Country pursuits: Nick Tyldesley looks for resonance in Chinese verse
‘Perhaps poetry is a way to understand a country that will continue to be a critical player on the world stage.’
Ni hao, huan ying!1
Traditional Chinese poetry has a long history. For 3,000 years, it has been a popular literary form – the style, rhythms and images have not altered significantly. Emperors and communists have written and enjoyed classical poetry. Mao Zedong, founder of the People’s Republic of China, was trained as a teacher of Chinese literature. He wrote poems in the classical format, and in old-style calligraphy, albeit with a socialist-realist twist. Xi Jinping, the current president, is known to be widely read, including in classical texts, and has shown some admiration for Confucius. The Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu is on the national curriculum and is perhaps China’s best-known poet from the eighth-century CE.
You need to login to read subscriber-only content and/or comment on articles.