Contents
- The Wall | 墙
- Going to the Fish Market | 纪事：赶早市的渔妇
- The Race | 奔跑
- A River Runs by Our House | 河过家门
- Into Black Mountain Canyon | 穿过黑山峡
- The Wolf | 一匹狼
- Vernal Longing | 青涩的思念
- The Spirit of the Night | 夜之灵
From 21st Century Chinese Poetry, No. 1
- I'm waiting for a train in the land of poetry.
- Waiting in hope for its clanging sounds and forceful roaring past!
- Let its display of great momentum shock and traverse me.
- As if eager for a grand celebration to approach, I'm the very first
- to hear my own thumping heart.
— Ren Xianqing, Waiting for a Train in the Land of Poetry
- It's as if the snowy night was her premeditated design—
- a white conspiracy to blot out the sky
- and cover up the earth.
- The snowy night was needed for her narrative.
- Amid the sustained snow, she gave the tree a noble touch
- and decorated it with pure affection.
— Zhang Zuogeng, Visiting the Plum Tree on a Snowy Night
- I am not alluding to the body and flesh of a generation
- but only about someplace that looked like
- someone’s undecorated room. That was the year when I visited
- a remote schoolhouse in the country.
- On one flaking wall, the red slogan “Long, Long Live…!” was still visible,
— Gao Pengcheng, The Wall
- At first she paints a man,
- and then a woman.
- The moment the man and the woman
- meet, she hears a burst of burning pitter-patter sound.
- In just a short time,
- the canvas
- turns into
- ash,
— Li Xianzhen, Fatal Fantasy
- Now, River Aiyi that comes from the Yellow River and returns to it
- passes the front of our house; this is where I like to sit
- with my friends from far away. Together we admire the northern steppe,
- but once they leave, I quickly turn nostalgic for the Yangtze River again.
— Yang Zi, A River Runs by Our House
- Previously I thought
- they took opposing stands only on paper.
- Their indignation sounded more or less feeble and
- too weak to withstand any headwinds.
- Those in power laughed, and the rich mocked:
- “Let them go crazy.”
- Their screams were as pale as their complexions,
— Wei Xue, The Poet's Indignation
- At Central Square, on the lawn in the heart of the Square,
- I was there to erect my sculpture—a gigantic limestone egg.
- .
- I, a prominent sculptor, together with my creation that
- spoke for the soul of the city—we were surrounded by a crowd of puzzled citizens,
— Yang Xie, The Sculpture
- In the past, the emperor himself conducted
- the dance performance, so extravagant
- that it lit up the whole country.
— Zhang Shaobao, The Dance in Tang Dynasty Style
- In this vermillion monastery,
- flowers are the most touching sight,
- and no passage in the sutra is more vivid
- than the mutual dependence of two hearts.
— Hu Yonggang, A Petite Flower in Taer Monastery
- Seven steps up, nine steps
- down the mountain and across the field,
- people carried their poisoned arrows
- to avenge a family feud,
- hunt wild beasts, and punish widows who sinned.
- .
- For more than 200 years, an antiaris forest
- survived the abuse of military nobles,
— Zhai Wenxi, Antiaris Toxicaria (Poison Arrow Tree)
- In his writing, he took great pains
- to sing the praises of stones—obstinate ones
- with rough edges, contending with wind and gale.
- In his verses, he liked to write about weeds,
- the weeds trampled on by animals and
- those nibbled and gnawed by birds and beasts.
- In the rain, the plants raised their heads high.
— Xin You, An Epitaph
- To avoid giving her a mundane greeting,
- I put down a verse:
- “Oh, go ask the Eastern River
- if he flows farther than my love for you!”
— Huang Hongqi, Vernal Longing
