La Jeunesse was a Chinese magazine in the 1910s and 1920s that played an important role in initiating the New Culture Movement and spreading the influence of the May Fourth Movement. Founded by Chen Duxiu during the early Republic of China period, the publication was both an instrument of and witness to the revolutionary changes that swept through China during the era. During its history, the magazine became increasingly aligned with the Chinese Communist Party, eventually becoming its official theoretical journal. It was shut down by the ruling Nationalist government in 1926.
Publishing history
founded the magazine on September 15, 1915 in Shanghai. Its headquarters moved to Beijing in January 1917 when Chen was appointed Chairman of the Chinese Literature Department at Peking University. Editors included Chen Duxiu, Qian Xuantong, Gao Yihan, Hu Shih, Li Dazhao, Shen Yinmo, and Lu Xun. It initiated the New Culture Movement, promoting science, democracy, and Vernacular Chinese literature. The magazine was the first publication to use all vernacular, beginning with the May 1918 issue, Volume 4, Number 5. Influenced by the 1917 Russian October Revolution, La Jeunesse increasingly began to promote Marxism. The trend accelerated after the departure of Hu Shih, who later became the Republic of China's Education Minister. Beginning with the issue of September 1, 1920, La Jeunesse began to openly support the communism movement in Shanghai, and with the June 1923 issue it became the official Chinese Communist Party theoretical journal. It was shut down in 1926 by the Nationalist government. La Jeunesse influenced thousands of Chinese young people, including many leaders of the Chinese Communist Party.
Notable contributors
Chen Duxiu
founded La Jeunesse and also edited it in the early years. The editorial policies clearly reflected his personal values by supporting the new and growing vernacular literature movement and the revolution against established societal norms, Confucian values, and the use of Classical Chinese. Chen was the leader of the May Fourth Movement student demonstrations. He was also a founding member of the Chinese Communist Party and provided their theoretical platform. Chen published "A Letter to Youth" in the first issue of September 15, 1915. The letter issued six challenges:
Be independent and not enslaved
Be progressive and not conservative
Be in the forefront and not lagging behind
Be internationalist and not isolationist
Be practical and not rhetorical
Be scientific and not superstitious
The letter further emphasized the urgency of pursuing science and liberty in order to remove the twin chains of feudalism and ignorance from the general population.
published her short story “Raindrops" in September 1920. She was the first female writer to use the new vernacular style. It was the first Chinese children's story. She also published a collection of her works entitled, Raindrops, in 1928. Chen was among the first ten women to study overseas on government scholarships. She graduated from Vassar College and the University of Chicago. The first vernacular Chinese fiction was her short story "One Day", published 1917 in an overseas student quarterly, a year before Lu Xun's "A Madman's Diary".
Hu Shih
was one of the early editors. He published a landmark article "Essay on Creating a Revolutionary `New Literature" in the April 18, 1918 issue. He wrote that the mission of this language revolution is "a literature of the national language, a national language of literature". Hu then goes on to reason that for thousands of years, the written language was bound by scholars using Classical Chinese, a dead language of past generations. On the other hand, the vernacular is living and adapts to the age. He urged authors to write in the vernacular in order to describe life as it is. He further reasoned that Chinese literature had a limited range of subject matter because it used a dead language. Using a living language would open up a wealth of material for writers. Finally, he argued that massive translations of western literature would both increase the range of literature as well as serve as examples to emulate. This was a seminal and prescient essay about the modern Chinese language. Hu Shih was an important figure in the transformation of the modern Chinese written and printed language. In the July 15 issue, Hu published an essay entitled, "Chastity". In the traditional Chinese context, this refers not only to virginity before marriage, but specifically to women remaining chaste before they marry and after their husband's death. He wrote that this is an unequal and illogical view of life, that there is no natural or moral law upholding such a practice, that chastity is a mutual value for both men and women, and that he vigorously opposes any legislation favoring traditional practices on chastity. Hu Shih also wrote a short play on the subject. These are examples of Hu Shih's progressive views. They were quite radical at that time, which was only a short six years after the overthrow of the Chinese imperial system. That epic event, the Xinhai Revolution, developed two branches in the 1920s, the Nationalist and Chinese communist parties. He tried to focus the editorial policy on literature. Chen Duxiu and others insisted on addressing social and political issues. Hu was a lifelong establishment figure in the Nationalist government and left "La Jeunesse" when its communist direction became clear.
Lu Xun
was an important contributor to the magazine. His first short story "A Madman's Diary" was published in "La Jeunesse" in 1918. The story was inspired by Gogol's "Diary of a Madman". While Chinese literature has an ancient tradition, the short story was a new form at that time, so this was one of the first Chinese short stories. It was later included in Lu's first collection, "A Call to Arms," which also included his most well known novella, The True Story of Ah Q,. "A Madman's Diary" records a scholar's growing suspicion that the Confucian classics brainwash people into cannibalism. Lu Xun symbolized the cruel and inhumane nature of old traditional Chinese society structure in this manner. Despite being a harsh metaphor, it was not exceptional due to numerous other contemporary indictments of the old society which were equally scathing. Other fiction by Lu Xun published in La Jeunesse includes "Kong Yi Ji" and "Medicine".
Li Dazhao
was the magazine's chief collaborator in the Chinese Communist Party, and published, among other things, an introduction to Marxist theory in the May 1919 issue of New Youth. In it, he also argued that China, while not possessing a significant urban proletariat, could be viewed as an entire nation that had been exploited by capitalistimperialist countries.
Though perhaps most famous for publishing short fiction, La Jeunesse also published both vernacular poetry and drama. Hu Shih's "Marriage" was one of the first dramas written in the new literature style. Published in the March 1919 issue, this one-act play highlights the problems of traditional marriages arranged by parents. The female protagonist eventually leaves her family to escape the marriage in the story. Poems published included those by Li Dazao, Chen Duxiu, Lu Xun, Zhou Zuoren, Yu Pingbo, Kang Baiqing, Shen Jianshi, Shen Xuanlu, Wang Jingzhi, Chen Hengzhe, Chen Jianlei, among others.
