It has been more than 60 years since the May 4th Movement in 19 19. A large number of poets have appeared in these sixty years. Among these poets, Ai Qing is the first one who insists on the development and creation of new poetry for the longest time. Guo Moruo, whose poetry writing career has never stopped, was the founder of new poetry during the May 4th Movement. Later, I sometimes engaged in drama creation and sometimes engaged in academic research. After liberation, some poems have been written one after another, but few have been handed down from generation to generation. Some poets stopped writing poems and returned to the old way of writing old-fashioned poems.
Ai Qing's creative career dates from 1932. In July of that year, he published his first work "Hui" in Beidou edited by Ding Ling. More than half a century has passed by this time. He has been pushing forward the development of new poetry. It's not easy. In the process of insisting on writing, he has always held a firm and persistent attitude towards the development and emerging poetic forms of China's new poetry since the May 4th Movement. We know that the development of new poetry is tortuous and uneven. After many arguments in the middle, there even appeared the argument of denying new poetry: thinking that new poetry does not conform to our national conditions. Some people even think that they should go back to writing old poems, writing traditional metrical poems, and so on. In the face of these arguments, Ai Qing always believes that the development form of China's poetry should be mainly new poetry, which has a bright future, vitality and irreversibility. With the development of China's poems, it is impossible to go back to writing old poems. Ai Qing firmly believed in and pursued this point, and wrote many articles to evaluate and affirm the development of new poetry in theory.
He not only persisted for the longest time, but also achieved the most fruitful results. How many works has he created since 1932? According to rough statistics, there are more than 20 long poems and at least thousands of short poems. Beijing Library is the largest library in China, with a collection of more than 80 Chinese works. It can be seen that his life is really devoted to poetry creation.
Not only did he write so many works, but more importantly, a number of works were widely circulated among the masses, welcomed by readers and had a great influence, which proved his artistic achievements. Such as Dayan River-My Nanny, Land of Resurrection, Snow Falling in China, Torch, Coal Dialogue, Reef, and the long poem Ode to Light, etc.
Secondly, judging from the role of Ai Qing's poems in the society and the relationship with the people, he really deserves to be called a "master" and a "prince" in China's poetry circles. One of the important reasons why his poems can achieve such outstanding artistic achievements is that his poems always share the same fate with our country, our people and our nation. In all the historical periods he experienced-War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the War of Liberation and after liberation, and the ten-year turmoil, his works closely reflected the voice of that era and the people. During the period of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, many of his works were for national liberation. 194 1 went to Yan' an, a revolutionary base, and wrote some poems serving the real struggle, which had a great influence. For example, the famous long poem "Wu" (narrative poem) is about a model worker who emerged in the mass production movement. At that time, the war of liberation was in the most tense and difficult period. In order to overcome economic difficulties, the CPC Central Committee called for a large-scale production movement, in which a number of model workers emerged, the most famous of which was Wu. Ai Qing lived in Wu Jiazhong for about half a month, talked with him, made friends and visited him, and wrote a long poem "Wu", praising the great production movement at that time and cooperating with the liberation war. It was highly praised by the responsible comrades of the CPC Central Committee.
The masses like Ai Qing's poems very much, and he has many readers. 1957, he was beaten to the right, and his works were banned and even burned. Many readers take risks to preserve Ai Qing's works. I love this land is a short poem by Ai Qing, which praises the feelings of loving the motherland. A young man liked it very much and copied it in his notebook. During the Cultural Revolution, he was found to be born in a rich peasant family. He wrote a poem "I love this land" in his notebook, saying that he had the idea of changing the weather and was sentenced to two years in prison. This shows how dark it was during the ten-year catastrophe, and also shows how deeply Ai Qing's works penetrated the readers' hearts. Ai Qing wrote a book about poetry. A young man liked this book very much, but he didn't dare to keep it in public, so he tore off the cover of a collection of poems and put it on the cover of Selected Works of Mao Zedong. As a result, he was exposed and sentenced to two years in prison. There are also young people who hide Ai Qing's poems in rice jars. Later, Ai Qing knew it and said, "This is really a combination of spiritual food and material food."
Some poets can hardly write in their later years. Ai Qing is not like this. After the downfall of the Gang of Four, his creativity was still very strong. He wrote many works and published five or six books of poetry. For example, the long poem "On the Waves" eulogized the hero Han in the "Fourth Five-Year Movement". At that time, this poem was recited at a meeting of tens of thousands of people. The audience was filled with tears and applause, and some even shouted slogans. It is true that this poem contains slogans such as "policies must be implemented" and "all unjust cases must be rehabilitated". However, because it expresses the voice of the people, it won the welcome of the masses and produced exciting scenes. His Song of Return and Snow Lotus both won the National Poetry Award.
Thirdly, the achievement of Ai Qing's poetry is also reflected in his creation of a poetic style. A poet is called "the first generation of poetic style", which is rare in the history of literature and poetry development. Great patriotic poets Qu Yuan and Li Bai.
Du Fu, Bai Juyi, Lu You and other outstanding poets are all people who created a generation of poetic style. In the history of the development of new poetry, Ai Qing can be said to have created a generation of poetic style. This is because his poetry creation has influenced a large number of poets, moved towards the road of poetry creation and made outstanding achievements. Ai Qing made many attempts in artistic forms, including folk songs, metrical poems, sonnets and misty poems. However, the main achievement is in free verse. There is a poet in Hangzhou who had contact with Ai Qing when he was in Chongqing. He was still a young man at that time. One night, he sat on the grass altar in the moonlight and chatted with Ai Qing. Ai Qing said that he is very talented in poetry creation and can become a poet in the future. Ai Qing's encouragement made him embark on the road of poetry creation and become a poet. Ai Qing is back. When he met Ai Qing, he said, "One word from you will set my life." Ai Qing joked, "I killed half your life in one sentence." Because he was also labeled as a rightist. Ai Qing was wrongly classified as a rightist, and many people were implicated. This incident itself shows that many people have accepted Ai Qing's influence. 1982 In May, an academic seminar on the 50th anniversary of Ai Qing's creation was held in Hangzhou. Participants include university teachers, writers and poets. A poet said at the meeting that "Ai Qing is my teacher, and I became a poet because of his influence".
Secondly, from an international perspective, Ai Qing's artistic achievements in poetry and his great influence.
Ai Qing is one of the best writers in China since the May 4th Movement. Like many writers in China, he has attracted the attention of the world literary world and become a writer with international influence. Ai Qing's poems have been translated into more than 30 countries, including Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, America and Southeast Asia. His poems are welcomed by readers in these countries. It is not easy to translate China's new poems into a foreign language. The reason why his poems have won readers from so many countries can be explained by quoting Susanna, a French expert and researcher of Ai Qing. In the preface to the French version of Selected Poems of Ai Qing, she said, "Please allow me to put forward some personal thoughts here. If Ai Qing is the most suitable poet to introduce to the outside world, it is because it has something to do with his inner voice and the truthfulness and simplicity of his poems. When poetry reaches such an internal level, it is possible to blend into any language. As long as the translation is expressive, it will be successful. " This passage explains why Ai Qing's poems have been introduced to so many countries and accepted by people all over the world. Many of Ai Qing's poems are about common human things and understandable life.
Ai Qing has been to many countries and many of his works have aroused strong repercussions in these countries. For example, the poem "Human Skin" written by 1938 angrily accused the fascist robbers of their crimes; They abused and insulted women in China, then cruelly peeled off their skins and hung them on trees. A young man in Japan, after reading this poem, was educated and embarked on the road of literature. A few years ago, I visited China and met Ai Qing. I was so excited that I hugged Ai Qing. He said with emotion: "Lao Ai, I embarked on the road of literary creation, starting with reading your book" Human Skin ". "
An American reader wrote to Ai Qing from overseas, saying, "I am a little doctor, saving lives, and you are a great poet, saving lives with poetic language, inspiring, shocking and creating a new world." There is an American scholar named Flanders. In a paper, he listed Ai Qing as one of the three great poets in the contemporary world, along with Nie Luda in Chile and Hikmet in Turkey. Now Ai Qing often meets famous writers and poets from five continents. His influence has already transcended national boundaries, and we should be proud of having such a famous poet.
Thirdly, Ai Qing's achievements in poetry theory and poetry aesthetics.
Ai Qing wrote a lot of poetry papers when summing up his own creative experience and the experience of the development of new poetry. Before and even at the beginning of liberation, Ai Qing's articles on poetry were basically included in his On Poetry published at the beginning of liberation. After the downfall of the Gang of Four, he also published some articles on poetry theory and criticism, most of which were included in Ai Qing's On Poetry. These two books basically summarize Ai Qing's views on poetry theory and poetry aesthetics. Ai Qing's achievements in the research and theory of new poetry deserve our attention. His On Poetry is considered to be one of the best poetry research works since the May 4th Movement. In his beautiful poetic language, he talked about all the problems in poetry: the function of poetry, the responsibility of poets, the relationship between poetry and the times, the relationship between poetry and life, the inspiration of poetry, the artistic conception, skills and expressions of poetry, and so on. Today, with the progress of the times, personal arguments seem to be no longer applicable. But on the whole, it still conforms to the basic viewpoint of Marxist literary theory. In addition, his poetry theory and poetry aesthetics are completely based on historical materialism and dialectical materialism. He summed up the basic laws and experiences of the development of poetry creation, and published many original opinions on this basis. For example, Ai Qing first raised the issue of "prose beauty" in poetry. He also put forward the highest realm of poetry-what kind of poetry is the best; He summed it up in eight words: simplicity, simplicity, clarity and concentration. Is the best poem.
Ai Qing does not talk about poetry simply from the perspective of poetry theory and poetry aesthetics. Ai Qing's experience, he first studied painting, was a painter, and later turned to be a poet. He liked to learn to draw when he was a teenager. 1929 went to study in France and embarked on the road of painting. After returning to China, he also engaged in painting. He was imprisoned for more than three years because of his progressive art activities. In prison, he couldn't draw without pen and paint, so he began to write poems. You can write a poem as long as you have a small pencil point and scraps of paper. After writing it, he showed it to his cellmates in prison. He asked, "Do you think my poem is better or better?" My friend said, "I think poetry is better than painting." So I strengthened my confidence in writing poems and sent them to magazines through some friends and published them one after another. Since the first poem was published in Beidou, it has been on the road of poetry creation. Someone joked with Ai Qing: "You used to learn painting, how can you write poetry?" It turned out to be a hen. How can I lay duck eggs? "So Ai Qing wrote an article entitled" Why do hens lay duck eggs? ",answered the reason why he changed from a painter to a poet. This is a beautiful article. Therefore, Ai Qing's poetry theory and poetry creation do not simply discuss poetry, but apply painting art to poetry creation and theory. At the same time, he is also very good at drama and music. Therefore, his poetry theory and poetry aesthetics are rich and colorful.