Mao Dun(1896~1981), originally named Shen Dehong, styled Yanbing, was born in Tongxiang County, Zhejiang Province.

茅盾( 1896~1981），原名沈德鸿，字雁冰，浙江桐乡人。

He was concerned, heart and soul, with the social reality.

他全身心关注社会现实生活。

He felt the pulse of the times by presenting the panorama¹ with strong sense of responsibility and mission, and deep and whole-hearted political enthusiasm. He thought in a rational way through the meticulous² observation.

以高度的责任感和使命感、深沉饱满的政治热情，全景式地把握时代历史脉搏，在精细观察中进行理性思考和社会思考。

He initiated³ the new paradigm⁴ of “social anatomy⁵ novel” since the May Fourth Movement.

由此开创了五四以来文学创作“社会剖析小说”的新范式。

The millions of words of short stories, novelle and full-length novels created by Mao Dun truthfully revealed the political fluctuations⁶ and vicissitudes⁷ of the times in almost half of the century. They not only reflected the various social problems people were concerned about and the contradictions and conflicts that caused them, but also exposed the social roots of these problems.

创作了数百万言的短、中、长篇小说，真实展示了近半个世纪中国社会政治变幻的风云和时势变迁。

Mao Dun wrote The Canker, including three loosely related novelle: Disillusion⁸, Wavering and Search. The three short stories, Spring Silkworms, Autumn Harrest and The Last Days of Winter, were called Trilogy of the Villages. His celebrated⁹ full-length novels included Rainbow, Midnight and Corrosion¹⁰. These works manifested Mao Dun's artistic¹¹ talent for depicting¹² the complexities¹⁴ of society and historical trends. Thus Mao Dun established his position in modern Chinese literature as an outstanding writer of revolutionary realism.

他的代表作有以《幻灭》、《动摇》、《追求》三个中篇构成的《蚀》三部曲，农村三部曲《春蚕》、《秋收》和《残冬》，长篇小说《虹》、《子夜》、《腐蚀》等。

Midnight, a milestone¹⁵ in Mao Dun's writing career, was the product of Mao Dun's profound understanding of life and artistic ability.

其中《子夜》是茅盾运用社会分析进行创作的典范之作。

By making a cogent¹⁶ and penetrating¹⁷ analysis of the misshapen politics, economy and society of the modern city, Mao Dun drew a grandiose¹⁸ scene of the intricate class contradiction of the early 1930's.

小说对现代都市畸形的政治、经济、社会作了全面剖析，绘制了一幅3o年代初中国社会错综复杂的阶级矛盾的宏大图景。

In modern Chinese literary history it became the first epic¹³ writing, with the demeanor¹⁹ of modern urban literature, to reflect directly the fundamental conflict in the process of modernization²⁰ in Chinese history.

成为中国现代文学史上第一部正面反映中国历史现代化进程基本矛盾，并具有现代都市文学风采的史诗性作品。

Corrosion was written in the form of a diary, a convenient medium for revealing the private thoughts of the heroine, a secret agent. The complexities of her inner world were meticulously²¹ described: her pangs²² of conscience after she had been deceived, her self-confession, self-derision and self-defense, and her painful struggle as she decided²³ to break away with the evil way of life that had ruined her ideals.

日记体长篇小说《腐蚀》，通过描写一个女特务由堕落到悔过自新的心理过程，挖掘了这个被污染的灵魂未曾泯灭的人性，更多地转向了人物内心世界的展露。

In literary theory, Mao Dun adhered all the time to the stand that revolutionary realism should be in step with Chinese revolution and opposed the trend of formalism and conceptualization. He laid stress on the probe into artistic form and technique.

在文艺理论方面，茅盾始终坚持革命现实主义的文艺应与中国的革命取得统一步调，反对公式化、概念化的倾向，注重艺术形式与技巧的探索。

He was also one of the pioneers of modern iterary criticism in China. Mao Dun was a literary theorist and critic of sweeping²⁴ significance after Lu Xun.

他还是中国现代文学批评的开创者之一，是继鲁迅之后具有广泛影响的文艺理论家与批评家。