Yu Pingbo

Yu Pingbo (1900–1990), original name Yu Mingheng, courtesy name Pingbo, was a native of Deqing, Zhejiang, born in Suzhou. A modern writer, Hongloumeng scholar and poet, he was the great-grandson of Yu Yue. He graduated from Peking University in 1919 and took part in the New Culture Movement. In 1923 he published An Analysis of Hongloumeng, becoming, together with Hu Shi, a founder of the New Redology. He taught at Tsinghua University and Peking University, and later served as a researcher at the Institute of Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. His writings span explications of classical poetry, prose essays and textual scholarship on Hongloumeng; his style is lucid and restrained, blending wit with scholarly cultivation. Essays such as "The Qinhuai River in the Light of Oars and Lamps" hold a distinctive place in modern vernacular prose, and his later correspondence with Zhou Zuoren remains important material for studying literary circles of the period.