The early publications organized by the Creation Society included the quarterly "Creation," the "Creation Weekly," the "Creation Daily" (supplement of the "Zhonghua Xinbao"), and the bi-monthly "Flood"; later publications mainly included the "Creation Monthly," "Cultural Critique," the bi-monthly "Quicksand," the monthly "Thought," and the monthly "New Trends," among others.

In 1928, introduced by Qian Xingcun, he secretly joined the Sun Society and, with the support of Lu Xun, served as the editor of "Mass Literature." In 1930, the Chinese Free Movement Alliance was established in Shanghai, and he co-signed a declaration with Lu Xun and others. In March, the Chinese Leftist Writers' Alliance was formed, and he was listed as a founder. In February 1932, he co-signed the "Shanghai Cultural Circle's Open Letter to the World" with Lu Xun, Mao Dun, and others, strongly condemning Japanese imperialism for waging war against China. In December, the novel "Late Osmanthus" was published.

The "Creation Monthly" was the literary publication of the later Creation Society. It was published from January 10, 1929, until the second volume, issue six, after which it ceased publication due to the closure of the Creation Society, with a total of 18 issues released. Yu Dafu, Cheng Fangwu, Wang Duqing, and Feng Naichao served as editors in succession, published by the Taidong Book Bureau, and distributed by the Shanghai Creation Society Publishing Department.

"Melancholy of the Countryside" was initially published under the title "Sick Rose" for the first half.

In the fifth year of the Taisho era, poet Sato Haruo moved from Tokyo to Tetsumachi, where he later wrote "Melancholy of the Countryside."

Photo of Sato Haruo and the Chiyo family

Yu Dafu and Sato Haruo met through Tian Han in 1920. At that time, he admired Sato Haruo the most, even considering himself the Chinese Sato Haruo. His work "Descent," which made him famous, was influenced by "Melancholy of the Countryside" both in thought and creative technique. After Yu Dafu returned to China in 1922, he maintained contact with Sato Haruo.

Yu Dafu's first wife and Wang Yingxia

On the evening of June 5, 1927, Yu Dafu and Wang Yingxia held an engagement ceremony at Jufeng Garden in Hangzhou. On July 12, 1927, Sato Haruo, his wife, and niece Sato Chikako came to Shanghai, and Wang Duqing, Xu Zhimo, Ouyang Yuqian, and others came to greet them. Yu Dafu visited their hotel almost every day. They set off for Hangzhou on July 24, and the next day, Yu Dafu and Wang Yingxia toured West Lake with the Sato family. They returned to Shanghai on July 26, where Mr. Uchiyama Kanzo informed them of the tragic news of Akutagawa Ryunosuke's suicide, and Sato Haruo immediately sent a condolence telegram. After returning to Shanghai, Yu Dafu continued to meet with the Sato family as usual.

Yu Dafu and Wang Yingxia by West Lake

The "Wind and Rain Thatched Cottage" in Hangzhou, the residence of Yu Dafu and Wang Yingxia

Yu Dafu was very fluent in Japanese and had a smooth writing ability in Japanese. In 1920, he wrote a Japanese novel titled "One Night in the Yuanmingyuan" in his notebook, although it was just an unfinished fragment. His early published article in Japanese was "Diary of Salt Field." He was quite familiar with Japanese literature, especially with writers active in the Taisho literary scene. Works like Murasaki Shikibu's "The Tale of Genji," Kurata Hyakuzan's "Renunciation and His Disciples," Tanizaki Jun'ichiro's "The Quilt," Edogawa Rampo's "The Victim," and Shimazaki Toson’s "New Life" were all within his reading range, and he particularly focused on authors like Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Kikuchi Kan, Shiga Naoya, Arishima Takeo, Sato Haruo, Tanizaki Jun'ichiro, and Kasai Zenzo.

After returning to China, he remained concerned about Japanese literature, often purchasing publications like "Shinchō," "Kaizō," "Bungei Sensen," and "Bungei Shunju." He had few praises for the popular and emerging writers of that time, while he consistently maintained a good impression of naturalist writers and aesthetic writers. He expressed appreciation for Tanizaki Jun'ichiro's long novel "The Eater of the Water Bug."

The Japanese translation of "Descent," translated by Okazaki Toshio in 1940.

"Waga Yume Waga Seishun" (My Dream, My Youth), translated by Okazaki Toshio in 1947

"Monologue of the Drunkard" was written in a state of despair over the life of the lower class, accompanied by alcohol all day, resulting in a state of coughing up blood. From this work, Yu Dafu heard the confession of a person who could not live, a painful cry from a self-abusing author. The "surplus person" image created by Yu Dafu is similar to that of Kasai Zenzo, with significant internal differences. Yu admired the spirit of creating in adversity, even when life forced him to a dead end. Through the translation and recommendation of Zhou Zuoren, Nagai Kafu also entered Yu Dafu's view. Influenced by Kafu, he also wrote works reflecting the lives of prostitutes using aesthetic expression techniques.

The influence of private novelists on Yu Dafu cannot be underestimated. Their representative works carry self-narrative characteristics, with the protagonist clearly imprinted with the author's thought trajectory and emotional ripples. They authentically present the feeling of self, depicting beauty and ugliness without embellishment, emphasizing human "naturalness" and "instinctive impulses," focusing on writing spiritual feelings and psychological activities, boldly revealing "self-confessions (repentance)," and fully venting "sexual anguish" and "anguish of life." The characteristics of Japanese naturalist private novels, described as "novels that resemble stories but are not stories" (Fujiyama Isamu) and "as beautiful as the sun in the fog" (Sato Haruo), played a decisive role in shaping Yu Dafu's creative tendencies and style. Whether in his experiences in Japan or his own character and interests, Yu Dafu and private novels are a fateful mutual choice.

Yu Dafu had deep intersections with the Japanese literary world, as glimpsed from his travels to Japan at the end of 1936. He went to Japan under the pretext of requesting a printing press from the Fujian provincial government, marking his second visit to Japan after a 14-year absence. Oda Takeo described the details of this interaction in "The Biography of Yu Dafu." He led Yu to stay at the "Manpei Hotel," where they chatted. He expressed great interest in the "decadent" writer Dazai Osamu, casually mentioning several "private novel" writers like Kasai Zenzo, Kamimura Isoda, and Makino Shin'ichiro.

≪Yu Dafu: His Youth and Poetry≫ Inaba Akira, 1982, Toyo Shoten

"The Biography of Yu Dafu: His Poetry, Love, and Japan" Oda Takeo, (Chuo Koronsha, 1975)

In mid-November, the Japanese Kaizo Society, which had just published "The Complete Works of Lu Xun," specially held a welcome party for Yu Dafu, attended by writers he knew, including Sato Haruo, Yokogawa Riiichi, Kimura Isamu, and Hayashi Fumiko. The president, Yamamoto Masahiko, hosted the dinner and specifically sent an employee to drive to Ichikawa Kunitaka to invite Guo Moruo. Yu and Guo had severed ties for eight years since the closure of the "Creation" magazine in 1928. On November 24, Yu and Guo attended a banquet hosted by the core members of the Japan-China Literature Research Association, represented by Takeuchi Yoshio and Takeda Taijun.

On February 11, 1936, Lu Xun with Uchiyama Kanzo (right) and Yamamoto Masahiko (middle)

On November 29, Sato Haruo invited Guo Moruo's entire family to dinner. On December 12, the president of Chuo Koronsha, Shimachu Yu, held a banquet to welcome Yu Dafu (attendees included Guo Moruo, Hayashi Fumiko, Muramatsu Sōfū, Yokogawa Riiichi, and other literary figures). Additionally, Yu and Guo also attended a welcome party and regular meeting held by the Tokyo Poets Club. On another occasion, Kaneko Mitsuharu and his wife, knowing that Yu Dafu was coming, invited the closely related critic Furuya Oka Take. During the conversation, Yu Dafu learned that Oka's teacher was Tanikawa Teizan, and he immediately proposed to meet him.

In 1938, Yu Dafu went to Wuhan to participate in the anti-Japanese propaganda work of the Political Department of the Military Commission and was elected as an executive director at the founding meeting of the All-China Literary Anti-Japanese Association. From December 1928 to Singapore, he served as the editor of the "Sing Tao Daily" and other publications, writing a large number of strongly combative political essays, short comments, and poetry. In 1942, as the Japanese army advanced on Singapore, he retreated to Sumatra with Hu Yuzhi, Wang Renshu, and others, using the alias Zhao Lian. He was forced to serve as a translator for the Japanese army for several months. After Japan's surrender in 1945, he was killed by the Japanese military police.