Hu Yepin

Name in Chinese
胡也频
Name in Wade-Giles
Hu Yeh-p'in
Related People

Biography in English

Hu Yeh-p'in (1907-7 February 1931), writer and companion of Ting Ling (q.v.). He became an ardent Communist and an official of the League of Left-Wing Writers. After his arrest and execution by the Nationalists, he became known as one of the five martyrs of the League of Left-Wing Writers.

Foochow, Fukien, was the birthplace of Hu Yeh-p'in. His father ran a Peking opera troupe which had been organized by his grandfather, a native of Kiangsi. Hu had four younger brothers and a younger sister. He was enrolled at an old-style private school at the age of four, but had to leave school four years later because his father's troupe disbanded. Two years later, the family's financial situation improved when his father rented a theater and arranged for other troupes to appear there. Hu then went to the Ch'ungte Primary School, which was run by foreign missionaries. At school, he participated in oratorical contests and theatrical events. Because his mother, a devout Buddhist, opposed his participation in the school's Christian religious services, he spent only one year at the Ch'ungte Primary School. He then was sent to a private school, where he studied the Chinese classics for three years.

In 1918 the family's financial situation again became straitened, and Hu Yeh-p'in had to leave school. At the age of 14, he became an apprentice in a Foochow jewelry store. In 1920 he rebelled and ran away to Shanghai, where he enrolled at the P'u-tung Middle School under the name Hu Ch'ung-hsien. About a year later, he was admitted to the tuition-free Navy School at Ta-ku-k'ou on the recommendation of a relative working in the naval ministry, and he studied mechanical engineering. Hu soon had to leave school because he lacked funds. He went to Peking, where he held a variety of jobs and spent many hours listening to young intellectuals discuss literature. These discussions led him to begin reading fiction and poetry, and he soon decided to become a writer. In 1924 Hu Yeh-p'in and two friends established a literary supplement to the Ching-pao [Peking news] called Min-chung wen-i chou-k'an [masses literature weekly], and its first issue appeared in December. In this enterprise he was closely associated with Lu Hsün (Chou Shu-jen, q.v.) and with Shen Ts'ung-wen (q.v.), who was a frequent contributor to the supplement. Although the magazine ceased publication in May 1925, it gave Hu Yeh-p'in the opportunity to publish 15 pieces, including short stories and essays, under the name Hu Ch'ung-hsien.

In the spring of 1925 Hu Yeh-p'in met Ting Ling (q.v.). Before long, they began to lead a secluded existence in a small cottage in the Western Hills near Peking. He wrote poetry and in 1926 contributed regularly to the literary supplement of the Ch^en Pao [morning post], using the pen names Yeh-p'in and P'in. His work also appeared in Hsien-tai p'ing-lun [contemporary re'iew], Hsiao-shüo yueh-pao fshort story magazine], and Tung-fang tsa-chih [eastern miscellany]. In 1926 his poems were collected and published as Yuan-wang [expectations]. However, only a few of his writings were published, and he tried unsuccessfully to found a new magazine. According to Ting Ling, he "contracted the diseases of melancholy and nihilism. The poems he wrote at that time were filled with such deplorable emotions." When Ting Ling's writings became popular, Hu Yeh-p'in's depression increased. They moved to Shanghai, where, on Shen Ts'ungwen's recommendation, Hu Yeh-p'in became the editor of a literary supplement of the Central Daily News. The first issue of the supplement appeared on 19 June 1928, and it ceased publication with the issue of 31 October. Hu Yeh-p'in, Ting Ling, and Shen Ts'ung-wen then established Hung-hei yueh-k'an [red and black] and Jen-chien jueh-k'an [mankind], which began publication on 20 January 1929. The venture soon ended in bankruptcy: the last issue of Jen-chien yueh-k'an appeared in April, and the last issue of Hung-hei yueh-k'an, in August.

During this period, Hu Yeh-p'in had become interested in Marxist literary and political theories. His radical tendencies first were reflected in a novel about class struggle, Tao Mo-ssu-k'o ch'ü [to Moscow], which he completed in May 1929. It tells of a woman whose Communist lover is killed by her husband, a government oflficial. The book ends with the heroine's departure for Moscow and a new life. In early 1930 Hu Yeh-p'in wrote Kuang-ming tsai wo-men ti ch'ien-mien [light is ahead of us], which was intended to illustrate the impact of the May Thirtieth Movement of 1925 on writers of "art for art's sake," anarchists, and Communist intellectuals. Part of this novel was published in May 1930 in the first issue o[ Jih-ch'u [sunrise], which was fined and forced to close as a result.

As Hu Yeh-p'in became more outspoken in his political beliefs, the market for his writings dwindled. Because he needed money, in the spring of 1930 he accepted a teaching position at the Tsinan Middle School. He was very popular with the students. He lectured on proletarian literature and formed a literary club which soon had a membership of more than 400 students. The principal of the school and the proctor also joined. On 9 May, at the commemoration ceremonies of the humiliating Twenty-one Demands on China by the Japanese, the students became excited and almost rioted. Hu Yeh-p'in did not know how to lead a crowd to mass demonstration. He attempted to find the Communist party organization in Tsinan so that one of its members could channel the agitation to mass movement, but failed. He was about to try and contact the Communists in Shanghai when the principal of the school informed him that government authorities had become apprehensive about the upheaval at the school and that he should leave Tsinan. Hu went to Tsingtao and then to Shanghai, where he devoted himself to political activity. Hu Yeh-p'in joined the newly formed League of Left-Wing Writers [see Chou Shu-jen) and soon became a member of its executive committee and chairman of its board of correspondence with workers, peasants, and soldiers. He also taught at a summer school organized by Feng Hsueh-feng and other Communists. In November 1930 he joined the Chinese Communist party. On 17 January 1931, during a preparatory meeting for the All-China Congress of Soviets, he and other participants w'ere arrested by the Nationalist authorities. Ting Ling and Shen Ts'ung-wen tried to secure his release, but he and 23 others were executed on 7 February 1931. Hu Yeh-p'in, Jou Shih, Feng K'eng, Yiu Fu, and Li Wei-sen became known as the five martyrs of the League of Left-Wing Writers, and the mass execution, publicized by such Western writers as Nym Whales, Agnes Smedley, and Edgar Snow, became a scandal.

In 1951 Hu Yeh-p'in hsuan-chi [selections from Hu Yeh-p'in], which included two novels and some stories and essays, was published by the Communist Hsin-wen-hsueh hsuan-chi pien-chi wei-yuan-hui [editorial committee for the anthologization of progressive literature]. The novels received special commendation from the committee as exceptionally good examples of proletarian literature in content, ideology, and technique.

Biography in Chinese

胡也频
原名:胡崇轩

笔名:也频 频 沈默 何一平 红笑

胡也频(1907.7—1931.2.7.),作家,丁玲的伴侣。他成为一名热心的共产党员和左翼文联的骨干。当他被国民党逮捕并处决后,被称为左翼文联五烈士之一。

胡也频出生于福州。其父是一个京剧班子的班主,这个剧班是他的祖父所创办的。胡有四弟一妹。他在四岁时上私塾,但四年后因其父的剧团垮掉而辍学。两年后,其父租下了一个戏园约其它剧班演出,家计有所好转。于是他又
入教会办的崇德小学读书。他在学校里参加过演说比赛和演剧活动。由于他那个笃信佛教的母亲反对他参加学校的基督教宗教活动,他在崇德小学只上了一年。他后来又上私塾,念了三年古书。

1918年他家的经济情况再度窘迫,胡被迫辍学。他十四岁时在一家首饰店学徒。1920年他离家去上海,以胡崇轩之名入浦东中学。约一年后,经一位在海军部工作的亲戚介绍,他入官费的大沽口海军学校学机械工程。不久胡又因
无钱而不得不退学.。他去了北京,在那里干过各种各样的工作,并用很多时间旁听青年知识分子对文学的讨论。这些讨论导致他开始阅读小说和诗,他不久就决心要当一名作家。

1924年胡也频和两个友人创办了《京报》的文学副刊,名为《民众文艺周刊》,于12月发刊。在此项工作中,他和鲁迅及沈从文发生了密切关系,沈是这个副刊的经常投稿人。虽然这个副刊在1925年5月即已停刊,但它使胡有机
会用胡崇轩之名发表了十五篇短篇小说和散文。

1925年春,胡也频与丁玲相识。不久,两人就在北京西山的一所村舍里过着隐居的生活。他写诗,并以“也频”和“频”的笔名经常向《晨报》的文学副刊投稿。他的作品也曾在《现代评论》、《小说月报》和《东方杂志》上出现。1926年他写的诗编成一集出版,名为《愿望》。不过,他的作品只有少数得到发表,他曾努力想办一个新杂志而未能成功。据丁玲说,他“得了忧郁和虚无主义的病。那时他所写的诗都充满了这种伤感的情调。”

当丁玲的作品开始出名时,胡也频的意气更加消沉了。他们去了上海,经沈从文的介绍,胡担任了《中央日报》的文学副刊编辑。此副刊于1928年6月19日发刊,10月31日停刊。沈从文、丁玲和胡也频创办了《红黑月刊》和《人
间月刊》,均于1929年1月20日发刊。这些事业不久均以破产而告终:《人间月刊》在4月出最后一期,《红黑月刊》在8月出最后一期。

在此时期,胡也频对马克思主义的文艺理论和政治理论发生了兴趣。他的激进思想首次反映在一篇他在1929年5月写出的关于阶级斗争的小说《到莫斯科去》中。小说的故事是一个女共产党员的情人被她的政府官员丈夫杀害,
以女主人公到莫斯科去开始她的新生活为结局。1930年初,胡也频写了《光明在我们的前面》,为了说明1925年“五卅”运动给与“为艺术而艺术”的作家,无政府主义者和共产主义知识分子的影响。这篇小说的一部分刊登于1930年5
月份的《日出》第一期,结果这个刊物被罚款并勒令停刊。

随着胡也频越来越无所顾忌地表明他的政治信念,他的作品的市场也越来越小。由于需要钱他在1930年春接受了济南省立高中的教职。他深受学生的欢迎,他讲授无产阶级(普罗)文学,并成立一个文艺俱乐部,很快就有四
百多名学生参加了这个团体,连该校的校长和训育主任也参加了。5月9日,在日本提出二十一条的国耻纪念会上学生非常激动,几乎发生骚乱。胡也频不知如何去领导群众举行示威。他试图找济南的共产党组织让一名党员来将这一骚动引导为群众运动,但未能找到。该校校长通知他政府当局对学校的骚动感到不安,他应该离开济南,他那时正在要和上海的共产党人取得联系。胡去了青岛,然后又去上海,在那里致力于政治活动。

胡也频参加了新成立的左翼文联,不久成为该组织的执行委员会的一名委员和工农兵通信委员会主席。他还在冯雪峰及其他共产党人所办的暑期学校中兼课。1930年11月他加入了中国共产党。1931年1月31日在全国苏维埃大会的
一次筹备会议开会时,他和其他与会者为国民党当局所逮捕。丁玲和沈从文曾努力营救,但他和其他二十三人于1931年2月7日被处决。胡也频、柔石、冯铿、殷夫和李伟森被称为左翼文联五烈土,这一次大规模决被尼姆•韦尔
斯(当时是斯诺夫人)、史沫特莱和斯诺报道出去,成为一件丑闻。

1951年,共产党的新文学选集编辑委员会出版了《胡也频选集》,其中选有两部长篇小说和几篇短篇小说及散文。该委员会特别介绍这两部长篇小说,认为在内容、思想和技巧上是无产阶级文学中的最好典范。

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