Lin Yutang, the only China writer nominated by Nobel Prize in Literature.

Nobel Prize, especially Nobel Prize in Literature, has always been a pain in the hearts of Chinese people, and it is also what Chinese people expect. Looking at the history of modern and contemporary literature in China, we can see that Lao She and Lin Yutang are the China writers who are just a stone's throw away from Nobel Prize in Literature. Lao She's regret is that he committed suicide, leaving us nothing to think about and learn from except shaking his head and sighing. Another Lin Yutang is different. Let's take a look at Lin Yutang's personal situation and the origin of Nobel Prize in Literature.

Lin Yutang (1895—— 1976) was born in Longxi, Fujian. Formerly known as Lehe, later changed to Yutang, later changed to Yutang. 19 12 He entered Shanghai St. John's University and taught in Tsinghua University after graduation. 1965438+went to the literature department of Harvard University in the autumn of 2009. 1922 received a master of arts degree. In the same year, he transferred to Leipzig University in Germany to study linguistics. From 65438 to 0923, he returned to China as Professor Peking University, Dean of Beijing Women's Normal University and Head of the English Department. 1924, he is one of the main authors of Yu Si. From 65438 to 0926, he served as the head of the literature department of Xiamen University. 1927 secretary of the Ministry of foreign affairs. 1932 edited by the Analects of Confucius. 1934 founded "Human World", 1935 founded "Cosmic Wind", advocating "self-centered, leisure-oriented" prose. After 1935, he wrote cultural works and novels in English in the United States, such as My Country and My People, Clouds in Beijing and Trembling Wind. 1944 once returned to China to give lectures in Chongqing. 1945 went to Singapore to set up Nanyang University as the president. 1952 co-founded tianfeng magazine in the United States. 1966 settled in Taiwan Province province. 1967 was employed as a research professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. 1975 was elected as the vice president of International PEN. 1976 died in Hong Kong.

It is worth noting that, unlike most other China writers, many of Lin Yutang's works, such as Clouds in Beijing, Trembling with the Wind and other cultural works and novels, are written in English, and he can even be said to be an out-and-out English China writer. In fact, many of his works have been selected for the monthly reading meeting in the United States, so that some people think that he can only compete with English novels for the Nobel Prize. It is this ability that opened the door to Nobel Prize in Literature for him.

1In the summer of 975, the International Pen Club was held in Vienna, and Lin Yutang was elected as the vice president to replace Yasunari Kawabata. At the meeting, they all recommended Lin Yutang to win this year's Nobel Prize in Literature in the name of International PEN, and the candidate work "Clouds in Beijing". According to Professor Ma Yueran, a judge of Nobel Prize in Literature and an academician of Swedish Academy, this is the only time that a China writer was nominated by Nobel Prize in Literature 50 years ago. If the information disclosed by Professor Ma Yueran is correct, then Lin Yutang is the only China writer who missed the Nobel Prize. The fate between Lao She and Nobel Prize in Literature should be made up by the masturbation of China people. After all, Lu (Lu Xun), Guo (Guo Moruo), Mao (Mao Dun), Ba (Ba Jin), Lao (Lao She), Cao (Cao Yu), Bing Xin, Qian Zhongshu and other China literary masters.

Objectively speaking, as far as literary standards are concerned, we certainly can't say that Lin Yutang is much superior to other literary predecessors such as Lu and Ba Lao Cao. But why nominate Lin Yutang instead of them? According to Lin Yutang's English works, many people attribute the reasons to the differences between Chinese and foreign literature, especially between discourse literature and English literature. Some people even attribute the reason to foreigners' ignorance of China literature. In fact, we believe that this is not only a question of literary differences, but also a question of the depth of China's integration into the world and the recognition of China by the world. The reason behind Lin Yutang's nomination, rather than other writers, should be that Lin Yutang's level of handling Chinese and foreign cultures is higher than others, which can make the representative awards of world literature recognize him in a strange way, and then indirectly recognize China's Chinese language and literature. Another reason behind this should be that his study abroad career is different from other writers.

Of the six great literary masters after the founding of the People's Republic of China-Lu (Lu Xun), Guo (Guo Moruo), Mao (Mao Dun), Ba (Ba Jin) and Lao She (Cao Yu), Cao Yu and Mao Dun had no experience of studying abroad, while Lu Xun and Guo Moruo studied in Japan. These are not the frontiers of the modern world, let alone the mainstream language of the world-English. The degree of mastery is certain. Although Ba Jin and Lao She studied in Europe, they had a certain language foundation and made great achievements in integrating China literature into the world. However, the political situation after liberation weakened their achievements in this regard. Lin Yutang studied language first and then literature during his study abroad, which provided great convenience for him to integrate into the world with language as a tool and let the world identify with himself. Coupled with other accidental lucky factors, he became the only China writer nominated by Nobel Prize in Literature. Of course, this kind of luck did not end well, and Lin Yutang finally failed. Moreover, due to the great influence of Lu Xun's essays, Lin Yutang's reputation in Chinese is not so good.