Research On The Literary And Artistic Activities Of The Shishi Group

Nowadays,there are many studies on regional literary culture in the academic circles,and their research results in Sichuan are also numerous.Sichuan is an important province in the southwestern hinterland of China,and for a long time,people’s cognition of its literary culture has been stuck in such words as “occlusion” and“ignorance”.Especially since the 1990 s,in the upsurge of reexamining regional cultures,many scholars have repeatedly described and emphasized the above-mentioned regional cultural characteristics of Sichuan.There is no denying that the research of these scholars has certain value,which opens a favorable window for us to understand Sichuan literary culture.However,can such words as “occlusion” and “ignorance” fully cover the whole picture of the literary culture of Sichuan? The answer should be no.Twenty years later,should we rethink this topic,analyze and examine Sichuan literary culture in great detail once again ?Surprisingly,in the 1920 s and 1930 s,a group of nationalists,who shouted the slogan,“fight against the power except the state thief”,emerged from Sichuan province.With “the supremacy of the state” as the principle of their words and deeds,they took patriotism to the extreme.It is true that ultra-expansive nationalism has its narrow side and can even slide into the abyss of militarism.But undoubtedly,the basic appeal of nationalism to save the nation and resist aggression is also the most typical embodiment of patriotism.There is no doubt that the basic appeals of nationalism to “save the nation and survive” and “resist aggression” are also the most typical manifestations of patriotism.The emergence of these nationalists not only changed the course of modern Chinese history,but also had an important and far-reaching influence on modern Chinese literature.A closer look at the life of these nationalists shows that most of them were schoolmates in high school.It is an amazing fact that a single high school can produce a political group and this fact reminds us that Sichuan is not as feudal and backward as people used to think.located in the hinterland of southwest China,Sichuan can also produce a batch of patriots with a world in mind.On the other hand,the period of “high school” is a key period in shaping personality,and secondary education should have different characteristics and connotations from higher education.Under the educational conditions in Sichuan at that time,those who were able to enter secondary schools were already the best among their peers.Therefore,there is some other lingering charm and meaning that can be considered by focusing on these intellectuals who came out of the branch high school of Sichuan Higher School.The main body of this paper is divided into five chapters.The first chapter discusses the study experience of these Shishi schoolmates in high school.In the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China,national military education was practiced in high schools throughout the country,which was supposed to cultivate the patriotism of students.And in the branch high school of Sichuan Higher School at that time,there were some other facts that also paved the way for the future life of the protagonists in this paper.Firstly,they received the new type of education,and were exposed to new subjects such as physics and chemistry,fine arts,English and so on.The opening of these new subjects laid a foundation for these intellectuals to study abroad for further study,and also promoted the formation of their literary and artistic ideas.Secondly,the guidance of the upright and revolutionary teachers not only helped the Shishi schoolmates shape their noble personalities,but also planted the revolutionary ideas in their hearts.At the end of their high school,the Railway Protection Movement and the outbreak of the 1911 Revolution made them realize the narrowness of the world in Kuimen.Therefore they left Bashu one after another for Beijing,Shanghai and even went abroad for further study.And in the exchange and interaction of study and life,these Shishi schoolmates have forged a deep friendship with each other,and gradually formed a close cultural group.The second chapter discusses the literary and artistic activities of Shishi schoolmates during the “May 4th” movement.The outbreak of the May 4th movement was closely related to the Paris News Agency established by Shishi schoolmates.Through Paris News Agency,Zhou Taixuan and others first telexed the news of China’s diplomatic failure at the Paris Peace Conference to China,which started the May 4th movement.After the outbreak of the movement,Shishi schoolmates were also in personally active participation.Wang Guangqi took part in the parade procession of“Fire Zhao Jialou”,wrote a long report overnight and sent it to Sichuan,setting off huge waves in Sichuan society.Zeng Qi personally went to various universities in Beijing to give speeches to encourage the students.Wei Shizhen joined the Shanghai Students’ Association and called on students at all schools to boycott Japanese goods.And Zhou Taixuan,who was far away in France,put pressure on Lu Zhengxiang and others to force the Chinese delegation to reject the contract.In addition,Shishi schoolmates also made considerable contributions to the spread of new ideas in the May 4th movement.Zeng Qi advocated the ideal of democracy and republicanism,Zhou Taixuan introduced the advanced educational thoughts of Europe and America,Wang Guangqi proposed a new set of concepts of “Rites” and “Music”,and Wei Shizhen promoted the western natural knowledge.Even Li Jieren,who lived in the hinterland of the southwest,founded Sunday weekly magazine to attack the stale and outdated old culture.And Guo Moruo,despite being excluded from the group the Young China Association,still took the “new poetry” as an opportunity to show up prominently in the literary world of the May 4th movement.On the other hand,the establishment of the Young China Association with Shishi schoolmates as the core marked that the thought of“nationalism” for the first time was gathered into the power of a group on the historical stage.And the nationalist cultural position of the Young China Association had an influence on the generation and construction of nationalist revolutionary literature in1920 s.The third chapter discusses the years when Zeng Qi,Zhou Taixuan,Li Jieren and the other Shishi schoolmates studied in France.From the late 1910 s to the early 1920 s,under the call of Li Shizeng,Wu Yuzhang and others,a large number of young Chinese students went to France for the practice of working while studying.When they were abroad,the greater the attachment to their motherland was,the stronger the mood to save their motherland in danger.Under the observation of the world horizon,Zeng Qi and others increasingly saw the internationalism advocated by the Communist Party as unworkable and they must rely on their own strength to save the motherland from danger.In order to counter the growing Communist Party,Zeng Qi and others founded the China Youth Party.The Communist Party believed in class revolution and agreed with cosmopolitanism,while the Youth Party advocated national revolution and nationalism.The political ideas between the Communist Party and the Youth Party were quite opposite,and their contradictions were gradually deepened over the years.As the struggle between the Communist Party and the Youth Party was becoming increasingly fierce,the Young China Association finally disintegrated in the conflict between the two forces.At the same time,in the argument with the Communists,the Youth Party also gradually constructed its own revolutionary literary concept.Furthermore,Li Jieren,who was in close contact with the Youth Party,was deeply affected by nationalism,which directly affected his later literary creation.In the “Roman-fleuve Trilogy” and“Demon Dance” written by Li Jieren in the 1930 s and 1940 s,there was an always obvious clue that the ancient “Sichuan” was gradually integrated into the modern“China”.Scholars in the past usually regarded Li Jieren’s literary works as an important model for the study of regional literature,but neglected the presentation of “China” in his works,and his family and country feelings.The fourth chapter discusses the growth of nationalist forces competed with the development of nationalist literature in the 1920 s,under the guidance of Shishi schoolmates.In the 1920 s,the typical publications of nationalist literature were:Awakened Lion,the official newspaper of the Youth Party,Journal of Sichuan Association of The Great China of The Great China University,the headquarters of the Youth Party,and Dajiang Quarterly founded by the famous Tsinghua students studying in the United States,etc.Most of the articles in Awakened Lion were political treatises on “nationalism”,and a few of works of novels,essays,dramas,and so on all carry out the purpose of sacrificing personal interests and protecting national interests.The Awakened Lion had a great influence at that time.Under its influence,nationalist literary societies were set up all over the country,among which the Sichuan Association of The Great China University was one of the representative ones.In the Journal of Sichuan Association of The Great China,Sichuan intellectuals expressed their strong homeland feeling that “love Sichuan was equal to love China,love Sichuan was to love China”.On the other side of the ocean,Tsinghua students studying in the United States set up the Dajiang Society,which was also involved in the literary trend of nationalism after being attracted by the Dajiang Society.Wen Yiduo created the oft-quoted and widely loved song,The Song of the Seven Sons,and Gu Yuxiu wrote wonderful historical dramas.In terms of results,the literary achievements of the Dajiang Society were actually higher than those of its “leader”,the Awakened Lion Society.The fifth chapter draws attention from “works” back to the “characters”,in which the mutual influence among the members of Shishi group is explored.Guo Moruo initially had a close relationship with the “Isolated Faction” which belonged to nationalist peripheral organizations,but later he fell into the opposite direction of nationalism due to the complicated personnel entanglements with his high schoolmates.Admittedly,Guo Moruo’s choice of communism is not entirely caused by the unsatisfactory interpersonal relationship,but,understanding Guo Moruo’s political turn from the perspective of interpersonal relationship undoubtedly opens a new dimension to examine him.Wang Guangqi loved the Youth China Association and always adhered to the ideal of social activities.However,the active participation of Shishi schoolmates in political activities destroyed the original purpose of the Youth China Association and buried wang guangqi’s dreams of Young China.Wang had no choice but to express his feelings by studying music.Finally,after assiduous study,he became a music masters.In wang guangqi’s career turn,the factor of Shishi schoolmates could not be ignored.Under the influence of their schoolmates in Shishi,Wei Shizhen and Zhou Taixuan participated in the political and literary activities of nationalism to some extent.But on the whole,both of them still paid more attention to teaching and scientific research,they,completing the identity transition from scholar to intellectual,are modern scholars in the true sense of the word.Li Jieren had a good opinion of nationalism emotionally,but refused to join the Youth Party because of his longing for a happy and peaceful life.Bashu is rich in pleasant climate and abundant resources,which has gradually cultivated the quality of life of the people in Sichuan who are content with what they have.Under the influence of the complacent Bashu culture,Li jieren,who had lived in Sichuan for a long time and was unwilling to go out to make a fortune,was least influenced by other Shishi schoolmates.The intellectuals from Shishi High School stirred the tide of The Times,influenced and changed the pattern and form of modern Chinese history and modern Chinese literature.They should not be forgotten by the world,and the “local-state” mode of modern Chinese historical literature reflected from their experiences should be used for reference.