THE JOURNAL OF 21st Century Chinese Poetry 《廿一世纪漢語诗歌》is an independent journal committed to showcasing the best of contemporary Chinese poetry. We exist to discover and celebrate poetry and the Chinese poets who write them with the largest possible Anglophone audience.

In the early twentieth century, The May Fourth Movement (1917-1921) opened the door for vernacular Chinese to be accepted as a legitimate poetic voice. This was followed by an outpouring of verse written in 'plain speech' by people from all walks of life in contrast to the classical, elitist poetic forms of imperial China.

A century has now passed since these 'new' poetic voices emerged. Vernacular poetry has continued to blossom in poetry journals and in cyberspace.

21st Century Chinese Poetry aims to carry that tradition further: translating poets from across China for readers who would otherwise never encounter them.

Please send all enquiries, suggestions and corrections regarding 21st Century Chinese Poetry to Meifu Wang at :

欢迎来信，编辑邮箱地址如下：

editor@modernchinesepoetry.com

Founder and Editor
Meifu Wang



A TASTE OF CONTEMPORARY CHINESE POETRY

From 2012 to 2015, our team worked with a group of Chinese poets in China to introduce contemporary Chinese poetry to the wider world. We translated the works of 66 contemporary Chinese poets into English and broadcast them on this website and in print (ISSN 2166-3688).

From 2018 to 2022, we further collaborated with China's Poetry Journal (诗刊) to bring a selection of their monthly publication to world-wide readers. Poetry Journal (Beijing, China）was founded in 1957, with an emphasis on the publication of contemporary Chinese poetry as well as classical poetry by living poets. It is the widest-circulated poetry journal in China.

Circulating more than sixty years, the journal has brought together and introduced a great number of poets, reflecting many of the sweeping changes that the country has witnessed over that period.

WHERE THINGS STAND NOW

For a decade, this website has been a labour of love of the editor, out of devotion to poetry and poets, to bring contemporary Chinese poetry to English-speaking readers.

Since 2023, Meifu has turned her attention to her own poetry and to poetry from other parts of the world. Please continue to explore the poems translated here over the years. Meifu is also gradually updating the earlier issues of 21st Century Chinese Poetry (No.1 - No. 15) and adding them to Poems "from Other Journals". Meifu also continues to meet with Chinese poets periodically, in China and overseas, to explore ways to add new poems to this website.

In summer 2026, Meifu decided to change the Chinese title of the journal from 《廿一世纪中国诗歌》 to《廿一世纪漢語诗歌》, to emphasize the essence of the collection: poetry written in Chinese language rather than the poets' geographic origins.

You can read some of Meifu's poems here: Go to Meifu's Poems

POEM OF THE DAY     一天一首诗

PALM READING

• by Ren Xianqing


• Your palm unfolds like a map
• traced with rivers
• and their many tributaries.
• Silence and strain press between your tight lips.
• Though your bright eyes cannot see,
• they follow the seer's strange vision
• toward a dry creek or a crystal spring.
• With a touch, she reads your fate—
• a blemish within the beauty,
• soft flickers of blessing and misfortune.
• Now, I sit quietly on the bank
• and watch you drown without raising a call.
• You clench your hand tight—
• resolved to leave
• no room for destiny to escape.


• Translated by Meifu Wang & Michael Soper

• This poem was originally written in Chinese. Its English translation first appeared on this website and in an issue of 21st Century Chinese Poetry 《廿一世纪中国诗歌》,  ebook and paperback editions. (The books are currently out of print, but their contents are gradually being added to this website.)

  We encourage you to read this poem as an exercise of slow reading.

  
  

  以上译文之原版漢语诗歌,请读: 手相  （诗人：任先青 ）

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  Ren Xianqing 任先青

  b. 1943
  
  Born in Caizhou, Shandong Province, Ren Xianqing graduated from Qufu Normal University with a degree in Chinese Language and Literature, and worked as the principal of a local high school. He has published several poetry anthologies, including The Heart Knows No Boundaries, Heart-Shape Leaves, and Selected Poems of Ren Xianqing.
  
  任先青，山东莱州人。1966年毕业于曲阜师范学院中文系。中国作家协会会员，德州市作家协会顾问，德城区文联副主席，原德州三中副校长。
  
  Ren Xianqing's poems: Waiting for a Train in the Province of Poetry,The Dreams of Siberian Cockleburs,Wintry Mix, Palm Reading, Fire Fox, Silver Bracelet, Cold Silvery Rain, and Insomnia.