Crescent_Moon

Crescent Moon Society (新月)
Originally formed in Beijing as a social club for drama lovers the Crescent Moon Society eventually became a literary society focused on poetry and drama. The original founder was Xu Zhimo who held the first of the dinner gatherings in 1923. The group first only wrote and staged dramas but many members also enjoyed reading and writing poetry. From this came the first publication of the //Poetry Supplement// (Shijuan) on April 1st, 1926. Although originally from Beijing most members of the group, including Xu Zhimou, Liang Shiqiu, Wen Yiduo, Shen Congwen, Rao Mengkan and Hu Shi found there way down to Shanghai by 1928. Once situated in Shanghai the group decided to open both a bookstore and monthly magazine with the name Crescent Moon (Xinyue). The first publication of the monthly magazine drew sharp critique from the leftist groups around Shanghai. Eventually the magazine took a political turn in 1929 to the disappointment of some members, most notably Xu Zhimo. Although the magazine took a political turn it still held a strong emphasis for poetry and drama. The Crescent Moon Society didn't have an official literary platform until 1928 most of its members valued a traditional approach to poetry and a strict observance of rhyme and meter. This also drew much opposition from Creation Society and later the League of Left Wing Writers. Lu Xun attacked the group saying they merely were supporters of the bourgeois. In 1931 Xu Zhimo died in a plane crash. Robbed of their figure head the Crescent Moon Society slowly fell apart and disbanded, their last issue of the //Crescent Moon// published in June 1933.

Hockx, Michel, and Kirk A. Denton. //Literary Societies of Republican China//. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2008. Print.
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