The Lost Sheep

Yu DafuZhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House · ChinaMay 2017

4.3

Word count: 54K words
Chapters: 16

Summary

Yu Dafu (1896–1945), originally named Yu Wen, courtesy name Dafu, was a native of Fuyang, Zhejiang, and a renowned modern Chinese novelist, essayist, and poet. His representative works include "Autumn in the Old Capital," "Sinking," "Intoxicated by Spring Breeze," "Late Osmanthus," and "The Silver-Grey Death." In literary theory he held that "all literary works are the author's autobiography," and his writing carries a strong romantic tendency.

Editor's review

Yu Dafu's The Lost Sheep is a novella steeped in sentimentality and self-scrutiny, and an important work from the middle-to-late phase of his career. Compared with the fierce outcry of his early Sinking, The Lost Sheep is more artistically mature, interweaving the bewilderment of personal emotion with a sense of alienation from social reality to create an introspective, poetic narrative style. The protagonist Wang Jiecheng's morbid infatuation with the actress Xie Yueying is, in essence, a microcosm of a generation of young intellectuals after the ebb of the May Fourth Movement, seeking spiritual sustenance and the meaning of life in love after their ideals were shattered. Yu Dafu depicts the conflict between desire and the spirit and flesh with bold, explicit strokes; the work's value lies not only in the courage of its "self-exposure" but also in its profound insight into the loneliness, vulnerability, and struggle deep in human nature. The repentance and sorrow that flow through the novel, together with its abundant delicate psychological description and scenic atmosphere, lift it beyond a mere love story to become an allegory exploring the spiritual predicament of modern people. In reading it we feel not only Yu Dafu's distinctive "superfluous man" temperament but also his persistent pursuit of beauty and his sense of powerlessness in reality—a contradiction that constitutes the work's enduring artistic tension. For understanding the fusion of the "lyrical tradition" and "psychological realism" in modern Chinese literature, The Lost Sheep is an indispensable text.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in modern Chinese literature, especially the romantic lyrical style of the Creation Society
Literature enthusiasts eager to understand the full range of Yu Dafu's work and the evolution of his "superfluous man" figure
Readers curious about the psychology and spiritual history of young intellectuals after the May Fourth era
Readers who appreciate delicate psychological portrayal and the aesthetic style of sentimentalism

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking light entertainment or tightly plotted stories
Readers who are resistant to the work's strong subjective emotion and sentimental tone

Reading tips

Read this work alongside Yu Dafu's early Sinking to appreciate the evolution of his creative mood and style
Pay attention to the connection between the novel's natural scenery description and the protagonist's psychological state—an important artistic technique of Yu Dafu's
Try to understand that the protagonist's "lostness" is not only the lostness of love but also the existential lostness of a generation of youth unable to find a way out

About the publisher

Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House is a Chinese publisher specializing in literary publishing. Judging from the 808 titles in the database, its publishing areas cover world classics, foreign literature, social novels, folk literature and classic works, as well as modern and contemporary literature and prose. Representative titles include foreign literary translations such as Anna Karenina, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, In Praise of Shadows and The Complete Tragedies and Comedies of Shakespeare, alongside classic works by Lao She and Lu Xun such as Camel Xiangzi, Teahouse and Wandering. Its authors and translators include Leo Tolstoy, Cao Ying, Lao She, Yukio Mishima, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki and Zhu Shenghao. The press emphasizes the translation and introduction of classic texts and the compilation of native literary works, giving equal weight to Chinese and foreign literature. Owing to limited public information, its specific series and editorial policies are not elaborated here.

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FAQ

What is the place of The Lost Sheep in Yu Dafu's oeuvre?

Written in 1927, The Lost Sheep is a representative work of the middle-to-late phase of Yu Dafu's career, when he turned from impassioned outward expression toward introspective melancholy. It continues the autobiographical coloring and sentimental mood, but is more mature in its exploration of character psychology and the structural coherence of the novel, marking a deepening of his artistic style.

How should the meaning of the title "The Lost Sheep" be understood?

The term "lost sheep" carries multiple layers of symbolism. On the surface it refers to the protagonist, lost in the maze of love; on a deeper level it metaphors the entire young generation after the ebb of the May Fourth Movement—bereft of idealistic guidance and wandering helplessly in the tide of the times, like a flock of lost sheep—expressing the author's anxiety.

What are the main artistic features of this novel?

Main features include: a strong subjective lyrical quality, extensive inner monologue and self-analysis, a technique of blending scene and feeling (natural scenery as a projection of inner states), and candid, even startling, writing of desire. Together these constitute the distinctive "romantic lyrical" style of Yu Dafu's fiction.

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About the author

Yu Dafu Author · Chinese · 1896–1945

Yu Dafu (1896–1945), originally named Yu Wen and styled Dafu, was a native of Fuyang, Zhejiang, and a prominent modern Chinese writer as well as one of the founders of the Creation Society. He wrote mainly fiction and prose. His early novella Sinking shocked the literary world with its bold self-exposure and melancholy tone, while short stories such as Springtime in a Drunken Night and Late Osmanthus depict intellectuals' anguish and drifting through lyrical atmosphere. His prose is candid and strongly autobiographical, and he left a mark in biography, social fiction, and miscellaneous essays. The collection includes 130 of his works, among them Reminiscences of Lu Xun, complete prose collections, and selected short stories. During the War of Resistance he went to Singapore to engage in anti-Japanese propaganda, later fled to Sumatra, was secretly killed by Japanese military police in 1945, and was posthumously recognized as a revolutionary martyr in 1952.