Academics: Shen Congwen As More Than A Novelist

Shen Congwen is a famous writer and outstanding specialist in relics. While people are focusing their mind on Shen Congwen as a novelist, they have neglected his contribution to academics as a scholar. This paper is an attempt to discover Shen Congwen's academic accumulation and preparation before 1949 in order to recognize the origin of his academic achievement, which serves the purpose of demonstrating a more comprehensive and more deeply-studied Shen Congwen as a scholar, not just as a writer.The first chapter of this paper is mainly devoted to analyze the earlier academic accumulation before Shen Congwen went into the city. Private Education has offered him great knowledge of traditional culture and he has developed historical ways of thinking. Military experience allowed Shen Congwen to begin his acquaintance with Chinese ancient relics and their relative knowledge, and at the same time he has developed his first ideas and academic consciousness.The second chapter mainly discusses Shen Congwen's academic preparation in 1920s and 1930s. Under the free and open academic atmosphere and cultural environment, Shen Congwen had fired great interest in knowledge and had got a deeper touch with Chinese ancient relics. His academic consciousness had been further developed. With the help of Hu Shi and others, Shen Congwen stepped into university and into the academic field, which broadened his academic horizon and offered him elementary academic practices such as editing and teaching.The third chapter is mainly contributed to Shen Congwen's deeper academic accumulation in the War Time. Under the influence of this particular period, Shen Congwen stepped again onto the platform to practice his teaching in university. Under the great academic atmosphere in Xinan United University and with the direct influence and help of Zhu Guangqian and others, Shen Congwen began his deeper academic accumulation in the preparation for his later academic study.The last chapter of this paper discusses Shen Congwen's spiritual dilemma because of the departure of his liberalist ideas and ways of writing from the requirements of the age. His earlier academic accumulation and preparation allowed him an easier turn into the study of Chinese ancient relics. This chapter also further discusses his academic activities and achievement after his turn.No matter whether it is conscious or unconscious, Shen Congwen has always made great academic accumulation and preparation for his later academic studies during every period of his life before 1949, which form the origin of most of his later academic achievement.