Shen Yin-mo (1887-), professor of history and literary man who later won fame as a calligrapher. Wuhsing, Chekiang, was the native place of Shen Yin-mo. After receiving a traditional primary education in the Chinese classics, he attended the Chiahsing Normal School and later joined his brothers, Shen Shih-yuan and Shen Chien-shih, in Japan for advanced studies. Their funds soon ran short, however; and Shen Shih-yuan returned home to teach school so that he could support his younger brothers. Shen Yin-mo was graduated from Kyoto Imperial University in 1912.

From 1914 to 1928 Shen Yin-mo served as a professor of history at Peking University. Under the chancellorship of Ts'ai Yuan-p'ei (q.v.), the university had become a center of a movement against traditionalism in Chinese literature and philosophy, and Shen was an ardent supporter of this movement. He became a frequent contributor to the Hsin ch'ing-nien [new youth], and in 1919 he joined Ch'en Tu-hsiu, Ch'ien Hsuan-t'ung, Hu Shih, Li Ta-chao and Liu Fu (qq.v.) on its board of editors.

Shen Yin-mo left Peking University in 1928 to become commissioner of education for Hopei province. He soon discovered, however, that administrative work did not suit his independent temperament. He resigned in 1930 and assumed the presidency of the newly established Peiping University. After holding that post for two years, he moved to Shanghai and attempted to associate himself with Lu Hsün (Chou Shu-jen, q.v.) in the League of Left-Wing Writers. Because of his past connections with the National Government, however, he was not allowed to play a significant role in the activities of this radical organization. From earliest youth, Shen Yin-mo had practiced the art of calligraphy. He had displayed remarkable talent even as a young man, and he had already become known as a calligrapher at the time of his return from Japan. Shen cultivated this talent assiduously in the following decades. After grounding himself carefully in the seal (chüan) and clerical (li) styles, he became equally proficient in the standard (k'ai), running (hsing), and "grass" (ts'ao) styles through rigid personal discipline involving the writing of at least 500 characters every morning before breakfast. His mastery of many styles earned Shen a unique place in the annals of modern calligraphy. In the early 1930's Shen decided to make calligraphy his profession. His writings were prized for their elegance as well as for their versatility. Some critics, however, discerned in his work a certain lack of originality, a deficiency which, they held, debarred Shen from a place in the roster of all-time calligraphic greats. During this period, Shen also took up the composition of classical poetry, but only as an avocation. During the Sino-Japanese war, Shen Yin-mo was a member of the Control Yuan. The office was little more than a sinecure, but it suited him, for it left his time free for calligraphy. At war's end he established residence in Shanghai. In 1948 he divorced his wife of many years and married a girl who was 20 years his junior. After the Chinese Communists took control of the mainland in 1949, he was offered the post of deputy mayor of Shanghai. He declined the office, but consented to serve instead as an adviser. Thereafter, he led a quiet life, practicing the art of calligraphy and exhibiting his works.

Shen Yin-mo wrote voluminously on the theory and practice of calligraphy. In 1962 he produced Mao chu-hsi shih-tzu erh-shih-i shou [21 poems by Chairman Mao], executed in the small k'ai style, to serve as a calligraphic model for the new simplified orthography. In 1963 Shen started the series Li-tai ming-chia hsueh-shu ching-yen chi-yao shih-i [a compendium of the experience of famous calligraphers throughout the ages in their study of the art, with explanations].