Shi Zhecun’s Wartime Poems: Yunnan, 1937–1940

Abstract

Shi Zhecun (1905–2003) was a modern Chinese literary superstar. In the early 1930s, he had already established a canonical position for himself in the sphere of modernist fiction writing. But starting in fall 1937 when the Anti-Japanese War began, Shi suddenly changed direction and devoted his efforts to writing classical style poetry. This paper argues that it was Shi’s wartime experiences, especially during his refugee’s journey to Yunnan, that triggered his poetic inspiration to write in the classical form. It also discusses how Shi’s poems, though written in the classical style, often expressed a kind of “modern” feeling. In other words, the poet utilized a complex, classical use of language to describe his own unique psychological impressions. In a way Shi was actually using his kind of “modernist” fictional writing style to write poetry. Like the many psychological stories he had written, his poems often used classical references, while describing extremely modern emotions. This kind of freshness in classicism is a very important feature of Shi’s Yunnan poems. Some of his poems exemplify his uses of synesthesia in poetry. On the other hand, Shi was undoubtedly influenced by the poetic technique of the Tang poet Li He (ca. 791-ca. 817), but his imagery has the unique quality of modernism, which touches upon the level of psychological/emotional truth. Moreover, to Shi, Kunming seemed to represent an inner haven. Had he not traveled to Yunnan in the year of 1937, the second half of his life would have been vastly different.

Keywords

Shi Zhecun / classicism / modernism / Diary of a Westward Journey

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