Zeng Pu

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In this Chinese name, the family name is Zeng.

Zeng Pu (simplified Chinese: 曾朴; traditional Chinese: 曾樸; pinyin: Zēng Pǔ; Wade–Giles: Tseng P'u; 1872-1935[1]) was a Chinese novelist.

Zeng Pu published a scholarly work on the later Han Dynasty in 1895. He later enrolled in the in Beijing to learn the French language. Zeng Pu returned to Jiangsu in 1898 and built a school. In 1903 he began a business in Shanghai, which failed. He returned to his focus in literature.[2] Zeng Pu was a Francophile.[1]

Writing style[]

The language in Zeng Pu's novels borrowed allusions and images from classical Chinese literature and Zeng Pu used symbolism in his novels. Therefore, his works appealed to readers who had a classical education and were considered sophisticated in their society.[3]

Zeng Pu knew the French language. David Der-wei Wang, author of Fin-de-siècle Splendor: Repressed Modernities of Late Qing Fiction, 1849-1911, wrote that Zeng Pu was "probably" the sole late Qing novelist who knew a foreign language.[4] David Wang explained that since Zeng Pu knew French he had "direct access to European literature without the mediation of distorted translations."[4]

The First Sino-Japanese War had a large effect on Zeng Pu.[2]

Works[]

Jin Tianhe (Jin Songcen) started A Flower in a Sinful Sea as a political novel criticizing Russian advances into China.[5] Zeng Pu, writing under the pseudonym "Sick man of Asia",[6] took control of the novel in 1904.[2] He completed it as a historical novel.[5]

References[]

  • Doleželová-Velingerová, Milena. "Chapter 38: Fiction from the End of the Empire to the Beginning of the Republic (1897-1916)" in: Mair, Victor H. (editor). The Columbia History of Chinese Literature. Columbia University Press, August 13, 2013. p. 697-731. ISBN 0231528515, 9780231528511.
  • Idema, Wilt L. "Prosimetric and verse narrative." p. 343-214. In: Kang-i Sun Chang and Stephen Owen (editors). The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature: From 1375. Cambridge University Press, 2010. ISBN 0521855594, 9780521855594.
  • McDougall, Bonnie S. and Kam Louie. The Literature of China in the Twentieth Century. Columbia University Press, 1997. ISBN 0231110855, 9780231110853.
  • Wang, David Der-wei. Fin-de-siècle Splendor: Repressed Modernities of Late Qing Fiction, 1849-1911. Stanford University Press, 1997. ISBN 0804728453, 9780804728454.

Notes[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Idema, p. 387.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c McDougall and Louie, p. 90. "This was also the year when China was defeated in the War against Japan, an event which had a tremendous effect on Zeng Pu. Moving away from classical learning, he enrolled in the College of Foreign Languages in Beijing to learn French"
  3. ^ Doleželová-Velingerová, p. 724.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Wang, Dewei, p. 103.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "Zeng Pu's "Niehai Hua" as a political novel--a world genre in a Chinese form" (database listing with abstract) (Archive) The University of Hong Kong Libraries. Retrieved on October 26, 2013.
  6. ^ Rojas, Carlos (6 April 2015). "Chapter 2: Rebellion". Homesickness. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674286979.

Further reading[]

  • Li, Peter. Tseng P'u. Twayne Publishers, 1980. ISBN 0805764186, 9780805764185.

External links[]

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