Yu Dafu

Yu Dafu (traditional Chinese: 郁達夫, simplified Chinese: 郁达夫, pinyin: Yù Dáfū, Wade-Giles: Yü Ta-fu) (Fuyan, China; 7 December 1896 – Sumatra; ?1945) was a Chinese writer. His most famous work is the short story Sinking.

Yu Dafu died on the island of Sumatra, assassinated by Japanese soldiers shortly before the end of World War II. The circumstances of his death have never been clarified.

Biography

His real name was Yù Wén (郁文), and he was born in the town of Fuyan in Zhejiang province, where his father and grandfather practiced medicine. He therefore belonged to a wealthy family. However, the death of his father when Yu was only three years old, will put the family in financial difficulties. Despite this, the mother can pay for the education of her children. In 1911 Yu Dafu moved to the provincial capital, Hangzhou, where he would study until 1913. At that time, he already showed an interest in literature and composed his first poems, in classical style. In 1913 he went to Japan, following in the footsteps of his brother, who was already studying law there. Yu Dafu spent the next ten years of his life in Japan, where he earned a degree in Economics from Tokyo Imperial University.

In 1920, taking advantage of a vacation in China, he married his first wife, a girl from his village, in a marriage arranged by his mother.

While in Japan, he published his first short stories: The Silver-Grey Death , Sink and Move South. These three stories would be grouped into a single book under the title of the second story, Sinking. With a refined style, clearly influenced by Japan, Yu narrated experiences of loneliness and sexual frustration of a young Chinese student in Tokyo, with obvious autobiographical references.

In 1921, still in Japan, he participated, along with other important writers, such as Guo Moruo, in the founding of the Creation Society (創造社 / 创造社 chuàngzàoshè), an association of writers that defended the modernization of literature Chinese, supporting the use of the vernacular language and the adoption of styles of foreign origin.

After his return to China in 1922, he dedicated himself to his activity in the Creation Society, editing various literary magazines of the association. In 1923 he published two new stories, Spring drunken nights and A humble offering . In 1930 he participated in the founding of the League of Left Writers, an organization related to the Chinese Communist Party that included many of the most prominent intellectuals of the time, such as Lu Xun.

In 1933, he left the League and retired to Hangzhou, where he continued writing. Despite his support for Chinese literary and linguistic reform, his refuge in difficult times will continue to be writing classical poetry, his great passion.

In 1938 he moved to Singapore with his second wife, Wáng Yìngxiá (王映霞), whom he would divorce two years later. In Singapore he worked at a Chinese-language newspaper. In 1942, the Japanese army occupies Singapore, and Yu Dafu escapes to the island of Sumatra, where he ends up working as an interpreter for Japanese soldiers. The last time he was seen alive was August 29, 1945.

The final circumstances of his life are unclear. The suspicion that he had been assassinated by the Japanese was confirmed in 1985, when a Yokohama University professor, Masao Suzuki, claimed to have located the former soldier who would have given the order to kill Yu Dafu.

Work

Yu Dafu's works include short stories and diaries, including travelogues. Throughout his life he also wrote numerous poetic compositions in classical Chinese style.

Only four of his stories are known to be translated into Spanish, "The Lost Sheep", "Intoxicating Spring Nights", "Blood and Tears" and "The past", in the volume Ten great Chinese tales, Translation by Luis Enrique Délano and Poli Délano, Santiago de Chile, Quimantú, 1971.

The following is a list of his best-known works.

Short Stories

• "The bold sheep." Short Novel, written in first person, with autobiograph characteristics.

• Hundred. Collection of three stories: Death of silver grey (色 elaborating on subjects for the benefit of the benefit of the individual, Hundred and Transfer to the South (PHONEY / KING). nánqiān).

• Spring drunken nights (urge 的),の),の),の),),の),の),の 。 。 chénfēng chénzuì de wănshàng, 1923

• A humble offering (b báodiàn), 1923.

These last two stories, from 1923 according to the book by MacDougall and Louie (see bibliography), were included in the Collection of Cold Ashes (寒灰集 hán huī jì), published in 1927.

Novel

• She's a weak woman. (................................................................................................................................