A revived life in a reviving culture: the Chinese reception of Byron in the short story magazine in 1924

Part of the Comparative Literature Commons Recommended Citation He, Zheng. "A revived life in a reviving culture: the Chinese reception of Byron in the short story magazine in 1924. 1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION No, he was not a god. He was a mortal, a mortal who was more fearsome and more adorable than a god. When he was alive, he was bathed in the violent waves of the secular world, his body awash with their stains. Finally, he set foot on the crest of the wave, revealing his flawless skin under the sunshine. His pride, strength and glory are the worries of Zeus and Cupid in heaven. 1 (Xu 1924, 2) This passionate praise was dedicated to Lord George Gordon Byron one hundred years after the poet died in Greece by a famous Chinese poet, Xu Zhimo 徐 志摩, in his essay " Byron " 拜倫 (" Bailun "). Xu contributed this essay to the memorial issue to the centenary issue of The Short Story Magazine 小說月報 (Xiaoshuo Yuebao), in memorial of Byron's death in 1824. The Short Story Magazine was one of the most influential literary periodicals advocating new literature during the 1920s, which was controlled by one of the most influential literary societies during this period, namely, the Literary Association 文學研究會 (Wenxue yanjiu hui). The centenary issue contains the richest material and most thorough treatment of Byron's life and poetry that Chinese readers in the early 20 th century had ever known. Besides Xu Zhimo's essay, six critical biographies and critical essays on Byron's poetry written by English, Danish, Greek and Japanese critics were translated into Chinese. Chinese intellectuals who had already established their reputations as pioneering modern writers, literary critics and translators published thirteen essays of their own. Chinese intellectuals also translated ten of Byron's poetic works. Byron's complicated personality, his poetic works, his problematic personal life, and his 1 In this thesis, I offer my own translations of all the original writings of Chinese intellectuals published in Byron's centenary issue of The Short Story Magazine. 2 heroic fight for the independence of Greece were discussed comprehensively and in depth by Chinese critics. It seems that this ambitious project of presenting and studying almost every aspect of Byron's life and poetry accomplished by Chinese intellectuals in this centenary issue is almost as impressive as Byron's own charisma and his poetic achievements under their study. The authors in …