Li Shutong, a famous Chinese literary master
2 min readLi Shutong（Part One）
Classroom Music started to flourish at the beginning of the 20th century.Talking about classroom music，one person must be mentioned，that is Li Shutong.In the development of classroom music，Li Shutong played a distinguished role.
Mr.Li was born in Tianjin.When he was a little boy，he began to study classical booksof Chinese literature and facsimile stone inscriptions.So he was very good at poems，calligraphy and seal cutting.He then studied Western painting in Tokyo School of Fine Art in Japan.He also learned the piano and music theory there.
Chinese drama group in Japan with Zeng Xiaogu .He was also a famous actor himself at that time.In 1906，he founded the earliest Chinese music magazine Little Music Magazine.The content of this magazine was very rich，including music history，music stories，songs，poems and so on.It contributed greatly to the following music development.
After he finished his study in Japan in 1910，Mr.Li went back to China and became a teacher who brought up many artistic talents.In 1918，Mr.Li became a monk and was named Master Hong Yi.
Li Shutong（Part Two）
Li Shutong is a person of strong sense of responsibility and patriotism.Before he went to Japan，he wrote a poem to show his worry about Chinese people.He also published a bookabout patriotic songs and music.By 1918，he had written altogether more than 50 songs and 13 of them were collected in the book 50 Pieces of Famous Chinese Songs edited by Feng Zikai . Unfortunately，he stopped his music creation after he became a monk.
Li Shutong’s music shows not only his love for the nation，but also some sentimentalfeelings.Some of the songs express the idea of yearning to the Buddha.His works are distinct，elegant，beautiful and harmonious with very special charm.His masterpiece “Farewe11 Song” is classic and is still widely sung by people now.
