Wang Guozhen (1956-2015)
http://u.osu.edu/mclc/2015/05/06/poet-wang-guozhen-dies/
Chinese poet Wang Guozhen, who was quoted by President Xi Jinping in his public speech, passed away in Beijing on Sunday...
“There’s no mountain higher than a man, and no road longer than his feet,” Xi had quoted from one of Wang’s poems during a speech at the 2013 APEC CEOs’ summit in Indonesia, to emphasize China’s determination on economic reform.
attached to: Wang Guozhen
Comments
I like this from the write-up:
“Wang’s writing had an impeding effect on Chinese poetry,” Ouyang Jianghe, a renowned poet of the school of “misty poetry” that flourished in the 1980s, says. “If we judge the quality of a poem only by its number of readers, then it is a shame for poetry. What represents Wang’s poems? The spirit of the time and motivational aphorisms … These are what I think makes a poem fake.”
Of course I agree with Ouyang Jianghe (I often do!), but it's a strange thing to include in an obituary. I would have expected China Daily to be more harmonious!
Lucas
Lucas Klein, May 7, 2015, 3:17a.m.
It is widely believed in China that a great man dies not alone,as in the case of Chairman Mao, where a lot of people in Tangshan went with him to paradise in the biggest ever earthquake. This time it is Wang Guozhen, with people in Nepal travel with him in another earthquake. Wang is much better known and loved than his critics, that very Ouyang included, that is for sure.
Lao Zhang, May 11, 2015, 10:17a.m.