Ai Qing
Encyclopedia
Ai Qing is regarded as one of the finest modern Chinese
poets. He was known under his pen name
s Línbì (林壁), Kè'ā (克阿) and Éjiā (莪伽).
county, in eastern China's Zhejiang
province. After entering Hangzhou Xihu Art school in 1928, under the advice of principal Lin Feng Mian (林风眠), he went abroad and studied in Paris the following spring. From 1929 to 1932 while studying in France, besides learning art of Renoir
and Van Gogh, the philosophy of Kant
and Hegel, he also studied modern poets such as Mayakovsky
and was especially influenced by Belgian poet Verhaeren
.
After returning to Shanghai
, China in May 1932, he joined China Left Wing Artist Association, and was arrested in July for opposing the Kuomintang
party. During his imprisonment, Ai Qing translated Verhaeren's poems and wrote his first book Da Yan River--My Wet-nurse (《大堰河——我的保姆》), "Reed Flute"(《芦笛》), and "Paris"(《巴黎》). He was finally released in October 1935.
After the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War
in 1937, Ai Qing wrote "Snowfall on the Chinese earth" (《雪落在中国的土地上》) after arriving at Wuhan
to support the war effort. In 1938, he moved to Guilin
to become the editor of "Guixi Daily" newspaper. In 1940, he became the dean of the Chinese department at Chongqing
YuCai University.
In 1941, he moved to Yan'an
, and joined the Chinese Communist Party in the subsequent year.
Beginning in 1949, he was on cultural committees.
He was editor of Poetry Magazine, and associate editor of People's Literature.
However in 1957, during the Anti-Rightist Movement
, he defended Ding Ling
, was accused of "rightism", and in 1958 exiled to farms in Manchuria
, and then in 1959 transferred to Xinjiang
by the Communist authorities. He was not allowed to publish his works Return Song(《归来的歌》) and Ode to Light(《光的赞歌》) until he was reinstated in 1979.
In 1979, he was vice-chairman of the Chinese Writers Association.
He made a second journey to France in 1980, and in 1985 French president François Mitterrand
awarded him the title of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters
.
, who participated in designing the Beijing National Stadium
, and artist Ai Xuan
. He had two daughters with his second wife.
party, when writing his book DaAn River—My Wet-nurse, while writing his surname (Jiang, 蒋) he stopped at "艹"; due to his bitterness towards KMT
leader Chiang Kai-shek
("蔣介石"), he resented sharing the same surname (Jiang / Chiang) and finished the rest of the word with an X. This happens to be the Chinese character ai (艾), and since the rest of his name, Hai Cheng meant qing (青, the color blue), he adopted the pen name Ai Qing.
Chinese poetry
Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language, which includes various versions of Chinese language, including Classical Chinese, Standard Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Yue Chinese, as well as many other historical and vernacular varieties of the Chinese language...
poets. He was known under his pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
s Línbì (林壁), Kè'ā (克阿) and Éjiā (莪伽).
Life
He was born in Fantianjiang village (贩田蒋), JinhuaJinhua
Jinhua is a prefecture-level city in central Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It borders the provincial capital of Hangzhou to the northwest, Quzhou to the southwest, Lishui to the south, Taizhou to the east, and Shaoxing to the northeast....
county, in eastern China's Zhejiang
Zhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...
province. After entering Hangzhou Xihu Art school in 1928, under the advice of principal Lin Feng Mian (林风眠), he went abroad and studied in Paris the following spring. From 1929 to 1932 while studying in France, besides learning art of Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty, and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to...
and Van Gogh, the philosophy of Kant
KANT
KANT is a computer algebra system for mathematicians interested in algebraic number theory, performing sophisticated computations in algebraic number fields, in global function fields, and in local fields. KASH is the associated command line interface...
and Hegel, he also studied modern poets such as Mayakovsky
Vladimir Mayakovsky
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky was a Russian and Soviet poet and playwright, among the foremost representatives of early-20th century Russian Futurism.- Early life :...
and was especially influenced by Belgian poet Verhaeren
Emile Verhaeren
Emile Verhaeren was a Belgian poet who wrote in the French language, and one of the chief founders of the school of Symbolism....
.
After returning to Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, China in May 1932, he joined China Left Wing Artist Association, and was arrested in July for opposing the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
party. During his imprisonment, Ai Qing translated Verhaeren's poems and wrote his first book Da Yan River--My Wet-nurse (《大堰河——我的保姆》), "Reed Flute"(《芦笛》), and "Paris"(《巴黎》). He was finally released in October 1935.
After the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
in 1937, Ai Qing wrote "Snowfall on the Chinese earth" (《雪落在中国的土地上》) after arriving at Wuhan
Wuhan
Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, and is the most populous city in Central China. It lies at the east of the Jianghan Plain, and the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze and Han rivers...
to support the war effort. In 1938, he moved to Guilin
Guilin
Guilin is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of far southern China, sitting on the west bank of the Li River. Its name means "forest of Sweet Osmanthus", owing to the large number of fragrant Sweet Osmanthus trees located in the city...
to become the editor of "Guixi Daily" newspaper. In 1940, he became the dean of the Chinese department at Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
YuCai University.
In 1941, he moved to Yan'an
Yan'an
Yan'an , is a prefecture-level city in the Shanbei region of Shaanxi province in China, administering several counties, including Zhidan County , which served as the Chinese communist capital before the city of Yan'an proper took that role....
, and joined the Chinese Communist Party in the subsequent year.
Beginning in 1949, he was on cultural committees.
He was editor of Poetry Magazine, and associate editor of People's Literature.
However in 1957, during the Anti-Rightist Movement
Anti-Rightist Movement
The Anti-Rightist Movement of the People's Republic of China in the 1950s and early 1960s consisted of a series of campaigns to purge alleged "rightists" within the Communist Party of China and abroad...
, he defended Ding Ling
Ding Ling
Dīng Líng was the pseudonym of Jiǎng Bīngzhī , also known as Bīn Zhǐ , a Chinese woman author from Linli in Hunan province. She was awarded the Soviet Union's Stalin second prize for Literature in 1951....
, was accused of "rightism", and in 1958 exiled to farms in Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
, and then in 1959 transferred to Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
by the Communist authorities. He was not allowed to publish his works Return Song(《归来的歌》) and Ode to Light(《光的赞歌》) until he was reinstated in 1979.
In 1979, he was vice-chairman of the Chinese Writers Association.
He made a second journey to France in 1980, and in 1985 French president François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
awarded him the title of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
.
Family
He is the father of famed Chinese artist and architect Ai WeiweiAi Weiwei
Ai Weiwei is a Chinese contemporary artist, active in sculpture, installation, architecture, curating, photography, film, and social, political and cultural criticism. Ai collaborated with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron as the artistic consultant on the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008...
, who participated in designing the Beijing National Stadium
Beijing National Stadium
Beijing National Stadium, also known officially as the National Stadium, or colloquially as the Bird's Nest , is a stadium in Beijing, China. The stadium was designed for use throughout the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.-History:...
, and artist Ai Xuan
Ai Xuan
Ai Xuan is a Chinese painter.In 1967 he graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts School. Since 1980, Ai has had six of his paintings featured in the national exhibition...
. He had two daughters with his second wife.
Pen name
In 1933, while tortured and imprisoned by KuomintangKuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
party, when writing his book DaAn River—My Wet-nurse, while writing his surname (Jiang, 蒋) he stopped at "艹"; due to his bitterness towards KMT
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
leader Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
("蔣介石"), he resented sharing the same surname (Jiang / Chiang) and finished the rest of the word with an X. This happens to be the Chinese character ai (艾), and since the rest of his name, Hai Cheng meant qing (青, the color blue), he adopted the pen name Ai Qing.
Works
- Kuangye (1940; “Wildness”)
- Xiang taiyang (1940 “Toward the Sun”)
- Beifang (1942; “North”)
- Guilai de ge (1980; “Song of Returning”)
- Ai Qing quanji (“The Complete Works of Ai Qing”) in 1991.
Works in French
- Le chant de la lumière «Guang de zange » 光 的 赞 歌, éditor, translator Ng Yok-Soon. Ed. les Cent fleurs, 1989
- De la poésie ; Du poète / Ai Qing « Shilun » 诗 论, translator Chantal Chen-Andro, Wang Zaiyuan, Ballouhey, Centre de recherche de l’Université de Paris VIII, 1982
- 'Poèmes / Ai Ts’ing, éditor, translator Catherine Vignal. Publications orientalistes de France, 1979.
- Le récif : poèmes et fables / Ai Qing, éditor, translator Ng Yok-Soon. Ed. les Cent fleurs, 1987
Works in English
- Eugene Chen Eoyang (ed), Selected Poems of Ai Qing, Indiana University Press, 1982
Further reading
- Chinese Writers on Writing featuring Ai Qing. Ed. Arthur SzeArthur SzeArthur Sze is a second-generation Chinese American poet.-Background:Sze was educated at the University of California, Berkeley, and is the author of eight books of poetry...
. (Trinity University Press, 2010).