On Yu Dafu's "Rousseau Complex"

In the history of modern Chinese literature, Yu Dafu is a writer who has a special status. He "learnt both oriental and western cultures, lived in a time when a new era was about to start", a time that "needs great people and does bring them". Together with Lu Xun, Yu Dafu is admired as one of the two great writers in the 1920s .Yu Dafu, Lu Xun, Guo Moruo and other writers set up a brand-new literature world.Yu Dafu referred as "Chinese Rousseau" because of their similar background, life experiences and hardship, personality and inner temperament. The historical and cultural contexts they lived in were quite the same. Their resemblance in feelings, mentality, characteristics and life track, as well as the same hope on reality, creates a possibility for them to have a soul conversation. Rousseau influenced the Yu Dafu's humane spirit with the following aspects: belief in the goodness of human nature, opening up to the inner cosmos, major inclination in literature, theory of "back to nature". Among all the foreign writers, Yu Dafu adored Rousseau the most, who remarkably affected Yu's thoughts and writing. That's why we can see an "complex to Rousseau" in Yu's works and personal temperament. Connotation of Yu Dafu's complex about Rousseau includes decadent tendency, repentant consciousness and return to nature. This kind of complex is fully shown off by Yu Dafu's hatred for life, arbitrary and arrogant attitude towards life, and argument between Yu Dafu and Liang Shiqiu.Living in the early 20th century, in the context of a specific culture that oriental and western cultures met, and modernity and tradition overlapped , represented by Yu Dafu's generation who had profound cultural understanding and knowledge, impressive sense of history, exquisite taste, personal vitality, enrichment of inner life and profundity of human nature that would not be surpassed by the future generations.This generation of writers manifested the unique enrichment and complexity in terms of aesthetic attitude, life attitude, concept of literature and thinking pattern. Analysis of Yu Dafu how to absorb the essence of Western literature for use, the discussion of "affection to Rousseau" will enable us to grasp the essential spirit of Yu's works. It requires us to establish an advanced thinking pattern and broaden our eyeshot.