Bei Dao Overview

Bei Dao is a dangerous man. After long days working his state-assigned construction job outside Beijing, he would spend his nights writing poetry. While other citizens slept, he and his friends would secretly meet to discuss poetry and then sneak out... [more]

Bei Dao is a dangerous man. After long days working his state-assigned construction job outside Beijing, he would spend his nights writing poetry. While other citizens slept, he and his friends would secretly meet to discuss poetry and then sneak out to paste up their poems throughout the city. Bei had no clue that he was playing a key role in creating. Today, a journal that would be regarded as the most important collection of contemporary writing from China. He also had no idea he was ensuring his exile from the country he loved. "Bei Dao" literally means North Island. Born Zhao Zhengkai, the poet took the name to protect his identity from state authorities who forbid the flouting of official language and doctrine. To the dismay of the state, Bei Dao's call against spiritual erosion at the hands of conformist society soon circulated through the streets. Bei Dao belongs to a group called the Misty Poets, whose style of lyricism defies any purely logical or ideological assessment. Poems are spare and image-laden. Language works for the sake of beauty and truth, not for the sake of story, self, or politics. The poetry's intensely personal/spiritual content stood in fundamental opposition to the official aesthetics promoted by Chairman Mao. Bei Dao's work made a clear break from orthodox poetry with its elusive imagery and linguistic ambiguity. Bei also challenged the official poetic doctrine of "we." Love poetry, for example, could never speak of the longing of an "I" for a "you" -- instead, poetry must address "we" and "us" to stress a commitment to common, state-friendly goals. How romantic. In 1976 Bei Dao's poetry became popular with the students of the Democracy Movement. The journal Today (Jintian) was a forum for dissidents' poetry and was banned when the Democratic Movement entered the political arena openly around 1980. In the mid-1980s, Bei Dao began traveling in Europe and the Unites States; despite this physical freedom, his poetry became more pessimistic. In 1989 Bei Dao signed a letter with 33 intellectuals that petitioned for the release of political prisoners. During the demonstration in Tiananmen Square, students circulated Bei's poetry and the government accused him of helping to incite the events. Bei was essentially exiled from China -- he has spent the last decade teaching at several universities in Europe and America. With former contributors he reestablished Today, which became one of the influential forums for Chinese writers abroad. [show less]