The Evolution Of Zhou Zuoren’s Humanitarian Thought In Yu Pingbo’s New Poetry(1918-1922)

1918 was the first year of Yu Pingbo’s new literary creation,in which he wrote his first new vernacular poem "Nai He" and his first new poetry theory paper "The Three Conditions of Vernacular Poetry".In this year,he was a junior student at the Wenmen of Peking University,and he also participated in the preparation of the new cultural group Xinchao Society of Peking University,and later became one of the main contributors to the monthly magazine "Xinchao",a journal of the Xinchao Society.After graduating from Peking University in 1919,Yu Pingbo did not stop writing new poetry and publishing new poetry papers.By December 1921,he had completed his first new collection of poems,Winter Nights,which contained almost all of his new poems before 1922.After the end of World War I in 1918,various social trends surged around the world.Through the translation of new Chinese literary writers during this period,humanitarian ideas from Russia and Japan were introduced into China,and Zhou Zuoren was the main promoter of humanitarian thought during this period.At the same time,Zhou Zuoren was also Yu Pingbo’s teacher during his time at Peking University.The close interaction between the two made Zhou Zuoren’s humanitarian ideas deeply influence Yu Pingbo,and these influences were reflected in Yu Pingbo’s new poetry creation and new poetry theory from 1918 to 1922.However,Yu Pingbo’s acceptance of Zhou Zuoren’s humanitarian thinking did not follow the same trend.At the end of 1919,Yu Pingbo graduated from Peking University.After leaving campus,he experienced a very short study abroad in the UK,and after returning to China,he traveled to Beijing,Hangzhou and Shanghai many times,and he had extensive contact with Chinese society.The broad social life has also brought about many changes in his thinking,which has made him have more reflections on the humanitarian thought led by his teacher Zhou Zuoren,which is reflected in his new poetry creation and new poetry theory.Yu Pingbo’s acceptance,development and abandonment of Zhou Zuoren’s humanitarian thought made his new poetry creation and new poetry theory from 1918 to 1922 show obvious stage characteristics.In the first stage of the development of Yu Pingbo’s new poetry,Yu Pingbo was not yet affected by the humanitarian trend.At this stage,his new poetry creation continued the aesthetic tradition of ancient poetry tradition and people blending into the scene.In the second stage,Zhou Zuoren’s humanist moral standard of "individuality" and mutualist ideas entered Yu Pingbo’s new poetry creation,making his new poetry style move from the "integration of human landscape" to "character opposition" in the first stage.The introduction of ideas into poetry also influenced Yu Pingbo’s theory of new poetry,prompting him to abandon the "artistic beauty" of the first stage and pursue the "concrete practice" of poetry.Under the influence of mutualism,his tone also became softer when he criticized national character.In the third stage,influenced by humanitarian personal subjectivism,Yu Pingbo wrote a large number of lyric poems.Through these lyric poems,we can see that Yu Pingbo discovered the flaws of civilian ideas and mutualism in his extensive contact with society,and eventually moved towards doubts about these ideas.In the fourth stage,Yu Pingbo published "The Reductionism of the Evolution of Poetry",in which he abandoned the emphasis on human individuality and parted ways with Zhou Zuoren in favor of the commonality of human emotional expression.Guided by this idea,he began a popular poetic experiment,but this experiment was not successful,and he did not produce poetry that reflected universal emotions,because of his adherence to the Enlightenment position brought about by his intellectual status.Yu Pingbo eventually abandoned many ideas in the humanitarian trend,but the "human concept" that advocates independence and respect for individuality has become one of the few "ideological legacies" left to him by the humanitarian trend.Yu Pingbo’s new poetry creation and the process of accepting Zhou Zuoren’s humanitarian thought in poetry theory superimpose the development process of early new poetry from tradition to modernity,from reasoning to lyricism,and also superimpose the ideological process of a generation of intellectuals from 1918 to1921.