Chen Baichen

Chen Baichen

Chen Baichen (1908-1994), Chinese writer and screenwriter. His original name is Chen zenghong, also known as Zhenghong and Chen Fei, and his pen names are Mosha and JiangHao. He is from Huaiyin, Jiangsu Province.

In 1930, he joined the League of left-wing dramatists, engaged in drama activities, and participated in Nanguo, modern and other drama clubs. Later, he went back to his hometown to engage in revolutionary activities. In July 1932, he served as secretary of Huaiyan special committee of the Communist Youth League. He was arrested for betrayal. He wrote some short stories and one act plays in prison. After he was released from prison in 1935, he engaged in literary creation in Shanghai. Since the beginning of the Anti Japanese War, he has persisted in progressive drama activities and created a large number of plays. His representative works include men and women in troubled times, March of marriage, the picture of winter and the picture of promotion, etc. After liberation, he participated in the creation of screenplays such as song Jingshi and Lu Xun biography. After the cultural revolution, he emphasized writing. In 1978, he was professor and director of the Chinese Department of Nanjing University. He presided over the establishment of the Institute of drama, film and television, which is the first professional doctoral program in drama in China, and has trained many dramatists. In 1983, he was elected a member of the sixth CPPCC National Committee. Chen Baichen has a unique contribution to satirical comedy, known as "China's Gogol".

Character experience

Born on March 2, 1908 in Qinghe County, Jiangsu Province (now Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province), a merchant family. In middle school, he accepted the influence of the May 4th New Literature and wrote new poems and vernacular novels. He studied in Shanghai in his youth.

In 1930, he joined the League of left-wing dramatists, engaged in drama activities, and participated in Nanguo, modern and other drama clubs. Later, he went back to his hometown to engage in revolutionary activities,

In July 1932, he served as secretary of Huaiyan special committee of the Communist Youth League. Later, he was arrested for betrayal. He wrote some short stories and one act plays in prison. After he was released from prison in 1935, he engaged in literary creation in Shanghai. Since the beginning of the Anti Japanese War, he has persisted in progressive drama activities and created a large number of plays. His representative works include men and women in troubled times, March of marriage, the picture of winter and the picture of promotion, etc. After liberation, he participated in the creation of screenplays such as song Jingshi and Lu Xun biography. In 1977, he created the historical drama "gale song". He once served as the Secretary of the Secretariat of the Chinese writers' Association. After 1978, he was employed as a professor and head of the Chinese Department of Nanjing University. He presided over the establishment of the Institute of drama, film and television. This is the first doctoral program in drama in China, and has trained many drama talents.

Student experience

Chen Baichen first published his works in 1925. He graduated from junior high school in 1926 and was admitted to Shanghai liberal arts college. In the same year, he joined the Kuomintang, engaged in the progressive student movement and had a preliminary contact with the Communists. After the "April 12" counter revolutionary coup in 1927, he withdrew from the Kuomintang. After that, he first studied literature in Shanghai University of Arts, which Tian Han presided over, and then followed Tian Han to establish Nanguo art college, becoming an important member of Nanguo society. From 1929 to 1932, he wandered all over the country, seeking for jobs and selling articles. He went to Japan to return home. Together with his friends, he organized drama groups such as the popular drama society, the modern society and the Nanfeng society to carry out the progressive drama movement.

Revolutionary contribution

In 1932, he joined the anti imperialist alliance, joined the Communist Youth League of China, served as Secretary General of Huaiyin special committee, and actively engaged in Anti Japanese and national salvation propaganda activities. In September of the same year, he was arrested and jailed by Kuomintang reactionaries, where he secretly wrote novels and plays. Two and a half years of prisoner life has become a harvest season for his creation.

After being released from prison in 1935, he became a "Pavilion writer" in Shanghai. After the outbreak of the Anti Japanese war in 1937, he transferred to the rear area and engaged in Anti Japanese drama movement and revolutionary culture work in Chongqing, Chengdu and other places. He once participated in the organization and leadership work of Shanghai Film troupe, Shanghai amateur dramatist Association and China drama club, wrote a large number of scripts for these troupes, and made contributions to the climax of Anti Japanese war drama in the rear area; especially after the "Wannan incident", he established China drama club according to the organization instructions of the Communist Party of China, and performed a large number of excellent plays in difficult situations, such as Guo Moruo's Qu Yuan, Yang Hansheng's Tianguo Chunqiu, Xia Yan's fascist bacteria and so on make the drama club the backbone of the rear area to insist on progressive drama. During this period, Chen Baichen also taught or took part-time courses in the National Academy of drama, Sichuan Provincial School of music and drama, Central University, and served as the editor in chief of newspaper supplements such as West China Daily, West China evening news, and Xinmin daily.

Related experience

He returned to Shanghai in 1946 and continued to fight against civil war and democracy on the film and drama front. In 1948, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, he participated in the organization of the underground Shanghai theater film workers association. After the liberation of Shanghai, the association was formally established and elected as its chairman. In 1949, he served as deputy head of the second Southern delegation of the National Congress of literary and artistic workers, Secretary General of the Shanghai Federation of literary and art circles, and director of the Art Committee of Shanghai Film Studio.

He joined the Communist Party of China in 1950. In 1952, he was transferred to Beijing as director of the script writing office of the Ministry of culture. In 1953, he served as the director and Secretary General of the Chinese writers' Association, and then successively served as the Secretary of the Secretariat of the writers' Association, the deputy director of the Foreign Liaison Committee, and the deputy editor in chief of the people's literature. In 1966, he was transferred to Jiangsu Provincial Federation of literary and art circles. After the end of the cultural revolution, he emphasized writing. In 1978, he was professor and director of the Department of Chinese language and literature of Nanjing University. In 1979, he was elected member of all China Federation of literary and art circles, director of China Writers Association and vice chairman of China Dramatists Association. In 1980, he became honorary chairman of Jiangsu Federation of literary and art circles. In 1983, he was elected a member of the sixth CPPCC National Committee.

Personal life

Cultural Revolution

During the cultural revolution, Chen Baichen was the subject of the special task force of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and suffered much more mental torture than the ordinary May 7th fighters. It was in the early summer of 1970, the red flag magazine published a signed article, which branded Chen Baichen's famous work the end of Shi Dakai in the 1930s as an "anti Communist historical drama", and insisted that it was suspected of alluding to the Red Army. In order to "follow suit", on the afternoon of June 22, a two-hour struggle meeting was held in the fifth company of the fourth brigade affiliated to the Chinese writers' Association to criticize Chen Baichen, a "big poisonous herb" of "traitor" and "counter revolutionary". On such an occasion, Chen Baichen dare not defend himself or argue right and wrong! On the contrary, he was calm. He simply picked up a stick and went all out to pick out the mud on the sole of his shoes to show his silent protest However, "the eyes of the masses are bright", he was regarded as having a bad attitude to plead guilty, and then he was scolded. In desperation, he had to wait until the evening to write to his wife Jinling, who was far away in Nanjing, to share his sorrow.

It was easy to hope that in the spring of 1972, Chen Baichen finally got "permission" and had "family leave" for the first time. At this time, it has been six months since he was arrested from Nanjing to Beijing in September 1966! First, he was put into a "cattle shed" and then sent to a cadre school. He never met his family again. Naturally, Chen Baichen was eager to return to Jinling. When the train arrived in Nanjing, Jinling led a son and two daughters to meet her at the station. Jingjing, the youngest daughter, asked her suspiciously, "is that my father?" Chen Baichen and his wife, who are both sad and happy, hold hands and look at each other with tears in their eyes. At home, they talk to each other about their separation. It's really sad.

family

Jin Lingyuan, who worked in people's literature, was forced to retire in Beijing several years ago and was exiled to Jiangsu Province in disguised form. The Beijing special task force twice rushed to the house and pointed to her nose and warned, "you should draw a line with Chen Baichen!" Due to the hardship of living with her children, she once sold the ancient drama series compiled by Zheng Zhenduo, which her husband had treasured for many years, for 500 yuan to solve her urgent need. Soon after, she was framed as a "rightist" and discriminated against. Chen Hong, the eldest daughter, became a private teacher after four years in the countryside. Although she was admitted to the normal school with excellent results, she was not admitted because of her parents. Her only son and young daughter were also hit to varying degrees

After hearing this, Chen Baichen not only felt sorry for the thread bound book, but also shed tears for his wife and children! Fortunately, he was a "optimist" and turned to talk about how he was "resourceful" when he was put on trial, and how he was "happy" when he was herding ducks in Xiangyang lake, which amused his relatives. A few days later, the family went out to Xuanwu Lake, to see the Rhododendron show, to have a picnic in the area of Zhongshan Mausoleum, and to wish their 64th birthday.

The reunion brought infinite warmth to Chen Baichen, and the unpleasant things during the "family visit" were inevitable. One of his neighbors changed his face as soon as he was rich. He always put on a condescending manner when talking to Chen Baichen. Another "rebel" neighbor was ordered to spy on him secretly. What made him most angry was that the "May 7th" cadre school in Jiangsu Province ordered him to "report his thoughts". It took him a day in vain, and the ten day holiday was virtually 10% off. One morning, Chen Baichen wanted to have a talk with Jingjing, who had just turned 16, but he just said, "Dad, I'm sorry for you. You've been in the black pot since you were young." his father and daughter are crying bitterly. On March 16, when the whole family sent Chen Baichen back on the train, what he heard was his wife's repeated exhortation to "cherish" and what he saw was four pairs of eyes full of tears. Sad heart, had to shift their eyes, no longer look at each other, do not go in a hurry.

In the autumn of 1982, he was invited to the United States to participate in the activities of the International PEN Center, and wrote his nostalgic work "cloud dream broken memories", of which "memories of visiting relatives" is one of the seven.. On May 28, 1994, he died at the age of 86.

In 2008, Jin Ling died. Chen Hong, the eldest daughter of Chen Baichen, is now a professor of history at Nanjing Normal University. Ten years ago, she went around and finally published her father's Diary of the cowshed. In recent years, she has compiled and published his father's biography, the diary of his own age

Chinese PinYin : Chen Bai Chen