Guo Moruo
Guo Moruo (Chinese: 郭沫若, romanized: Guōmòruò, Wade-Giles: Kuo Mo-jo) (Leshan, China, November 16, 1892 - Beijing, June 12, 1978) was a contemporary Chinese writer.
A highly prolific writer, he was a poet, playwright, and novelist, and also wrote numerous essays on Chinese history, archeology, and culture. He was also a translator of Western writers such as Goethe or Walt Whitman. From his youth, he identified with the revolutionary ideas of the Chinese Communist Party. After the proclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, he was recognized by the communist regime as one of China's leading authors. He was president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Biography
His real name was Guō Kāizhēn (traditional Chinese: 郭開貞, simplified Chinese: 郭开贞), and he was born in Shawan Town, Leshan District, Sichuan Province, into a family of landowners. Since she was little, she had access to numerous books, which aroused her interest in literature.
In 1914 he traveled to Japan, where he began to study medicine, a career that would not end when he abandoned these studies to dedicate himself to literature. In 1918 he began to sign his poems with the name Moruo, formed by the juxtaposition of the two names Mo and Ruo, from two rivers in his land, Leshan.
In 1919 he followed with interest from Japan the events of the May Fourth Movement, which would have a decisive influence on Guo's literary career. In 1921 he returned to China and published his book of poems The Goddesses , in an innovative style that was widely accepted. That same year, along with other intellectuals such as Yu Dafu, he participated in the founding of the Creation Society (創造社 / 创造社 chuàngzàoshè), which promotes literature in the vernacular and following new styles.
Between 1928 and 1937 he lived in Japan again. After returning to China, he is involved in the fight of the Chinese Communist Party, first against the Japanese invasion, and then against the nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek. In 1942 he published his play Qu Yuan, about the poet of the same name from the Warring States period.
In 1949, the communists win the Chinese civil war and the People's Republic of China is established. Guo Moruo settles in Beijing, where he will hold numerous positions in the main cultural institutions of the People's Republic. He was President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1978.
Work
Guo Moruo's writings exceed one million words, which are collected in 38 volumes of "The Complete Works of Guo Moruo", which are divided into literature (20 volumes, published by People' s Literature Publishing House), history (8 volumes, published by People's Literature Publishing House), and archeology (10 volumes, published by People's Literature Publishing House). Published by China Science Press), but there are still a large number of missing articles that have not been included.
Poetry
Guo Moruo's new poems have made breakthroughs in language. The writing time of her debut novel & # 34; Goddess & # 34; is the same period as the "Intent Collection" of Hu Shi, and even the time of publication is closely followed by the "Collection of attempts" of Hu Shi, so it is generally believed that Guo Moruo and Hu Shi are the same, the founder of new Chinese poetry. Some younger poets went further. For example, in "The Spirit of the Goddess Age" of Wen Yiduo, he believed that Guo Moruo's poetry-making greatly surpassed Hu Shi's. However, some researchers believe that Guo's poems are often impatient to read, vain, romantic, and promiscuous. The famous poem of his & # 34; Goddess & # 34; he was influenced by the 19th-century American poet Whitman. While Whitman's free verse sentences are long and colloquial, the poem "Goddess" it also emphasizes rhythm, repeating specific words in each line to emphasize rhythm rather than rhyme.
- The Gods (tumor n.shén), 1921.
Theater
- Quan 1942.
Honorary Distinctions
Lenin Peace Prize (Soviet Union, 1951).
Medal commemorative of the 2500th Anniversary of the Empire of Iran (Iran Empire, 14/10/1971).
