Li Guangtian (1906–1968, born Wang Xijue) was a 20th-century

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

essayist.

Biography

Born into an indigent peasant family with the surname Wang, he was adopted by his uncle, and changed his surname into Li. In 1923, he entered the First Normal School of Shandong, and was arrested later because of recommending left-wing literature. In 1929, Li sat entrance examinations for and was accepted at the foreign language department of

Beijing University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter ...

. In 1936, The poetry anthology ''The Han Garden Collection'' (《汉园集》) co-written by Li, Bian Zhilin and

He Qifang He Qifang (5 February 1912 – 24 July 1977; ) was a Chinese poet, essayist, literary critic and redologist. He was born in Wanxian, Sichuan Province, which is now Wanzhou District, Chongqing Municipality. He studied Philosophy at Peking Uni ...

was published. He published three prose collections before the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

: the ''Gallery Collection'' (《画廊集》, 1936), the ''Silver Fox Collection'' (《银狐集》, 1936), and the ''Quesuo Collection'' (《雀蓑集》, 1939). After the outbreak of the war, he went into exile at southwest China. He wrote several essay collections during this time, including ''Outside the Circle'' (《圈外》, 1942), ''the Echoes'' (《回声》, 1943) and the ''Essays under the Sun'' (《日边随笔》, 1948). After 1949, he contributed himself into educational cause. He also did some research about the literature of the minority groups of China. He collated the long love poems like ''

Ashima Ashima (; la, Asima) is an ancient Semitic goddess. Ancient Middle East Asima was a West Semitic goddess of fate related to the Akkadian goddess Shimti ("fate"), who was a goddess in her own right but also a title of other goddesses such as Da ...

'' (《阿诗玛》) of the

Yi people The Yi or Nuosu people,; zh, c=彝族, p=Yízú, l=Yi ethnicity historically known as the Lolo,; vi, Lô Lô; th, โล-โล, Lo-Lo are an ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with eac ...

and ''Xianxiu'' (《线秀》) of the

Dai people The Dai people ( Burmese: ရှမ်းလူမျိုး; khb, ᨴᩱ/ᨴᩱ᩠ᨿ; lo, ໄຕ; th, ไท; shn, တႆး, ; , ; ) refers to several Tai-speaking ethnic groups living in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and t ...

. Cai Qingfu. ''Li Guangtian'', ''Encyclopedia of China'' (Chinese Literature Edition), 1st ed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Guangtian Suicides during the Cultural Revolution Suicides by drowning in China People from Zouping Republic of China poets People's Republic of China poets 1968 deaths 1906 births Poets from Shandong 20th-century Chinese poets 20th-century Chinese male writers Chinese male short story writers 20th-century Chinese short story writers Chinese adoptees Writers from Binzhou Republic of China short story writers Short story writers from Shandong Presidents of Yunnan University National University of Peking alumni