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BIOGRAPHY Family Wang Shiwei was born in a small town in Yunan (豫南), China on 12 March 1906. His courtesy name (" Zi " 字) was "Shuhan" (叔翰). His father was a scholar who worked as a teacher in a local school. Wang was the third eldest child in a family of eight brothers and sisters. His father's income as a teacher however was not enough to sustain the large family ; the financial hardship of Wang's family leading to his awareness of the social problems and unfairness of the Chinese state. Education Wang received his initial education in Chinese Classics from his father, strengthening his knowledge of Chinese Literature . In 1914 , he entered Huangchuan Second Higher Elementary school (潢川第二高等小學) for Primary three education. Later, he went to Huangchuan Seventh Middle School (潢川第七中學). He eventually left his hometown and entered the Fundamental School Of Europe . Unfortunately, he was forced to leave this school a year later, as his family could no longer afford the expensive school fees. With a strong will to further his studies, he worked in a post office to save money. At the age of 17, he joined the "American Exchange Studies program in Henan Province "(河南省留學歐美預備學校). In 1925 , Wang got a chance to study Arts at Beijing University , there he actively participated in the University's student campaigns. However, he was once again forced to quit in 1927 , but was again able to start studying during the late 1920s and early 1930 s, this time at the Marx-Engels Institute in Moscow . Involvement in politics Wang actively participated in politics . In 1919 , Wang and his fellow clasmates joined the May Fourth Movement demonstrations in support of patriotic Beijing students. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1926 . Leaving a year later , for the criticism of his love affair with Li Fan (李芬), who was also a Communist member. However, he rejoined the Party when Mao Zedong (毛澤東) became the chairman. During his studies in Moscow , Wang formed the Twenty-Eight Bolsheviks together with other Chinese students such as Wang Ming (王明) and Ding Ling (丁玲). WANG AS A JOURNALIST "Wild Lilies" By 1942 Wang was working for the ''Liberation Daily'' (解放日報) where he wrote an article called "Wild Lilies" (野百合花). This criticized Mao Zedong's taste for beautiful women , as well as the unjustified privileges enjoyed by the Communist Party. It also discussed the "ugliness and indifference" in Yan'an ; also criticizing some "big men", whom Wang thought were responsible for the growth of darkness in the country. This article caused him many woes. On 27 May 1942 , the Central Committee held a seminar to discuss whether Wang was guilty. On 23 October , Wang was expelled from the Communist Party, on the charge that he was one of the anti-party cliques (托派份子). Wang's defence was that he was not involved in any anti-Communist activities , excepting his helping his anti-Communist friends Wang Wen-yuan (王文元) and Chen Qing-chen (陳清晨) to translate two prose pieces in "Tuoluociji Zizhuan" (《托洛茨基自傳》), activities of which he had already informed the Party. However, the Party did not believe him and he was arrested at the end of 1942. Wang tried his best to explain during his imprisonment , but all his attempts failed. On 1 July 1947 , he was prosecuted on the orders of the Social Section of the Communist Party in Jin Sui (晉綏). He died at the age of 41. After the reform and modernization of China , Wang's first wife of , Liu Ying (劉瑩) fought to vindicate her husband from wrongly received accusations. In 1991,the Ministry of Public Security indicated the accusation of Wang. How well did Wang do as a journalist (Wild Lilies) Wang demonstrated two basic elements of journalism in "Wild Lilies": = 1. "Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience" One day Wang overheard two girls critizing the inconsiderate behavior of senior leaders towards the public. He wrote it down and used it to express his concern over the country. He wrote that he was shocked after overhearing the dialogue and he finally realized what was lacking in everybody's life at that time. Therefore, he tried to uncover the complaints and criticisms of the commoners instead of blindly following the stream of corruption in China. He understood what went wrong. To choose to include this on a newspaper showed that he can exercised his personal conscience. = 2. "It must provide a forum for public criticism" Wang explained that his piece of work was called "Wild Lilies" because wild lilies had a higher medical value than other lilies. He hoped to criticize the unhealthy phenomenon in the country so that people could find remedies for the country. His work aroused criticisms from others. From April to May 1942, passages criticizing "Wild Lilies" were posted on the newspapers. There were also criticisms to Wang's ideas of 'hierarchy system'. Therefore, Wang's work initiated and motivated people's criticisms. It provided a chance for others to discuss and criticize. Based on this, it fulfilled the element mentioned. "Arrow and Target" "Arrow and Target" (矢与的) was a wall poster newspaper series. The articles were posted outside the southern gate of Yan'an City . How well did Wang do as a journalist (Arrow and Target) Wang demonstrated one element of journalism in "Arrow and Target" too: = 1. "Its first loyalty is to citizens." Wang uses the spaces provided in the newspaper series to attack Luo Mai (羅邁)/Li Weihan (別名李维漢), the director of the Central research Institute. He told every citizen that injustices were present. This act certainly destroyed the image of the institute. Instead of defending the institute, which he was quite closely connected with, in his column, he alleged to tell the citizens things that they wanted to know, things that were beneficial to them. He is loyal to citizens more than the business owners and advertisers. Therefore, Wang's first loyalty was to citizens. WANG AS A WRITER He began writing at the age of 19 when he was studying at the Beijing University . He used "Shiwei" (實味) as his Pen Name . His talent was greatly appreciated by Xu Zhimo (徐志摩), who was a modern Chinese Poet . Xu always posted Wang's writings in the Features page when he was the editor-in-chief of that page of the Morning Post. From 1930 onwards, he started to use some new pen names such as ShiWei (詩薇/石巍). His novella ''Xiuxi''(Rest) (休息), which talked about how young people should fight against the darkness of a country, was published in Xu Zhimo 's "New literary collection" in 1930. His work shows the framework of what an ideal society should be liked. Equality of opportunity was emphasized. The western idea of Marxism in his work gave people a new insight. Contributions to literature Wang's works helped citizens of Yunan get a better understanding on different concepts, for example, the relationship between politics and literature. After Wang's works were published, people began to notice that the education on the rules of the Party was not practical. There were lots of subjective Chinese literature focusing too much on the rules of the Party in the 1940s. Wang was the first writer in Yunan who really tried reflecting the reality theoretically in literature. For example, in "Wild Lilies", the bureaucracy and hierarchy system of Yunan were vividly described. Apart from that, literature in that period emphasized on the skills of writing. There was little concern about the reality. Western literatures were very much appreciated. However, because of the successful and interesting reflection of reality in Wang's works, people started to appreciate Chinese literature. Many Chinese writers also began to write more about the reality, examining on the local arts and the Marxist ideas. Wang's eagerness to voice out the inequalies and his critical mind attributed his success as one of the most representative writers in the period. He also stimulated other writers to think about what they should write about from that onwards. FAMOUS PUBLICATIONS Most of Wang’s literary works were published in the late 20th century. His style of writing was described as "having the energy and power to enrich the humanity" (有著蓬勃人性之熱與力). His works reflected his sincerity and love towards his home country and native homeland. He felt sorry for the suppressed weak people in the society. He always hoped that he would change the society through revolution. That is why his works were full of criticism. Articles
Novels
TRANSLATED WORKS Wang translated many works, including those of Karl Marx and Eugene O'Neill. However, he did not lead as shining a life as Marx ; in contrast ending his life with tragic colour of Eugene O' Neill.
TIMELINE
EXTERNAL LINKS # Publications of Wang Shiwei 王實味作品集) # Biography of Wang Shiwei (楚漢狂人王實味) # Biography of Wang Shiwei (說說王實味) # Wang Shiwei and the Strange interlude (王實味與<<奇異的插曲>>) # Wang Shiwei and Hu shi (王實味與胡適) # The sacrifice of the early Rectification Movement period (王實味：前文革時代的祭品) # Wild Lilies (野百合花) REFERENCE BOOKS
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