{{Short description|Chinese writer}} {{Infobox writer <!-- For more information see :Template:Infobox Writer/doc. --> | name = Lu Wenfu | birth_date = {{birth date|1927|03|23}} | birth_place = Taixing, Jiangsu, China | death_date = {{Death date and age|2005|07|09|1927|03|23}} | death_place = Suzhou, Jiangsu, China | resting_place = | occupation = novelist, essayist, critic
| language = | nationality = Chinese | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = | period = 1927--2005 | genre = | subject = | movement = | notableworks = ''Gourmet (美食家)'', ''A Dream Scene（梦中的天地 ）'', ''Deep Within a Lane（小巷深处）'' | spouse = | partner = | children = | relatives = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | portaldisp = }} {{family name hatnote|Lu|lang=Chinese}}
'''Lu Wenfu''' ({{zh|陆文夫}}, March 23, 1927 – July 9, 2005) was a contemporary Chinese writer. He was interested in literature from an early age and devoted all his life to it. He worked for many years as journalist and a magazine editor and served as president of the Jiangsu Writers' Association (:zh:江蘇作家協會, 江苏作家协会) and vice president of the Chinese Writers' Association (:zh:中國作家協會, 中国作家协会).<ref>''Historical Dictionary of Modern Chinese Literature'' by Li-Hua Ying, Scarecrow Press, Page 121-122</ref> Lu's life ended in Suzhou, his favorite city in Jiangsu province. All his work is a mirror of this old city and that's why his novels are generally regarded as ''Suzhou literature''. He is famous for his first story ''Deep within a Lane (小巷深处)''. From then on, Lu started producing a lot of fictions and essays.
==Life== Lu Wenfu was born in 1927 in Taixing, Jiangsu province. Being kept under the thoughtful and careful love of his mother, Lu spent a peaceful childhood.
When Lu Wenfu was 6 years old, he went to an old-style school, where his teacher was impressed by his interest in reading and gave him a formal name ''Wenfu (which means literary and culture)'', in the hope of him becoming a litterateur. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Lu finished primary and secondary school in Taixing. In 1945 he went to live with relatives in Suzhou for recuperation and studied in Suzhou High School. After graduation, he was admitted into two universities in Shanghai. But his family couldn't afford the school tuition and other expenses. So, he transferred to the Subei Liberated Area, where he was assigned to Huazhong University to study Marxism.<ref>''The Life Pursuits of Lu Wenfu'' by Yu Naiyao</ref>
After graduating from the Huazhong University in Yancheng, Lu took part in the Chinese Communist Revolution in northern Jiangsu. In 1949 he returned to Suzhou and became a reporter of New Suzhou Report (now renamed as Suzhou Daily). In 1955 he started the first period of his over 50 years' writing career. Two years later Lu became a member of Literary Federation of Jiangsu. In 1957 he joined Gao Xiaosheng (高晓声, 20th century author) and some others to found the magazine ''The Explorers (Tanqiuzhe, 探求者)''.<ref>Modern Chinese Writers: Self-portrayals by Helmut Martin, Page 317</ref> It came under great attack by the Communist leadership, for what Lu was denounced as a Rightist during the Great Leap Forward. He was soon sentenced to a machine tool plant as an apprentice in Suzhou. During the three years as a mechanic, Lu was awarded the honor of "Excellent Apprentice", "Advanced Worker" and "Crackerjack at Technical Innovations". As a result, he was deemed reformed and was allowed to write again. Nevertheless, with the Cultural Revolution breaking out in 1966, Lu was denounced once again and was sent to the fields for reeducation through labor until 1976, which experience he later wrote of as a manual labour:''"I was 'struggled against', forced to confess my crimes and paraded through the streets with a placard around my neck. I was already numb to the pain, and worried about when this disaster for my country would end."''<ref>Book Reviews by Frederick Glaysher: ''A Decade of Disaster'' by Lu Wenfu http://fglaysher.com/TheGlobe/2011/06/25/a-decade-of-disaster-lu-wenfu/</ref> After the Cultural Revolution ended with Mao Zedong's death in 1976, Lu returned to Suzhou in November 1978, at the age of 50.
In December 1978, Lu became the managing editor of ''Suzhou'' magazine. It's during the Deng Xiaoping reform era that he started his second career as a writer. The works reflected on the unsettled and thought-provoking memories of modern history:''"Poverty, backwardness, hardship, chaos: these are not necessarily obstacles to literature. Material wealth is not the same as spiritual wealth."''<ref>''Modern Chinese Writers: Self-portrayals'' by Helmut Martin, Page 73</ref>
Shortly after the novel ''Gourmet'' was published in 1988, Lu opened a restaurant, ''The Old Suzhou Gourmet House'',<ref>楹联为"一见如故酒当茶，天涯来客茶当酒"</ref> serving exquisite, traditional Suzhou cuisine, as a way to realize his ideal of good food.<ref>''Food and Chinese culture: essays on popular cuisine'' translated by Zishan Chen, Long River Press, 2005, Page 6</ref> Therefore, Lu Wenfu was known in Chinese literary circles for his catering business, as an authentic gourmet both in name and fact. On July 9, 2005, Lu Wenfu died of emphysema, at the age of 78.
==Notable works==
===''Deep within a Lane (小巷深处)''=== It is a short story written in 1956, the first period of his writing career, which describes the real life of a prostitute named Xu Wenxia. She was born in the old days but now live in the newly born China, exploring her future with a rather complex attitude. This totally new theme of writing indicates Lu's novel creativity, making him famous among China for the first time.
===''Gourmet (美食家))''=== As the saying that ''"Western culture is born of the relationship between man and woman, while Chinese culture has grown from the enjoyment of food"''<ref>Food and Chinese culture: essays on popular cuisine translated by Zishan Chen, Long River Press, 2005, Page 5</ref> goes, the novella ''Gourmet'' is one of the highly appreciated works of Lu Wenfu. It was published in ''Harvest'' in 1983, achieving another peak in his writing career. By creating the character of a crazy gourmet, Zhu Ziye, Lu shows the tortuous developing road of our nation, making people at that time think much more about our future generation.
There are also a lot of vivid details about the customs of the Suzhou region, which earns his fictions and reputation of ''Suzhou literature''.{{clarify|date=June 2017}} Up to now, this novel has been translated into English, French, Japanese, etc., introducing Chinese traditions to the outside world.
In addition, Lu himself is an authentic gourmet. He shows great interest in the folk snacks all over the world, insisting that eating is a sort of enjoyment. Also, Chinese tea and wine are his favourite,<ref>''Happy Death'' by Lu Wenfu http://www.en84.com/article-2326-2.html</ref> which reflects his poetic view of life.
===''The Man from a Peddler's Family (小贩世家）)''=== ''The Man from a Peddler's Family'' is a short story published in 1979, into which Lu poured all his sufferings of his life. It starts with one of the protagonist Mr. Gao, who was well educated, thinking about the other protagonist Zhu Yuanda, one making his living only by selling wonton. The story centers on the tortuous life of Zhu Yuanda, along with the changes of political background at that time. Through Mr. Gao's observation on Zhu Yuanda, the story implicitly reflects the painful thoughts of Lu on these unstable times, which still ''"merits further reflection by us younger generations"''.
==Artistic value== In the field of contemporary public literary creations, Lu Wenfu represented the old generations of writers in their respective works, along with Fan Xiaoqing (the middle-aged generation) and Zhu Wenying (the younger generation).<ref>''The Temporal Townsfolks:Fan Xiaoqing and Her Soochow Writing'' by Gu Qingyu {{cite web |url=http://218.195.234.36/KNS50/detail.aspx?filename=2006096525.nh&dbname=CMFD2006 |title=Fan Xiaoqing and Her Soochow Writing-中国优秀硕士学位论文全文数据库 |accessdate=2012-05-22 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120707012203/http://218.195.234.36/KNS50/detail.aspx?filename=2006096525.nh&dbname=CMFD2006 |archivedate=2012-07-07 }}</ref> ''He was an old-fashioned gentleman who remained unaffected by the rampant ideological and dogmatic literature.'' Lu Wenfu left his distinctive literary memories of Suzhou in different perspectives, including political, cultural, economic, and personal imprints. The rich human nature and vivid inner characters showed us a picture of the real lifestyle and the authentic residents in Suzhou, an old city with the reputation of ''"Venice of the East"'', ''"representing some inner expressions left by literature that are best worth savoring in the historical process for Suzhou city."''<ref>''Humanity：Urban Expression in Literary Memories: Suzhou City in the Novels by Lu Wenfu, Fan Xiaoqing and Ye Mi'' by He Qing http://lib.cqvip.com/qk/83404A/200904/32231796.html</ref>
Lu's success in portraying the traditions and customs of Suzhou won him a reputation of ''"urban root-seeker"'', an honour he shared with other writers such as Deng Youmei (:zh:邓友梅), who wrote about the disappearing traditional culture of old Beijing.<ref>''Historical Dictionary of Modern Chinese Literature'' by Li-Hua Ying, Scarecrow Press, Page 122</ref>
==Chronology of works== {{div col}} '''First Period of his Writing Career (1950s and the 1960s)'''
*1953: :''Shifting the Wind (移风)'' (short story)
*1955: :''Honor (荣誉)'' （short story）
*1956: :''Honor (荣誉)'' （collection of short stories） :''Deep within a Lane (小巷深处)'' (short story)
*1961: :''Ge Shifu (葛师傅)'' (short story)
*1963: :''Running into Zhou Tai Twice (二遇周泰)'' (short story)
*1964: :''Running into Zhou Tai Twice (二遇周泰)'' (collection of short stories)
'''Second Period of his Writing Career (After 1978)'''
*1978: :''Devotion (献身)'' (collection of short stories)
*1979: :''Cui Dacheng (崔大成小记)'' (short story) :''The Special Court (特别法庭)'' (short story)
*1980: :''Deep within a Lane (小巷深处)'' (collection of short stories) :''The Man from a Peddler's Family (小贩世家)'' (short story) :''Somebody's Knocking on the Door (有人敲门)'' (novella)
*1982: :''Talking about fictions in an outsider's view (小说门外谈)'' :''The Special Court (特别法庭)'' (collection of short stories)
*1983: :''Gourmet (美食家)'' (novella) :''The Boundary Wall (围墙)'' (short story)
*1984: :''Xiaoxiang Renwu Zhi (小巷人物志)'' (collection of short stories I) :''The Doorbell (门铃)'' (short story) :''The Boundary Wall (围墙)'' (collection of short stories)
*1986: :''Xiaoxiang Renwu Zhi (小巷人物志)'' (collection of short stories II)
*1987: :''Qinggao (清高)'' (short story) :''Gushi Fa (故事法)'' (novella) :''The Representative Works of Lu Wenfu (陆文夫代表作)''
*1991: :''Lu Wenfu (陆文夫)''
*1992: :''Xiangfu (享福)'' (novella)
*1995: :''Huzhongriyue (壶中日月)'' (collections of essays) :''Shelters (人之窝)'' (novel)
*1998: :''Qiudiaojiangnan (秋钓江南)'' (collections of essays) :''The love for Suzhou (姑苏之恋)'' (collections of essays)
*2005: :''Music from Deep in the Alleys (深巷里的琵琶声)'' :''Gourmet (美食家)''<ref>Modern Chinese Writers: Self-portrayals by Helmut Martin, Page 343</ref> {{div col end}}
==References== * {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CNAwX9FjrnUC&dq=lu+wenfu&pg=PA73 | title=Modern Chinese Writers: Self-portrayals | isbn=9780873328173 | last1=Martin | first1=Helmut | last2=Kinkley | first2=Jeffrey C. | year=1992 }} {{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Wenfu}} Category:1927 births Category:Chinese male short story writers Category:2005 deaths Category:People from Taixing Category:Writers from Taizhou, Jiangsu Category:20th-century Chinese novelists Category:Chinese male novelists Category:20th-century Chinese short story writers Category:20th-century Chinese male writers Category:Short story writers from Jiangsu