Wen Yiduo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wen Yiduo (Traditional Chinese: 聞一多; Simplified Chinese: 闻一多; real name: Traditional Chinese: 聞家驊; Simplified Chinese: 闻家骅; pinyin: Wen Jiahua) (November 24, 1899- July 15, 1946) was a Chinese poet and scholar.
Wen was from Xishui in the Hubei province. After receiving a traditional education he went on to continue studying at the Tsinghua University. In 1922 he traveled to America to study fine arts and literature in the Art Institute of Chicago. It was during this time that his first collection of poetry, Hongzhu 紅燭 ("Red Candle"), was published. In 1925 he traveled back to China and took a university teaching post. In 1928 his second collection, Sishui 死水 (Dead Water), was published. His poetry is influenced by Western models. In the same year he joined the Crescent Society and wrote essays on poetry, mostly stressing that poetry should have "formal properties". He also began to publish the results of his classical Chinese literature research.
At the outbreak of the War of Resistance, he moved to Kunming and continued to teach. He became politically active in 1944 and continued to be so until his death. His outspoken nature led to his assassination by secret agents of Kuomintang, right after attending a gathering in July 15, 1946 at Kunming, Yunnan.
