20 | Monday, December 23, 2019 LIFE CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION An enlightened man An exhibition featuring the surviving works of Wen Yiduo, an early leader of the China Democratic League and the poet famed for Songs of Seven Sons, is taking place in Beijing, Fang Aiqing reports. n exhibition held in Bei- The curator believes these kinds jing reveals the fine art of social services contributed to the talent of a modern Chi- students’ devotion to the country nese poet and patriot of and the people in later life. theA early 20th century who is widely Wen Yiduo not only designed cov- regarded for his literary achieve- ers for his own poetry collections ments and heroic sacrifices. like Red Candle and Dead Water, but It also sheds light on how a close also for works by his friends, like circle of intellectuals of the time renowned authors Xu Zhimo and shared a high level of academic and Liang Shih-chiu. cultural attainment that went on to On the cover he designed for Xu’s lay the foundation of today’s contem- last poetry collection, The Tiger, porary art and cultural practices. which includes his most famous Wen Yiduo (1899-1946), one of the work On Leaving Cambridge Again, early leaders of the China Demo- Wen Yiduo merged the front and cratic League, was shot dead in Kun- back covers into one freehand, ming, Southwest China’s Yunnan abstract depiction of a tiger skin province, on July 15, 1946, during using Chinese brush strokes. the civil war. In 1927, he created the cover for He died just several hours after he sociologist Pan Guangdan’s psycho- stood up at a memorial assembly to logical research work on the Ming defend his fellow league member Li Dynasty (1368-1644) woman Feng Gongpu, who was assassinated sev- Xiaoqing, who, as a concubine eral days earlier, and openly criticiz- banned from seeing her husband by es his murderers — agents of the his first wife, was frequently seen Kuomintang — and called for peace staring into a mirror in self-pity. and democracy. The composition, the shape of the In memory of the 120th anniver- figure and the hues in this compas- sary of Wen’s birth, the exhibition at sionate drawing all employ Western the Chinese Academy of Oil Paint- art techniques, but are used to ing, affiliated to the Chinese Nation- reflect a woman’s misfortune in feu- al Academy of Arts, running dal ancient Chinese society. through Tuesday presents a variety “The forte of that generation lies of works, from book cover designs in their excellence in Sinology, com- and illustrations, to seal cutting, cal- bined with their mastery of the cut- ligraphy and sketches, as well as let- ting-edge academic, art and cultural ters to his family and enlightened achievements of the West, and the circle of friends. era provided them with the ground- The letters, in the eyes of his work to give full scope to their tal- youngest son Wen Lipeng, convey ents,” says Wen Danqing. an intellectual’s reflections on Chi- Also on display are calligraphy nese culture, his struggle over works by Wen Yiduo. He wrote in a whether to apply Western or Chi- kind of ancient hieroglyphic font nese cultural concepts to his work called guzhouwen to transcribe the and his personal ambivalence coeval The Book of Songs, the earli- toward making career choices. est collection of Chinese poetry in Most of Wen Yiduo’s artworks The book cover Wen designed for sociologist Pan Guangdan’s existence that dates back to between have been lost in those years of research work revealing a woman’s misfortune in ancient China. 11th and 6th centuries BC. unrest over the first half of the 20th His interest and gift for ancient century, but the surviving ones — Chinese characters and calligraphy most of which are currently on dis- can also be seen in his 500-plus seal play at the academy — demonstrate cutting works mostly created in the an integration between the Western He (Wen Yiduo) studied history to three years before his death to make and Eastern concepts of art and a criticize it and delved into the bowels of the ends meet. combination of the traditional and “The goal of Wen Yiduo’s research modern artistic styles. past to sublate it.” was to revive the ancient glory that And they have also served to was partly fossilized in the minds of Guo Moruo, writer and historian enrich the image of one of the all- Top and middle: Two of 12 illus- Top: Wen applies a freehand, modern people,” says his peer, writer rounders among the intellectual trations Wen Yiduo drew for the abstract depiction of tiger skin Zhu Ziqing. elites typical of this era in modern yearbook Tsinghuapper in 1921. before his graduation and devoted In one of his Beardsley-style illus- using Chinese brushstrokes for He also sketched 36 works during Chinese history. Above: Wen transcribes The his time mainly to theater, poetry trations, he drew a maiden dream- Xu Zhimo’s last poetry collec­ the War of Resistance Against Japa- One of Wen Yiduo’s most famous Book of Songs in a kind of and the study of Chinese ancient lit- ing of blossoms growing out of a tion, The Tiger. Above: A seal nese Aggression (1931-45), on his pieces of poetry, an excerpt about ancient hieroglyphic font. erature as he pondered China’s pencil — mirroring an ancient Chi- Wen cut for mathematician 1,700-kilometer walk to Kunming Macao from a seven-piece suite of PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY future. nese fable — as she sleeps at a desk Hua Luogeng in 1944. from Changsha, Hunan province, in verse, became a household name The renowned writer and histori- by candle light. 1938 to join the National Southwest when China resumed its sovereignty an Guo Moruo (1892-1978) once The image highlights the use of Associated University — a wartime over Macao in December 1999. The Tsinghua Xuetang — the predeces- commented: “He studied history to Western perspective and drawing tectural historian Liang Sicheng union of top Chinese universities verse was adapted to become the sor to Tsinghua University — to criticize it and delved into the bow- techniques combined with tradition- served as the major of the brass and scholars. theme song for the event which was study fine art in the US. els of the past to sublate it. He con- al Chinese line drawing techniques band and a member of the glee club. He worked as a professor of Chi- popularly sung throughout the At that time, it was a preparatory tinued to dig purposefully only to and approach to present artistic con- Curator of the exhibition Wen nese literature at Tsinghua right country that year. school for students who would later reach the other side with his aims cepts. The latter was often applied to Danqing, one of Wen Lipeng’s sons, before the war. In the suite titled Songs of Seven be sent by the government to study still at the forefront of his mind.” traditional Chinese woodcuts. is impressed by one of the chapters The poet and artist once con- Sons, he compared seven places at universities in the US. Wen Yiduo made his first foray With its group photos and mem- in the yearbook, named For the fessed to his friends, “I would rather including Macao, Hong Kong and Wen Yiduo went on to study suc- into art at Tsinghua in 1921 as a ber lists of student associations — Neighbor, in which the authors list be a preacher of art than a creator”. Taiwan that were among China’s ced- cessively at the School of the Art graphics editor of an oddly named from an art society and a glee club to the students’ social volunteer work The perspective of cultural history ed or leased territories to seven sons Institute of Chicago, the University yearbook titled, Tsinghuapper, a brass band — the yearbook offers a and their extensive efforts to care for and the aesthetic ideas embedded in that were deprived of their mother. of Colorado and the Art Students where he drew 12 illustrations, the glimpse of a time where groups of those in the lower strata of society. his art pieces are consistent with The suite was created in March League of New York from 1922 to bookplate, an advertisement and intellectuals, renowned both then They set up night schools and those of his works of poetry. 1925, during Wen Yiduo’s stay in the 1925. most of the decorative patterns. He and now, actively demonstrated libraries for coolies, servants, villag- United States. A less well-known fact Despite his outstanding academic had yet to get any professional artis- their versatile talents. ers, scavengers and other members Contact the writer at is that he was the first student from performance, he returned home tic training back then. For example, architect and archi- of the poor and needy. [email protected] Project seeks to inject new blood into China’s theaters By CHEN NAN tion Department. We have many at the Beijing People’s Art Theater in venues under the umbrella of the [email protected] great writers, who achieved success 1985. According to the award-win- Beijing People’s Art Theater from the at a young age. We need young Chi- ner, the Beijing People’s Art Theater, current three to five. A project for young theater talent nese writers today, whose work which was founded in 1952 with Chi- “More venues means more shows, training and theater works incuba- reflects and represents society,” says nese playwright Cao Yu as its first which need more actors.