Tagore (1861～1941)

Tagore, Rabindranath

Indian poet, writer, artist, and social activist. He is a very influential figure who introduced Indian culture to the West and introduced Western culture to India.

Life: Born in Calcutta, West Bengal on May 7, 1861, and died in the same place on August 7, 1941. The family belonged to the Brahmin caste, a merchant and landowner. Both his grandfather Devaganath Tagore and his father Devendranath Tagore were social activists and supported social reforms. Tagore attended Oriental College, Normal School and Bengal College, but did not complete formal studies. Most of his knowledge came from the advice of his father, brother, tutor, and his own hard work. He began writing poetry at the age of 13, and published a patriotic poem "Dedicated to the Hindu Temple Fair" at the age of 14. In 1878, he followed the wishes of his father and brother and went to England to study. He initially studied law, and then transferred to the University of London to study English literature and Western music. He returned to China in 1880 and specialized in literary creation. In 1884, he left the city and went to the countryside to manage his ancestral property. In 1901, a school was founded in Sandiniketan near Bolpur, Bangladesh. In 1921, the school developed into an international university for the exchange of Asian cultures. After 1905, the national liberation movement reached its climax. The people of Bengal and all of India opposed the decision to partition Bengal, forming a vigorous anti-imperialist and patriotic movement. Tagore went to Calcutta to join the movement, filled with righteous indignation, and wrote a large number of patriotic poems. However, he soon had differences of opinion with other leaders of the movement. He did not agree with the "direct action" of the masses burning British goods and insulting the British, but advocated doing more "constructive" work, such as going to the countryside to develop industry and eliminate poverty and ignorance. He quit the movement in 1907 and returned to the Holy Land of Niketan, where he lived in seclusion and devoted himself to creation. In 1913, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature for the English version of "Gitanjaei" (Gitanjaei, "Ode to Sacrifice", published in 1911), and has since become famous in the world of literature. The University of Calcutta awarded him a doctorate. The British government knighted him. After the outbreak of the First World War, he traveled across the ocean more than 10 times, visited dozens of countries and regions, spread peace and friendship, and engaged in cultural exchanges. In 1919, the Amritsar massacre occurred, and British troops shot and killed more than 1,000 Indian civilians. Tagore renounced his knighthood in protest. In 1930, he visited the Soviet Union and wrote "Russian Letters". He denounced the Italian fascist invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia). Support the Spanish communist government against fascist leader Franco. After the outbreak of World War II, he wrote articles denounced Hitler's unjust acts. He has always been concerned about world politics and the destiny of the people, and supported the just cause of mankind.

Creation In nearly 70 years of creative activities, Rabindranath Tagore wrote more than 50 collections of poems, 12 novels, more than 100 short stories, more than 20 plays, and a large number of works on literature. He has written treatises on philosophy, politics, and more than 1,500 paintings and more than 2,000 songs, one of which is the national anthem of India.

After the age of 13, Tagore published long poems such as "Wild Flowers" and "The Poet's Story". From 1881 to 1885, he published the collections of lyric poems "Evening Songs", "Morning Songs", and "Paintings and Songs" , as well as plays and novels. Dramas and novels are mostly based on epics and Puranas, and poetry is full of romanticism. In 1886, the collection of poems "Hardness and Softness" was published, marking his entry into a period of facing life and real life in his creative path. The collection of poems "Longing in the Heart" was his first mature work, and his unique style began to take shape. The plays "King and Queen" and "Sacrifice" were also written during this period, opposing the restoration of the privileges and backward customs of Brahmin priests. The 1890s was a prosperous period for Tagore's creation. Since 1891, he has published more than 60 short stories such as "Mahamaya" in the "Satana" magazine he edited, mainly to oppose feudal oppression and expose unreasonable phenomena in real life.

He published five collections of lyric poems: "Golden Sail", "Colorful Collection", "Harvest Collection", "Dream Collection" and "Moment Collection", a collection of short philosophical poems "Micro Thoughts" and a "Collection of Story Poems". The narrative poem "Two Acres of Land" included in "Colorful Collection" is the highest expression of the author's democratic thoughts. From the "Shadow Samhita" onwards, he began to write poems in Bengali spoken language. Most of the poems in his second collection of English-translated poems, The Gardener, are selected from works of this period.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Tagore encountered misfortune in his personal life. His grief and sadness of being widowed, losing his daughter, and losing his father were truly recorded in his poetry collections "Memories", "Children" and "The Ferry". He also has two novels "Little Sand" and "Shipwreck". In 1910, the novel "Gola" was published. It reflected the complex phenomena in Indian social life and created the image of warriors fighting for national freedom and liberation; it eulogized the patriotism and enthusiasm of new Hindus and their confidence in the freedom of their motherland. At the same time, He also criticized their ideas of safeguarding old traditions and also lashed out at some people in the Brahma Society for their dogmatism and admiration for foreign countries. During this period, he also wrote the symbolic dramas "The King" and "The Post Office" and the satirical drama "The Stubborn Fortress". In 1910, the Bengali poetry collection "Gitanjali" was published. Later, when Tagore lived in London, he translated some poems in "Gitanjali", "The Ferry" and "The Collection of Dedication" into English. In 1913, "Gitanjali" "The English translation was published, and Tagore became the first Asian writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. He entered another creative climax and published the poems "Wreath of Songs", "Ode", "White Crane", "Escape", and the novels "Four People" and "Family and the World". In the 1920s, Tagore continued to write and published the plays "Mokdotara" and "Red Oleander", the novel "The Dispute", "The Last Psalm" and some poems. In the 1930s, he successively published the novels "Two Sisters", "Flower Garden" and "Four Chapters"; the dramas "The Wheel of Time" and "Kingdom of Cards"; the poetry collections "Once Again", "The Edge Collection" and the political lyric poem "Li Buddha". "wait. In April 1941, he wrote his last words, the famous "Crisis of Civilization", indicting British colonial rule and expressing his firm belief in national independence.

Chinese translation of "Collected Works of Rabindranath Tagore"

Ideological development and artistic achievements Rabindranath Tagore was born in an era of rapid change and was influenced by traditional Indian philosophical thought and Western philosophical thought. But the most basic and core part of his worldview is the traditional Indian pantheistic thought, that is, "the unity of Brahma and me." In "Colorful Collection", he first proposed the concept of "God of Life". His devotion to God was integrated with his love for life, country and people. But this gave his poetry a strong mystical color. In addition, he promoted the spiritual civilization of the East without obliterating the material civilization of the West. All these make his thoughts full of contradictions, which are reflected in his creations. An overview of Tagore's ideological and creative development throughout his life can be roughly divided into three stages: ① From his childhood until around 1910, he actively participated in anti-British political activities, praising national heroes, promoting patriotism, and advocating the great unity of the Indian nation. ② He lived in seclusion until he actively participated in the national movement again in 1919. His patriotic passion faded slightly, and poems with strong political content were replaced by poems with mysterious meanings. He was also influenced by Western symbolism and aesthetic poetry, which promoted Love and harmony. ③From the time of the Amritsar massacre in 1919 until his death, he began to care about politics again and actively participated in the national liberation struggle. The content of his works was full of political passion, his vision was broadened, and he was very concerned about the world and mankind. It can be said that Tagore's creations throughout his life include both "Bodhisattva's kind eyebrows" and "Vajra's angry eyes". His poems are influenced by Indian classical literature, Western poetry and Bengali folk lyric poetry, and are mostly unrhymed and uncarved free verse and prose poems; his novels are influenced by Western novels and are innovative, especially the incorporation of poetry and painting. Among them, a unique style is formed.

Tagore and China Tagore has always emphasized the necessity of unity and friendly cooperation between the people of India and China. In 1881, he wrote "The Trade of Death", condemning Britain's crime of dumping opium into China and poisoning the Chinese people. In 1916, he gave a speech in Japan criticizing Japanese militarism for its aggression against China.

In 1924, he visited China and published "Conversations in China" after returning home. After the Japanese imperialists launched a war of aggression against China in 1937, he repeatedly published open letters, speeches and poems, denounced Japanese imperialists, and sympathized with and supported the just struggle of the Chinese people. Most of the early creations of Chinese writers Guo Moruo, Zheng Zhenduo, Bing Xin, Xu Zhimo and others were influenced by him. His works were introduced to China as early as 1915. Numerous Chinese translations and reviews of his works have been published over the past decades. In 1961, to commemorate his 100th birthday, People's Literature Publishing House published a 10-volume "Collected Works of Tagore".