Knowra Mao Dun Mao Dun Mao Dun was the pen name of Shen Dehong (1896–1981), a Chinese novelist, literary critic, and cultural official. His novel Midnight portrays Shanghai’s social and economic upheavals in 1930.
New Culture Movement : An intellectual movement in China that promoted vernacular writing, science, and cultural reform from the 1910s onward. Its campaigns for literary reform shaped the modern prose style Mao Dun helped develop.
Midnight (novel) : A 1933 novel by Mao Dun depicting business, labor, and political tensions in Shanghai. This is his best-known novel and a central example of his social realism.
Shen Dehong : The birth name of Mao Dun, the Chinese novelist and cultural official. Mao Dun was the pen name Shen Dehong used for his literary work.
Minister of Culture of the People's Republic of China : The government office responsible for cultural policy in the People's Republic of China. Mao Dun held this office from 1949 to 1965, linking his literary career to cultural administration.
May Fourth Movement : A political and cultural movement that began in China in 1919, opposing imperialism and advocating social and intellectual change. Its demands for social reform formed part of the climate behind his early writing.
Spring Silkworms : A 1932 novella by Mao Dun about rural silk farmers facing economic hardship. It shifts his social analysis from Shanghai industry to the pressures on village life.
Lu Xun : A Chinese writer and essayist whose fiction and criticism helped establish modern Chinese literature. His literary influence and public stature provide a key comparison for Mao Dun's generation.
Chinese Writers Association : A national organization founded in 1949 to represent and organize writers in the People's Republic of China. Mao Dun became its first president, helping shape post-1949 literary institutions.
Chinese literature : Literature written in Chinese across periods, regions, and forms. Mao Dun belongs to the transformation of Chinese writing into modern fiction.
The Shop of the Lin Family : A novella by Mao Dun about a small shop owner whose business is undermined by economic crisis. Its compact story shows how national upheaval reaches ordinary commercial life.
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