On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the end of the World War II and the assassination of Yu Dafu (1896-1945), the Renwen (Learned) Society at China Institute and Queens Borough Library are presenting a commemorative symposium on the life and works of this great modern writer October 9, 2005, 1-4 pm, at Queens Public Library, Flushing, New York.
Yu was born on December 7, 1896 in Zhejiang Province, China. In 1913, he sailed for Japan to attend high school and college. He was consequently admitted in 1919 to the Imperial University, where he majored in economics. According to his own account, he spent much of his time at university reading fiction, and read English, Japanese and German fluently. During his stay in Japan he joined others in establishing the Creation Society for the advocacy of Chinese vernacular literature. Well-read in Chinese classical literature and Western novels, he also became fluent in Japanese, English and German. He wrote in a very subjective mode, bringing to light the secrets and innermost feelings of his characters. In 1930, Yu joined the League of Left-Wing Writers, of which the great Chinese writer Lu Xun was a member. In 1938, he fled to Singapore where he worked as a journalist. With the fall of Singapore in 1942, he fled to Sumatra, where he was murdered in 1945 by the Japanese occupation force.
Speakers at the symposium include C.T. Hsia, Prof. Emeritus, Columbia University; Prof. Shuzheng Xuan, former Chair of the Chinese Department at Suzhou University, Mr. Hailong Wang, Lecturer, Columbia University, and the Yu family representatives. A video recital by famous Chinese vocal artists of Yu?s works will be presented at the symposium.