YE SHENGTAO

born Oct. 28, 1894, Su-chou, Kiangsu province, China died Feb. 16, 1988, Peking Wade-Giles romanization Yeh Sheng-t'ao, pseudonym of Ye Shaojun Chinese writer and teacher. Ye taught at primary schools after his graduation from middle school and in 1914 began writing short stories in classical Chinese for several periodicals. Influenced by the May Fourth Movement of 1919, he turned to writing in the vernacular and was one of the founders of the Literary Research Association in 1921, which called for a reality-oriented literature. He worked as a teacher and editor and cofounded a poetry monthly in 1922. In 1923 he became a professional editor, working on a literary journal, and from 1927 he edited the Hsiao-shuo yeh-pao (Fiction Monthly). Following the Mukden Incident on September 18, 1931, which marked the beginning of Japanese aggression in Northeast China, Ye moved with his family to the wartime capital of Chungking, where he resumed teaching. Ye returned to Shanghai after Japan's defeat and soon faced persecution for his participation in the democracy movement. He managed to leave Shanghai for Peking via Hong Kong and Chefoo (now Yen-t'ai) and worked for the North China People's Government. In the 1920s Ye wrote a considerable number of short stories collected in Ko-mo (1922; Estrangement), Huo-tsai (1923; Conflagration), Hsien-hsia (1925; Below the Horizon), Ch'eng-chung (1926; In the City), Wei-yen chi (1928; Unsatisfied), and Ssu-san chi (1936; At Forty-three), all portraying the life and characters of intellectuals and townspeople. The short story P'an hsien-sheng tsai nan-chung (Mr. Pan in Distress), published in Hsien-hsia, is a small masterpiece. In 1928 he published the novel Ni Huan-chih (Schoolmaster Ni Huan-chih), which chronicles the life and times of an intellectual from the time of the Chinese Revolution of 191112, which toppled the Ch'ing dynasty, to 1927, when the Northern Expedition against warlords came to an abrupt end. The novel was recognized as one of the landmarks of the new vernacular literature. By 1949 it had been reprinted 13 times. His sketches, notes, and other miscellanea, remarkable for their simplicity and fluidity, were collected in Chiao-pu chi (1931; Footsteps) and Wei-yen ch hsi-tso (1935; tudes of Mine). His Tao-ts'ao-jen (1923; The Scarecrow) and Ku-tai ying-hsiung-te shih-hsiang (1931; The Stone Statue of an Ancient Hero) are both notable works in Chinese children's literature. A selection of Ye's short stories was translated into English and published as How Mr. Pan Weathered the Storm (1987).