Xu Zhimo (1896-1931):
A native of Haining, Zhejiang, from a wealthy businessman family. The pen names are Yunzhonghe, Nanhu and Shizhe. I was in the same class with Yu Dafu in middle school. In 1916, he was admitted to Peking University, and in the same year he married 16-year-old Zhang Youyi at the behest of his father. In 1918, he went to the United States to study, and in 1920, he went to the United Kingdom to study at Cambridge University, where he studied for a doctorate. During this period, Xu Zhimo fell in love with Lin outside marriage. Huiyin, and divorced his first wife, Zhang Youyi, in March 1922. In August of the same year, he bid farewell to Cambridge and returned to China. He successively served as a professor at Peking University and Tsinghua University, and often published poems. In 1923, he established the Crescent Society with Hu Shi and others as a main member. In 1924, the great Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore visited China, and Xu Zhimo served as a translator. He later traveled to Europe with Thailand. In the same year, he met and fell in love with Lu Xiaoman, a married woman. In October 1926, he married Lu Xiaoman. In 1927, he became a professor at Shanghai Guanghua University. In 1929, he also served as the editor of Zhonghua Book Company. In the autumn of 1930, at the invitation of Hu Shi, he became a professor at Peking University. During this period, Xu Zhimo was busy traveling back and forth between Peking and Shanghai in order to make a living. However, he was still unable to satisfy Lu Xiaoman, who had long since moved on. However, due to old feelings and face, he could not divorce again. He was in deep pain. On November 19, 1931, he was flying from Nanjing to Peiping. The plane crashed on the way and he died at the foot of Mount Tai. He was 35 years old.
As a famous bourgeois gentleman poet in the history of modern Chinese literature, Xu Zhimo can be said to be the poetic soul of new poetry. It is not too much to call him a "poetic philosopher" and a "poetry sage". Mao Dun said that he is both China's bourgeoisie and The "founding poet" was also the "last poet", and none of his successors could keep up with him. His new poems are worthy of eternal praise, and his behavior and character are also appreciated and loved by his peers, friends, and students. Although his persistent pursuit of love is a legend in the literary world, he also leaves many regrets, but he was innocent and innocent. , advocating the humanitarian sentiments of freedom, equality, and fraternity, and the spirit of pursuing the true meaning of life are shocking to the heavens and the earth, and weeping ghosts and gods. ("April in the World") It is no wonder that the bad news of this poetry superstar who died young shocked people at home and abroad. Hu Shi repeatedly shouted: "The genius dies, and the loss is Chinese literature!" Among his many friends, Including his senior Liang Qichao, his peers Yu Dafu, Chen Xiying, Liu Haisu, etc., as well as juniors such as Chen Mengjia and Shen Congwen, there is no one who does not admire and admire his talent and conduct. As Shen Congwen said: "His chicness and tolerance, He is not formal, not tacky, not stingy, not snobbish, and has a passion for universal life and all things. His personality shines beautifully. Since he has many friends who love him and respect him, these people will definitely transplant that beautiful personality. Come to his own behavior." This shows the charm of his personality.
As the soul of the Crescent Society, his achievements in poetry creation should be regarded as the guī niè of literature in this century, but his prose style is also unique. Chen Xiying, Shen Congwen, Liang Shiqiu, and Zhou Zuoren all unanimously praised the brilliance and beauty of his articles, and his students praised him highly. Zhao Jingshen believed that prose writers like Xu Zhimo were "gorgeous prose writers who spit out long strings of pearls. There is no second one in modern times." Some people even think that the unique style of his prose is "a form of poetry." In any case, Xu Zhimo's prose has its own unique charm. Hu Shi said that there are only three big words in Xu Zhimo’s outlook on life: one is love, one is freedom, and one is beauty. It really hit the nail on the head. As a bourgeois writer full of poetic temperament, Xu Zhimo's short life journey not only showed the innocence and romance of this unique genius, but also revealed the naivety of this idealist living in a utopian country. and ridiculous. In his prose, it is not difficult to see his embarrassment and comedy when he uses British and American democracy to measure China's national conditions. Underneath this, there is also an intellectual's patriotism. Xu Zhimo is not only a "love type" in love, but also an innocent man in politics. Many of his essays expose the darkness of society, criticize current ills, and express the impassioned humanitarian sentiments of bourgeois literati. Of course, if we talk about the profound meaning of Xu Zhimo's prose, it probably lacks the depth, sharpness and grandeur of Lu Xun, or the sophistication and vicissitudes of Yu Dafu, but its lyrical characteristics are incomparable to any modern essayist. The prose is always full of passion, even if it is decadent, it is still enjoyable to read without any lingering or muddled feeling.
Xu Zhimo seems to still have a feeling of "love for the moon" in his heart. As a symbol of love, the moon is always a beautiful condensation in his mind. This is explained in his essay "Ghost Talk". Ode to the moon, love for the moon, and appreciation of the moon are also common in Xu Zhimo's prose. They form a perfect internal connection with the poems praising love and form the soul of Xu Zhimo's poems. Among Xu Zhimo's love letters, the blazing flame of love in the then-famous "Love Letter" has burned the blood of countless young people. In these chapters, the innocence and romance of this love master's persistent pursuit of love are truly reflected.
Xu Zhimo’s poems are all in styles that are very different from others. Just like a woman who pursues beauty, the first thing he looks for is the gorgeous appearance. Chu Anping once said in the article "Mourning for Mr. Zhimo" : "The connotation is its skeleton, and the rhetoric is its appearance; even if the most solid house does not have some modern and beautiful colors and outlines on the outside, it still cannot be regarded as its architectural art.
"This just reflects Xu Zhimo's literary style. The brilliance of language and exaggerated sentence formation directly constitute the external beauty of his prose. Matching it with the surging inner passion, he is like a free and uninhibited romantic. The "appearance" of the scholar. Perhaps it is because he pays too much attention to the beauty of appearance and the beauty of form, and neglects the forging of the connotation of life, which makes his poetry sometimes enter the realm of illusion and decadence. Of course, even when expressing such connotation, it is also difficult. The beauty of his gorgeous appearance overflows. This proves that the same is true in his love life. The crisis in his later love with Lu Xiaoman was also the result of him only focusing on external beauty at the beginning.
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