Zhu Guangqian

A native of Tongcheng, Anhui Province, Zhu Guangqian, who wrote under the penname Meng Shi, was born on September 19, 1897. He enrolled in the Chinese language department at Wuchang Higher Normal School in 1918, but transferred to the education department at Hong Kong University the following year.

He wrote his first treatise "Beauty Without Words" during this period. Upon graduation in 1922, he taught at China College in Wusong, Shanghai and Chunhui High School in Shangyu, Zhejiang Province. Shortly thereafter, Zhu Guangqian and his associates, Kuang Husheng and Ye Shengtao established the Lida Society and the Lida Institute in Shanghai. Zhu penned the slogan "independent and free education" and later established the Kaiming Book Company and the Magazine Yi Ban, which was renamed High School Student. Zhu went on to study English literature, philosophy, psychology, ancient European history, and history of art at Edinburgh University in 1925. After graduation in 1929, he entered London University and then registered to study psychology of art at the University of Paris in France. In 1930, Zhu Guangqian transferred to Strassburg University, where he completed his Psychology of Literature and Art. He obtained a Ph.D. degree with his dissertation "The Psychology in Tragedy."