Guo Moruo

Guo Moruo (1892–1978) was a prominent Chinese scholar, writer, and government official. He served as President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and held influential roles during the Communist era. His academic work spanned literature, history, and archaeology, with notable contributions like Nü shen (1921), a pioneering collection of free verse poetry, and Liangzhou jinwenci daxi tulu kaoshi (1935), a seminal study of ancient Chinese inscriptions. Guo was a founding member of the Creation Society, a key literary group during the May Fourth Movement. His translations of Western classics, such as Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther, profoundly influenced Chinese intellectual circles. Politically active, he participated in the Northern Expedition and later became a loyal supporter of the Communist Party, though he faced persecution during the Cultural Revolution. Despite this, his vast literary output—spanning poetry, drama, historical treatises, and translations—remains a cornerstone of 20th-century Chinese intellectual history.