Editing Mao Dun (section)

==Literary career==
As a literary man, Mao Dun had a great number of achievements. His reforms at ''Fiction Monthly'' were his first contribution to Chinese literature. The magazine then became a place where "New Literature" circulated. Many famous writers like [[Lu Xun]], [[Xu Dishan]], [[Bing Xin]], [[Ye Shengtao]], had their works published through it. Mao Dun supported movements such as "New Literature" and "New Thinking". He believed that Chinese literature should have a place in the world.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wu |first=Fangli |date=2012-02-13 |title=茅盾：用文字推动国家和民族前进 |pages=2–1 |work=China Youth Network |url=http://qclz.youth.cn/maodun/wdld/201202/t20120213_1955291.htm}}</ref>

The experience of political conflict broadened his horizon in literature, therefore the theme of his later writing was mostly based on this. He helped to found the League of Left-Wing Writers in 1930. After that, he worked together with [[Lu Xun]] to fight for the right of the society and the revolutionary movement in literature. The harvest period of Mao Dun's writing is considered to have been from 1927 to 1937.

''Shi'' (蚀), also translated in English as ''The Eclipse'', was Mao's first novel. It was published in three volumes: ''Disillusions'' (幻灭, 1927), ''Wavering'' (动摇, 1928), and ''Pursuits'' (追求, 1928).<ref name=":3" /> It tells the story of a generation of young intellectuals caught up in the world of revolutionary fervor without a true understanding of the nature of social change. His next major work was ''Rainbow'' (虹, 1929), which became famous for having no less than 70 main characters and numerous plot twists and turns. In 1933 came his next work, ''[[Ziye|Midnight]]'', which gained great popularity, to a point that it was also published in French and English, and it allowed to develop a sense of revolutionary realism.<ref name=":4" /> It is a naturalistic novel exploring the commercial world of Shanghai in detail. In addition, his fiction offered a sympathetic portrayal of working-class life and praise of revolution. He left a work unfinished, the trilogy ''Shuangye Hongsi Eryuehua'' (霜叶红似二月花, 1942).

The League of Left-Wing Writers was dissolved in a quarrel in 1936. After the initiation of the [[Second Sino-Japanese War|Sino-Japanese War]] in 1937, Mao traveled to many places and started a literary magazine in [[Wuhan]]. He edited the periodical ''Literary Front'' and the literary page of the newspaper ''Libao'' in [[Hong Kong]] and worked as a teacher.

In May 1940, Mao and his family traveled to [[Yan'an Soviet|Yan'an]].<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=Wang |first=Xian |title=Gendered Memories: An Imaginary Museum for Ding Ling and Chinese Female Revolutionary Martyrs |date=2025 |publisher=[[University of Michigan Press]] |isbn=978-0-472-05719-1 |series=China Understandings Today series |location=Ann Arbor}}</ref>{{Rp|page=146}} In Yan'an, he wrote essays praising the Communist Party's transformation of the region through both cultivation of culture and of labor.<ref name=":22" />{{Rp|page=146}}

After 1943 Mao Dun did not produce any major works, but still wrote some articles and essays. In 1946 he visited the [[Soviet Union]].

When the [[People's Republic of China]] was established in 1949, he became active in several committees and he worked as the Secretary and then the Minister of Culture for [[Mao Zedong]] until 1965.<ref name=":0" /> He started the monthly literary journal Chinese Literature, which became the most popular for western readers. He was dismissed from his position as minister in 1964 due to the ideological upheavals. Despite this fact, Mao Dun survived the [[Cultural Revolution]] and was afterwards rehabilitated. In the 1970s he became an editor of a children's magazine, and began working on his memoirs, which were serialized in the Party publication, the quarterly ''Historical Materials on New literature'' ({{lang|zh-hans|新文学史料}}), but he died on 27 March 1981, before he could finish it. His influence on Chinese literature continues to the present day because he used his savings to set up a fund called the Mao Dun Literature Scholarship to promote an atmosphere for writing fiction.

Mao Dun's achievements in literature were also seen at his 50th birthday, which was also the 25th anniversary of his literary life. More than five hundred guests came to celebrate with him. Russian and American friends also joined the celebration. Wong Roufei wrote an essay as congratulations on behalf of the [[Chinese Communist Party]]. Mao Dun's influence and achievements in the literary field were witnessed. On the other hand, he was twice elected as the chairman and then once elected as the vice-chairman of the China Literary Arts Representative Assembly. His status in the literary field has been highly recognized. Although he suffered great pain from illness in his old age, he still kept writing his memoirs, called ''The Road I Walked'' ({{lang|zh-hans|我走过的路}}).

Besides his achievements, Mao Dun also had great influence on Chinese literature. The [[Mao Dun Literature Prize]] was created due to Mao Dun's wish that outstanding novels should be encouraged and communist literature should be promoted.<ref name=":0" /> It is one of the most honorable literature awards in China. Many famous modern Chinese literary authors like [[Wei Wei (male writer)|Wei Wei]] and [[Zhou Keqin]] have received the prize.