayu. (The book also includes a letter to Liu Nijun that was not included in Si Tong's "Seeing Ni Jun Abroad"). These letters are not only the natural expression of Zhu Xiang's frank mind, but also the rare first-hand materials for studying the writer's creative history and life history at that time. In the 1980s, I had contact with four winners: Wang Jingzhi, Zhao, Luo Niansheng and Sun Dayu. It's a pity that I didn't ask them about Zhu Xiang. Otherwise, my article might not be so messy.
In recent years, with the publication of complete works of "Crescent Poets" such as Wen Yiduo, Xu Zhimo, Lin and Chen, Zhu Xiang's name is almost forgotten, which is really unfair. When will the complete works of Zhu Xiang meet the poet? I've compiled a new collection of Zhu Xiang's letters, The Lonely Truth, which includes Sending Junni Overseas, Zhu Xiang's Letters and eleven suicide notes collected from Zhu Xiang's collection in recent years. It can be regarded as asking for directions, and it can also be regarded as a memory of this bumpy and unfortunate talented poet by a researcher of China modern literature.
Zhu Xiang and his poems and articles, including his Love Letters, should not be forgotten.