Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t1: Chen Duxiu

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t1

Language: English

Chen Duxiu

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Chen Duxiu (or Ch’en Tu-hsiu, October 9, 1879 - May 27, 1942) is a leading figure in China’s New Culture Movement and one of the founders of the

Communist Party of China. Originally named as Qingtong, he also called himself Zhongfu or Shi’an. He was born in Huaining (present-day Anqing), Anhui, and is the first Chinese scholar to translate Rabindranath Tagore’s works.

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**Lifetime** Chen Duxiu’s father died when he was a child. He was smart and given a traditional Confucian education by his grandfather. He passed the countylevel imperial examination in 1896 and in 1897, he went to study at Qiushi Academy in Hangzhou and learned about modern Western Thoughts and culture. From 1901, he went to Japan three times, and joined an English-medium school in Tokyo in 1907 and later transferred to Waseda University. In September 1915, he founded the *Youth Magazine* (renamed as New Youth in 1916) in Shanghai. He became the Dean of Peking University in 1917. As a leading figure in the New Culture Movement, he called for a literary revolution. After the May Fourth Movement in 1919, he began to propagate Marxism. In August 1920, he founded China’s first communist group in Shanghai and began to prepare for the founding of a communist party. In July 1921, the Communist Party of China (CPC) was founded, and Chen Duxiu was elected as the General Secretary. From then on to July 1927, he was a major leader of the CPC. In November 1929, he was expelled from the Party. He moved to Sichuan in 1938 and lived in poverty and poor health. He died in Jiangjin district of Chongqing. His major works are included in *Collected Works of Chen Duxiu*.

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*‘Youth Magazine’, front cover*

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**Connection with A *Sanskrit Grammar*** When he studied in Japan in the early 20^th century, Chen Duxiu came to know of revolutionary Zhang Taiyan, Liu Shipei, Su Manshu and the like. He went to Japan in the spring of 1907 and became a roommate of Su Manshu. Soon after, he founded ‘Asia Friendship Society’ together with Zhang Taiyan, Liu Shipei and Su Manshu with a purpose “to fight imperialism and regain independence for subjugated Asian nations.” Each with a large store of knowledge, they learned from each other to broaden their horizon and make rapid academic progress. From Zhang Taiyan and Su Manshu, Chen Duxiu learned much about Buddhism and India. In the summer of the same year, Su Manshu finished *A Sanskrit Grammar*, with the original English version furnished by Chen Duxiu. This book was translated from Volume I of Max Müller’s *A Sanskrit Grammar for Beginners* (1866). Su Manshu stated in the preface, “Henceforth, there will be communication between Chinese and Sanskrit.” Chen Duxiu composed a poem to praise him, “Start a millennium-old learning from today, and strive best to benefit people. Excellent writing once existed, and Siddham’s heavenly language disappeared. Living creatures are bound and black is hard to become white, and human nature is smeared with mud and horse does not neigh. I do not want to go with dreams, and see you deep in the snow mountain.” Here, ‘millennium-old learning’ means Sanskrit study, and ‘heavenly language’ refers to Sanskrit.

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**Translation and Comment on Tagore** As the first Chinese to attempt the translation of Rabindranath Tagore’s works in “To the Youth” (*Youth Magazine*, Issue I, Vol. 1, September 15, 1915), he thought highly of Tagore and compared him to Leo Tolstoy. He selected Articles 1, 2, 25 and 35 from Tagore’s *Gitanjali* (a collection of religious lyrics) and translated them into five-character Chinese poems, *Songs of Praise* which were published in *Youth Magazine* (Issue II, Vol. 1, October 15, 1915). If *Gitanjali* is a masterpiece of Tagore, then Article 35 is the best part of this masterpiece. An Indian scholar once said, even without any other poem, Article 35 of *Gitanjali* (Where the mind is without fear) alone would be enough to bring a lasting name to the poet. Chen Duxiu made an excellent translation, and below is a copy:

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Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

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From the choice and the translation, it is clear that Chen Duxiu has an unusual mastery of Chinese and poetry. He gave an explanatory note on Tagore: “A modern Indian poet and an advocate for oriental civilisation, and a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize (it should be Nobel Prize for Literature). He is reputed in Europe and revered by the Indian youth as a sage, and his poems are filled with religious and philosophical ideals. Gitanjali are composed to praise Brahma”. In the translation, he made adept use of Buddhist terms, and this indicates that he had a good knowledge of Buddhism. His style of translation was similar to that of Su Manshu. It is a kind of recreation, though not necessarily in full agreement with, yet on the whole could reproduce the basic spirit of the original text.

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However, Chen Duxiu soon became a Marxist and a revolutionist and began with vehement criticism of traditional Chinese culture, stopped the probe into the “millennium-old learning” and “Siddham’s heavenly language”, and his attitude towards Tagore also underwent a drastic change. When Tagore visited China in 1924, Chen Duxiu became a violent critic and attacker, and repulsed by Tagore’s appreciation of Chinese culture and his ideas such as non-violence and universal love, he successively published more than 20 articles, for example, ‘*Tagore and Oriental Culture*, *On Tagore’s Speeches in Hangzhou and Shanghai*, *What a Fraternal and Peace-loving Poet-Philosopher, Tagore and Money Worship, Is Tagore Something*’, to constantly track and criticise the poet’s lectures in China and even accuse him as 'a lobbyist for imperialism', and 'a politician rather than a poet'. Most of these articles are radical, unfounded and unscholarly. Besides, he also asked Mao Dun and others to write critical papers and even took actions to besiege and harass Tagore. When Tagore was making a speech, there would be someone to humiliate and harass him by shouting, throwing leaflets and rapid assembly. Tagore had to cancel some public lectures. In fact, Chen Duxiu may not know, Tagore was also a sure-footed social reformer. Tagore once aspired to socialism and expressed certain sympathy and hope with respect to the October Revolution in Russia. Tagore was a firm opponent of imperialism, colonialism and fascism, and he never changed and was a lasting friend of the Chinese, as well as people across the world. But Chen Duxiu changed his attitude and took his friend for his foe and seriously hurt Tagore. However, apart from oral explanation, Tagore never reacted to the misunderstanding and attack he encountered in China. Ironically, his reputation in China rose rather than fell, and he is popular in one generation after another, while, now few would like to read those articles by Chen Duxiu.