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Su Manshu (, 1884–1918) was a
Chinese writer,
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
,
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
,
revolutionist
A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.
...
, and
translator
Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
. His original name was Su Xuanying (), Su had been named as a writer of poetry and romantic love stories in the history of early modern
Chinese literature.
But he was most commonly known as a
Buddhist monk, a poetry monk, "the monk of sentiment” (pinyin: qing seng; simplified Chinese: 情僧), and “the revolutionary monk” (pinyin: gem-ing seng; simplified Chinese: 革命僧).
Su was born out of wedlock in
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
, Japan in 1884. His father was a
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
merchant, and his mother was his father's Japanese maid.
His ancestral home was in
Zhongshan city
Zhongshan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong Provinces of China, province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbati ...
,
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
Province, China.
He died at the age of 34 due to a stomach disease in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
.
Life and career
Education
Su had a good master of painting and language.
He mastered many languages — English,
French,
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
and
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
. In 1896, he went to Shanghai with his uncle and aunt to study in the British con-cession when he was thirteen years old.
Later, in 1898, he went to Japan to study at the School of Universal Harmony (Da Tong School 大同學校) in Yokohama, Japan.
In 1902, he continued to study in the special program for Chinese students at
Waseda University
, abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the ''Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō'' by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the school was formally renamed Waseda University in 1902.
The university has numerou ...
( 早稻田大學 ).
Buddhism
He became a Buddhist monk three times during his life; once at the age of 12 in 1895, later in 1899, and again in 1903, and adopted Su Manshu as a Buddhist name. He studied in Japan and traveled to many
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
countries including India, and
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
.
In 1895, Su fell ill and nearly died due to neglect of care from his family, which resulted in him resorting Buddhism. However, Su did not follow the rules of Buddhism so he was expelled.
In 1898, Su suffered a serious setback in his romantic relationship with a Japanese girl named Jingzi. Jinzi's family forced her to leave Su, but she could not bear the great pressure and soon died. After facing the suffering, Su resorted to Buddhism again as a spiritual consolation for a short period.
In 1913, Su felt disappointed about the political and social status, which the Qing government perpetually banned anti-government remarks in the revolutionary newspaper. So he returned to the temple in Guangdong for the rest of his life.
Career
Su was the most famous prose translator and his masterworks include ''Selected poems of Byron'' and ''
Les Miserables.''
In 1903, he serialized his incomplete translation of ''Les Miserable World'' in ''The China National Gazette ( 國民日日報 )'' and then published it in 1904.
Su also translated quite a few poems by foreign romantic poets from
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
and then published a collection of the translations entitled ''Selected Poems of Byron'' (''拜倫詩選'') in 1908.
In 1911, some of these translations were published again in an anthology entitled ''Chao Yin''(''Voice of the tide'').
In 1911 or 1912, Su wrote and published his first as well as a most celebrated semi-autobiographical romance novel, ''Duan Hong Ling Yan Ji'' (''The Lone Swan'').
Literature work
''Duan Hong Ling Yan Ji''
The ''Duan Hong Ling Yan Ji'' (Chinese: 斷鴻零雁記; pinyin: duàn hóng líng yàn jì) was written in classical literary styles and translated into English by George Kin Leung as ''The Lone Swan'' in 1929. The novel depicts tragic love stories between a young man and two young ladies, both of whom wholeheartedly fall in love with him. The young man is a monk just like Su, who cannot marry either of the two young ladies, which results in a tragic ending.
The similarity between the novel with ''The Dream of the Red Chamber'' has led scholars to conclude that Su was much influenced by it.
And ''The Lon Swan'' is one of the forefathers of the
Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies school.
''Selected Poems of Lord Byron''
The ''Selected Poems of Lord Byron (Chinese: 拜倫詩選; pinyin: bài lún shī xuǎn)'' was published in the Chinese empire
Hsuantung the first year (in 1909) and translated into Chinese in the form of classical Chinese poetry such as ''The Isles of Greece'' and ''My Native Land, Good Night''
''.''
''Les Miserables''
The translation of ''Les Miserables'' was published in the Chinese empire
Guangxu 29th year (in 1903). It was serialized in 國民日日報 (English: ''The China National Gazette'' ) with a translated title ''慘社會'' (English: Miserable Society) in Shanghai.
Influences
New Culture Movement and May Fourth Movement
Su was involved in revolutionary activity against the
Qing Dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
writing articles and papers. His poems integrated the core of classical Chinese literature and his collocation influenced the
New Culture Movement
The New Culture Movement () was a movement in China in the 1910s and 1920s that criticized classical Chinese ideas and promoted a new Chinese culture based upon progressive, modern and western ideals like democracy and science. Arising out of ...
in the early years of the Republic of China. His novels echoed those of the
May Fourth Movement
The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) to protest the Chinese ...
writers in criticism of the traditional family.
Like writers such as
Hu Shi
Hu Shih (; 17 December 1891 – 24 February 1962), also known as Hu Suh in early references, was a Chinese diplomat, essayist, literary scholar, philosopher, and politician. Hu is widely recognized today as a key contributor to Chinese libera ...
,
Wu You
Wu You (; born 27 March 1984 in Jinzhou, Liaoning) is a female Chinese rower
Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached ...
and
Ba Jin
Ba Jin (Chinese: 巴金; pinyin: ''Bā Jīn''; 1904–2005) was a Chinese writer. In addition to his impact on Chinese literature, he also wrote three original works in Esperanto, and as a political activist he wrote '' The Family''.
Name
He ...
, Su depicted family as an arena beset with cruelty, where authorities abused the younger generations for their own self-interests.
He showed how family authority can inflict pain on young people by preventing their desire for romantic love.
Although he focused on the pains of the sentimental characters’ personalities, he advocated that individuals could pursue what they wanted.
Further reading
''Su Manshu quan ji''
''Su Man-shu quan ji'' was written by
Liu Yazi and
Liu Wuchi, is a collection of Su Manshu's works, including poetry, novels, letters, miscellaneous essays, poetry translation and novel translation. The book is the most comprehensive collection of Su's literature works.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Su, Manshu
1884 births
1918 deaths
Qing dynasty poets
Qing dynasty Buddhist monks
People from Yokohama
Chinese revolutionaries
Republic of China Buddhist monks
Chinese people of Japanese descent
Qing dynasty essayists
Qing dynasty translators
20th-century poets
Republic of China Buddhists
Republic of China novelists
Republic of China translators
Republic of China essayists
20th-century Chinese translators
19th-century Chinese translators
20th-century essayists
Writers from Kanagawa Prefecture
20th-century Buddhist monks