39 Facts About Shen Congwen

Shen Congwen, formerly romanized as Shen Ts'ung-wen, was a Chinese writer who is considered one of the greatest modern Chinese writers, on par with Lu Xun.

Shen Congwen was known for combining the vernacular style with classical Chinese writing techniques.

Shen Congwen published many excellent compositions in his life, the most famous of which is the novella Border Town.

Shen Congwen was slated to win the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature, but died before he could be awarded the prize.

Shen Congwen was born Shen Yuehuan on 28 December 1902 in the town of Fenghuang in west Hunan Province.

Shen Congwen was the fourth of nine children born to Shen Zongsi, a Han-Miao, and Huang Suying, a Tujia.

Shen Congwen's grandfather, Shen Hongfu, was a local hero who became a decorated general before being named acting commander-in-chief of Guizhou province at the age of 25.

Shen Congwen joined a local reserve militia before joining the regiment in Yuanling working as a clerk.

In 1923, after serving five years in the militia in Hunan, Shen Congwen left for Beijing to pursue higher education.

Shen Congwen began publishing short stories and essays regularly in Fiction Monthly and Crescent Moon, two highly influential literary magazines of the New Culture Movement.

In 1925 Shen Congwen became a student of Professor Lin Zaiping, who introduced him to the famous modernist poet Xu Zhimo.

In Beijing Shen Congwen met several influential figures of the New Culture Movement including Ding Ling and her husband Hu Yepin.

Shen Congwen lived with the couple for some time before the three writers moved to Shanghai together in 1927.

Shen Congwen then taught at Qingdao University for two years before returning to Beijing.

In 1933, Shen Congwen moved to Beijing with his wife, Zhang Zhaohe, and began work on his masterpiece, Border Town.

The war ended in 1945 and Shen Congwen returned to Beijing in the summer of 1946.

Shen Congwen taught at Peking University until 1949, when he was removed from his position in a political purge.

In early 1949, Shen Congwen drank kerosene and cut his throat and wrist in a suicide attempt.

Shen Congwen never published another work of fiction, unable to write stories fitting the political requirements of the new regime.

Shen Congwen's identity began to change from a writer to a researcher of cultural relics, the main field is ancient Chinese costumes.

In 1956, Shen Congwen was hired as a part-time consultant for the Weaving and Embroidery Research Group of the Palace Museum.

In 1966, when the Cultural Revolution broke out, Shen Congwen was regarded as a "reactionary academic authority" and was subjected to criticism.

On 27 January 1981, after Shen Congwen arrived in the Western United States, he was invited to give lectures at three famous universities in the San Francisco Bay Area: Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco State University.

In 1983, Shen Congwen was diagnosed with cerebral thrombosis and his left side was paralyzed.

Shen Congwen was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature by the Swedish sinologist Goran Malmqvist.

Shen Congwen was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Shen Congwen wrote to Swedish sinologist Goran Malmqvist inviting him to join the nomination.

Later, in 1988 Malmqvist had become a member of the Swedish Academy and Shen Congwen made the list of finalists for the prize.

Shen Congwen died later that year, before the prize could be awarded to him.

Shen Congwen would have been the first Chinese writer to receive the award.

In 1929, Shen Congwen was hired by Hu Shi to teach in Shanghai.

Shen Congwen's scandal caused a rift in their relationship, but they still accompanied each other through their lives.

Unfortunately, Shen Congwen was not immune to the political campaigns of the 1950s and 1960s.

Shen Congwen had two sons and a daughter with Zhang Zhaohe: Shen Longzhu and Shen Huchu and Shen Chaohui.

Shen Congwen died of a heart attack on 10 May 1988 in Beijing at the age of 85.

Shen Congwen was a very prolific writer, producing more than 20 volumes of prose and fiction between 1933 and 1937.

Shen Congwen published more than 200 stories and ten novels among other works.

Five out the thirty-two volumes of The Complete Works of Shen Congwen are devoted to his later scholarly work.

Shen Congwen's works were banned in Taiwan and his books were burnt throughout China.