Shao Xunmei

Shao Xunmei

Shao Xunmei (1906-1968), whose ancestral home is Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, was born in Shanghai. Crescent poets, essayists, publishers and translators. He graduated from Shanghai Nanyang Road and mining school in early 1923 and went to Europe to study in the same year. He entered Cambridge University to study English literature. He returned to China in 1927 and married Sheng Peiyu. In 1928, he opened the Golden House bookstore and published the golden house monthly. In November 1930, the "China branch of international pen association" was established. He was elected as a director and an accountant. In 1933, Decameron magazine published the first novel named "noble area". In 1934, Renyan magazine. From March 1936 to August 1937, he presided over the editing of the Analects. In his later years, he was engaged in the translation of foreign literature, translating the works of Mark Twain, Shelley, Tagore and others. His poetry collection includes heaven and may and sin like flowers.

Personage introduction

When Shao Xunmei fell in love with his wife, he saw the sentence "Pei Yu Qiang Qiang" in the book of songs "Zheng Feng · you lesbian car", which was the name of his wife, so he took two words from "Xunmei Qidu" to show his love.

His wife, Sheng Peiyu, is Sheng Xuanhuai's granddaughter and cousin. His grandfather Shao Youlian was an important minister in the late Qing Dynasty. She also lived with American female writer Emily Hahn. His son-in-law Fang Ping is a famous translator. His father Shao Heng was a dandy. Shao passed on to his uncle Shao Yi, whose ex-wife was the daughter of Li Hongzhang.

The first volume of Shao Xunmei's works series is divided into five volumes, which are: the crime like flowers, the essay, the profession not to lie, the literary gossip, the noble area, and the memoir, the new history of scholars.

Personal life

Shao Xunmei is a poet with noble temperament. In the coming revolutionary era, he blindly recited the wind and the moon and pursued "aestheticism", which was really not in harmony with the background of the country's difficulties and problems. However, he is generous and has the reputation of "Xiao Meng taste"; his "generosity" makes his family's economic situation increasingly tense, which is mentioned by Ms. Sheng Peiyu in the book "Sheng's family Shao Xunmei and me". He has made great achievements in publishing, especially in the publication of the English version of on protracted war. After liberation, Shao Xunmei devoted herself to translation work, including Byron's bronze age, Shelley's the liberated Prometheus, Tagore's two sisters, etc. Unfortunately, from the "anti rightist" to the "Cultural Revolution", he was arrested and censored at first, then released and criticized for fighting. When he died, he was so embarrassed that he didn't even have new clothes.

In the words of Li Oufan, a scholar, Shao Xunmei is more unknown than most of the writers in the history of modern literature because he is "the most incongruous model of May 4th writers with social conscience".

Indeed, Shao Xunmei, a beautiful man with beautiful eyes, long hair and a "perfect Greek nose", is a bit of a "dandy". He was a descendant of a senior official in the late Qing Dynasty, and his wife was a famous family member with rich fortune. Some people say that his life when he was young is almost a copy of the "Grand View Garden" described in a dream of Red Mansions. He is good at wine and gambling. He often "throws Hulu at the house with flowers and trees, and wins millions". He paid attention to elegant gambling and thought that gambling was poetic, so he looked down on those secular gamblers. It is said that the more money he loses, the better his poems are written. He calls himself a "gambling poet".

Shao Xunmei was born in a famous family and inherited the wealth of his family. After returning to Shanghai from Cambridge, he made friends with almost all the writers and artists except the left-wing writers. His friends Zhang Ruogu and Lu Xiaoman recalled that in Shao Xunmei's private study, there were the original works of the Greek poetess Schaffer, which were valued at more than 5000 gold, the manuscript of Swinburne, which was photographed in London with 200000 gold pounds, the first edition of Baudelaire's flower of evil, which was bound in parchment (the flower like sin was deeply influenced by Baudelaire's decadent style), and his big brother Xu The canvas oil painting depicting the impromptu scene of "Moulin Rouge" in Paris bar presented by Beihong to Shao Xunmei. These furnishings show the strong financial resources and interpersonal network of Shao family. However, in addition to collecting her favorite works of art, Shao Xunmei has invested all her wealth in the development of young China's publishing industry.

He wore a long gown and danced in western style, like "the crane of RAM". Because of his pale skin, he had to apply thin Rouge before going out, claiming that he was learning from the demeanor of the Tang Dynasty.

He loves painting, collecting books and literature. He runs a literature salon in his mansion, and there are a lot of people coming and going. He loves to write poems, and he has to write on white paper without check. His handwriting is beautiful, the lines are clear, symmetrical and clean, and even can be printed directly.

His British style of poetry, the pursuit of aestheticism, some people evaluate it as "soft and charming spring and March weather, gorgeous as a gorgeous woman should be praised.".

In his preface to the biography of Shao Xunmei, a talented man on the sea, Zhang Kebiao summarized Shao Xunmei as a person with three personalities: a poet, a young master and a publisher. Zhang Kebiao said Shao Xunmei: "he is very busy, contradictory and reconciled in the three personalities. Therefore, he is really hard to grasp, that is, hard to express."

Character story

Aestheticism poet

A pot can be matched with a number of cups, just like a general on the stage of a drama, there are always soldiers in front of and behind.

If we say that the history of modern Chinese literature is a big teahouse, and many literary celebrities are "teapots", then when historians mention Lu Xun, Xu Zhimo, Lin Yutang and other "teapots" in the 1930s and 1940s, they always mention Shao Xunmei, the "Cup" beside them.

When we brush away the dust of history and explore its true features, we will find that Shao Xunmei is also a "pot", and a "multifunctional pot" with multiple titles of poet, writer, translator and publisher!

Shao Xunmei, the "aestheticism" poet, has been neglected by us for a long time. He is only occasionally mentioned as a prop, living in the crevice of other people's memories, and sometimes plays an embarrassing role due to misunderstanding.

So, what kind of person is Shao Xunmei?

The rich and the poor

Shao Xunmei (1906-1968), whose ancestral home is Yuyao, Zhejiang, was born in Shanghai. His grandfather, Shao Youlian, was an official in Tongzhi period. He once served as a first-class counsellor in Russia, and later served as governor of Hunan and governor of Taiwan. Sheng Xuanhuai, the grandfather of Shao's wife Sheng Peiyu, was a famous figure in the Westernization Movement and the first generation of industrialist in modern China. Because of Shao Xunmei's adoption to his uncle Shao Yi, according to the pedigree, Li Hongzhang is regarded as his grandfather.

The marriage of Shao and Sheng, with their prominent status and wealth, seems to be no less than that of Rong and Ning in a dream of Red Mansions.

Shao Xunmei's biological father Shaoheng was awarded by his father-in-law Sheng Xuanhuai and was appointed as the supervisor of China Merchants Group. However, he was a real dandy. He indulged in mahjong tables and big cigarette shops all day long, and liked to hide in a golden house. Later, he was so angry that Sheng Xuanhuai had to remove him because he didn't go to work for three months in a row.

Shao Xunmei, when she was five or six years old, entered a family school to read the book of songs and recite Tang poetry. After school, he went to St. John's middle school. In addition to Chinese, all the courses taught in this missionary school are in English, and many of the teachers are foreigners. Shao Yunlong is becoming a talented and gentle young man with a good education environment.

Shao Xunmei fell in love with her cousin Sheng Peiyu when she was 16. At the age of 17, Shao Xunmei learned to drive a car. During the summer vacation, he often drove around in a Ford and took his servants to the long-term box of the Shao family in the theater. Once, introduced by her cousin, Shao Xunmei met a socialite in the box. When he had dinner and chatted with the socialite and her friends, one of them, who called himself Shao, made trouble and hurt others with a gun. When the police heard that the murderer's surname was Shao, they put Shao Xunmei in prison. Although Shao Xunmei was finally released by the police, it spread to Shanghai beach and ruined the reputation of the Shao family. The socialite was brave enough to find Shao's house and beat the Shao family down.

Later, Shao Xunmei knew that it was the socialite who made a trap with the gang and caught him, a rich young master who was not familiar with the world. Shao Xunmei deeply regretted her ignorance and misconduct, never set foot in entertainment places again, and went to Nanyang Road and mining school.

In early 1925, Shao Xunmei and Sheng Peiyu got engaged and went to Cambridge University to study abroad. He studied in the economics department, but he taught himself English literature after class and was fascinated by English poetry. During his study abroad, he met Xu Zhimo, Xu Beihong, Zhang daofan and other friends.

Less than two years later, Shao Xunmei stopped her studies and returned home because her family suffered from a fire and she was financially strapped.

In 1927, Shao Xunmei married her cousin Sheng Peiyu. The wedding was held at the Carden hotel in unprecedented splendor. The witness is Ma Xiangbo, the founder of Fudan University. After marriage, friends from three dynasties came to celebrate, including Jiang Xiaojian, Yu Dafu, Xu Zhimo, Lu Xiaoman, Ding Bing, Liu Haisu, Qian Shoutie, etc. Their wedding photo appeared on the cover of Shanghai pictorial (1927.1.21), with the title of "stay with Shao Xunmei, an English scholar, and Mrs. Peiyu, the niece of Sheng's fourth son", as well as the article "the story of Meiyu's marriage", which became a fashionable topic in Shanghai for a time.

At this time, Shao Xunmei was determined to create her own career in the future, not relying on the shadow of her ancestors. " I can't just use up all the money handed down from my ancestors, just like other rich children, and I don't want to use the hands and feet that God has given me to survive. "

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