Hai Zi (Chinese: 海子; March 1964 – 26 March 1989) is the pen name of the Chinese poet Zha Haisheng (查海生). He was one of the most famous poets in Mainland China after the Cultural Revolution. He committed suicide by lying on the path of a train in Shanhaiguan at the age of 25.
Hai Zi wrote several long poems, "choral operas" and countless short poems in his brief life. His style is generally described as "anachronism". Many of his short poems contain symbolic images like Land, Sea and Wheat field and recall the ideals of the ancient Chinese pastoral poet Tao Yuanming. Hai Zi was also obviously influenced by Western philosophy and arts, especially Nietzsche and Van Gogh. And the strong sense of mysticism in all of his works is probably one of the most important characteristics which turned him into a unique figure of Chinese literature.
a real poet, better than Bei Dao and a bunch of other mediocracies. Chinese poetry suffered Luo Yihe and Haizi's death in 1989 too much that a lot of writers thereafter turned into trauma dumping mode
Decent read to optimize time intervals between our everyday activities. This is one of my first collections of Chinese poems: some pieces spoke to me stronger than others. Even with my stupor in poetry, one can feel his strong obsession about the village, the Mother Earth, and death.