Mao Dun - Early Life

Early Life

His father Shen Yongxi (T: 沈永錫, S: 沈永锡, P: Shěn Yǒngxī, W: Shen Yung-hsi) taught and designed the curriculum for his son, but he died when Mao Dun was ten. Mao Dun's mother Chen Aizhu (T: 陳愛珠, S: 陈爱珠, P: Chén Àizhū, W: Ch'en Ai-chu) then became his teacher. He mentions in his memoirs that "my first instructor is my mother". Through learning from his parents, Mao Dun developed great interest in writing during his childhood.

Mao Dun had already started to develop his writing skills when he was still in primary school. In one examination the examiner commented on Mao Dun's script: '12 year old young child, can make this language, not says motherland nobody'. There were other similar comments which indicate that Mao Dun had been a brilliant writer since his youth.

While Mao Dun was studying in secondary school in Hangzhou, extensive reading and strict writing skills training filled his life. He finished reading Illustrious Definite orders (《昭明文選》), Shi Shuo Xin Yu (《世說新語》) and a large number of classical novels. These novels influenced his writing style and his idea of writing.

Mao Dun entered the three-year foundation school offered by Peking University in 1913, in which he studied Chinese and Western literature. Due to financial difficulties, he had to quit in the summer of 1916, before his graduation.

The trainings in Chinese and English as well as knowledge of Chinese and Western literature provided by the fifteen years' education Mao Dun received had prepared him to show up in the limelight of the Chinese journalistic and literary arena.