Shen Congwen
Many early modern writers in China were well-educated, and some studied abroad, often in Japan. Shen Congwen, however, received a modest formal education. As a child he received private tutoring at home followed by a private family school. These private tutorials were conducted in an outdated, classical scholarly style which Shen criticized as neither useful nor interesting. In 1915, he began attending the Fenghuang town primary school, from which he graduated in 1917.