#xu yiduo

[sinetheta]

这是一沟绝望的死水， 这里断不是美的所在， 不如让给丑恶来开垦， 看它造出个什么世界。 Here is a ditch of hopeless dead water, This cannot be a place where beauty lives, Better let ugliness cultivate it, And see what kind of world comes of it.

Wen Yiduo (闻一多), Dead Water (死水). 1925. 

Poet and scholar Wen Yiduo belonged to the generation of young Chinese writers who grew up during the early Republic era. After completing his undergraduate degree at Tsinghua University, Wen went on to study fine arts and literature at the Art Institute of Chicago where he published his first poetry collection called 紅燭 (Red Candle). In 1928, he joined the Crescent Moon Society (新月社) that was founded by poet Xu Zhimo, Wen’s political activism against the Chinese Communist Party began in 1944 when he joined the China Democratic League that was highly critical of the government. His outspoken nature and popular anti-communist speeches led to his blacklisting by the police. In 1946, while giving a speech for his assassinated friend Li Gongpu whom he served alongside in the China Democratic League, Wen was assassinated by agents of the Kuomintang.