In 1919, Hu Shi wrote a script which was published in New Youth. The introduction is as follows:
In March 1919, Hu Shi wrote "Lifetime Events" and published it in "New Youth".
Hu Shi’s play with the theme of free love is "Lifetime Events".
"Lifetime Events" is a script first published by Hu Shi in 1919 in the magazine "New Youth". The play is notable for its rebellion against arranged marriage and its celebration of the freedom of marriage.
The protagonist of the story, Yamei, is a woman who has returned from studying abroad. She decides to choose her long-time friend Mr. Chen as her fiancé. This is undoubtedly a challenge in the social environment at that time. Her decision attracted widespread attention from society. In that era, women's marriages were usually decided by their parents.
However, Yamei's choice reflects her pursuit of personal freedom and her resistance to the arranged marriage system. According to the "History of Chinese Marriage Law", Yamei's behavior triggered a strong response from society at the time, and her story caused deep reflection on women's rights and the marriage committee system in society. However, Yamei's choice was not supported by everyone.
Her mother strongly opposed the marriage because the divination results showed that Yamei and Mr. Chen had different birth dates. From the book "Traditional Chinese Culture and Society", we can see that the eight characters play a vital role in traditional Chinese marriage. Yamei's mother's opposition reflected the society's reliance on traditional ideas and rejection of new ideas at that time.
Despite the pressure from family and society, Yamei still resolutely chose to leave home in order to realize her desire to independently decide on her lifelong affairs. "New Youth" magazine recorded many readers' praise and support for Yamei after publishing "Lifelong Events".
This public response shows that Yamei's actions and Hu Shi's script promoted ideological emancipation and social progress in Chinese society at that time.
About the author:
Hu Shi (December 17, 1891-February 24, 1962), formerly known as Siji, courtesy name Xiqiang, and scientific name Hong Wei, later changed his name Suitable, the word is suitable. He was born in Jixi County, Anhui Province, and Chuansha County, Songjiang Prefecture, Jiangsu Province (now Pudong New Area, Shanghai). Chinese modern thinker, writer, philosopher, member of Jingxing Society.
Hu Shi's poems are the pioneers of modern Chinese poetry, retaining the appearance and characteristics of the early days of modern poetry. Regarding the connotation of poetry, in "A Preliminary Discussion on Literary Reform", Hu Shi proposed that writing articles is not without complaint, and pointed the finger at those poems that sadden the spring and autumn, and feel sad when seeing things, thinking that these poems are full of clichés.
Hu Shi’s ideas on drama reform come from his thinking on literary revolution. He believes that text form is a tool of literature. If the tool is not suitable, it will be difficult to express the meaning. Later, he pointed out that the history of Chinese literature is just a history of the metabolism of written forms, a history of living literature replacing dead literature. When tools become rigid, they must be replaced. This is the "literary revolution."
Although Hu Shi did not write any novels, he translated some Western short stories. He said in the "Translator's Preface" to "Short Stories": "I am a person who desperately wants to promote short stories, but unfortunately I cannot create them. I can only introduce a few famous works as reference materials for new literati.