Abstract
This paper examines Luotuosheng, a poet from Lushun writing about the history of new Manchurian literature in Tokyo. Luotuosheng (Zhong Tong-sheng, 1913-?), born in Laotieshan, Lushun, Kantoshu, was a standard-bearer of the new literature movement in Northeastern China in the 1930s. Advocating Proletarian Literature in Manchuria during the reign of Manchukuo, he is a typical writer of resistance in Northeastern China. His Debates on Literary Construction in Manchukuo, History of Manchurian modern literature, and poems reflect the features and power of anti-imperialism and decolonization. This paper attempts to highlight Luotuosheng’s efforts between Dalian, Fengtian, and Tokyo in four aspects: First, it introduces the newly released historical document, “Critique on the History of Manchurian Modern Literary Movement” released by Luotuosheng in the later period of his study in Tokyo in 1941. Second, by comparing with Ouyang Buo and Qiu Ying’s periodization and historical thinking, this paper induces Luotuosheng’s leftwing historical thinking on the history of modern literature in Northeastern China. Third, this paper introduces “Introduction on the History of Proletarian Literature Movement in Manchuria,” a work as part of his confession when he was arrested in 1942 and compares it with Shan Ding and Yi Yun’s historical theories. It illustrates the consensus and metaphors of Luotuosheng and his contemporary leftwing writers in “the writing of the history of Northeastern Chinese literature by the locals in North Eastern China.” Fourth, exploring Luotuosheng’s anti-Japanese poem “Iron Discipline and Iron Torrents,” this paper describes how Luotuosheng concretely demonstrates “the literature we need.” In conclusion, this paper scrutinizes Luotuosheng’s ideas regarding the history of literature, his poems of decolonization and their significance.
Keywords: On Literary Construction in Manchukuo, Northeastern Chinese Literature, Proletarian Literature, Ouyang Buo, Qiu Ying, Shan Ding