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Poets of the Chinese Revolution
The four poets, whose work is collected in English translation here alongside the Chinese originals, all wrote in the classical style, but their poetry was no less diverse than their politics. Chen Duxiu led China’s early cultural awakening before founding the Communist Party in 1921. Mao Zedong led the party to power in 1949. Zheng Chaolin, Chen Duxiu’s disciple and, like him, a convert to Trotskyism, spent thirty-four years in jail, first under the Nationalist regime and then under their Maoist nemeses. The guerrilla leader Chen Yi wrote flamboyant and descriptive poems in mountain bivouacs and in the heat of battle.
“While poetry for sure has, as T. S. Eliot noticed, a stubborn relationship to nationalism, the list of revolutionaries who are also poets is long and robust. This book collects the work of four Chinese poet-revolutionaries Chen Duxiu, Zheng Chaolin, Chen Yi, and Mao Zedong. All of them were using poetry’s long traditional formalism and conventions so as to wrestle with and better understand the upheavals of the Communist revolution. The complications of their work have for too long been overlooked in the endless debates about poetry and politics that define our contemporary moment. There is much that is crucial in these beautifully done translations.”
– Juliana Spahr, author of Well Then There Now
“While poetry for sure has, as T. S. Eliot noticed, a stubborn relationship to nationalism, the list of revolutionaries who are also poets is long and robust. This book collects the work of four Chinese poet-revolutionaries Chen Duxiu, Zheng Chaolin, Chen Yi, and Mao Zedong. All of them were using poetry’s long traditional formalism and conventions so as to wrestle with and better understand the upheavals of the Communist revolution. The complications of their work have for too long been overlooked in the endless debates about poetry and politics that define our contemporary moment. There is much that is crucial in these beautifully done translations.”
– Juliana Spahr, author of Well Then There Now
320 pages, Hardcover
Published June 25, 2019
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About the author
Chen Duxiu
5 books3 followersChen Duxiu, Wade-Giles romanization Ch’en Tu-hsiu, original name Chen Qingtong, courtesy name (zi) Zhongfu, literary name (hao) Shi’an, was a Chinese revolutionary socialist, educator, philosopher and author, who co-founded the Chinese Communist Party (CCP; 1921) with Li Dazhao, serving from 1921 to 1927 as its first General Secretary. Chen was a leading figure in both the Xinhai Revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty and the May Fourth Movement for scientific and democratic developments in early Republic of China. He was removed from his position of leadership in 1927 and was expelled from the Communist Party in 1929.
A fearless protester, Chen rejected China’s traditional values and saw Marxism as a means to achieve a “mass democracy” with the broad labouring masses as its base. He recognized, however, the significant role played by the bourgeoisie in the Chinese revolution that he hoped to achieve. During the last years of his life, Chen, still a socialist, denounced Joseph Stalin’s dictatorship and defended such democratic institutions as an independent nonpartisan judiciary, opposition parties, the free press, and free elections.
During childhood, Chen was educated in the Chinese Classics and traditional literature in turn by his grandfather, several private tutors, and, finally, his brother. In 1896 Chen passed the first civil service examination summa cum laude in Huaining and the next year passed the second in Nanjing. His experience in the examinations, however, convinced him of the irrelevance of the traditional educational and governmental systems in the 20th century and prompted him to become a social and political reformer. Consequently, he entered the renowned Qiushi (“Truth-Seeking”) Academy in Hangzhou, where he studied French, English, and naval architecture.
The period of Chen’s greatest influence on Chinese thought and politics began on his return to China in 1915, when he established the monthly Qingnian (“Youth Magazine”) in Shanghai, later renamed Xinqingnian (“New Youth”). In its pages he proposed that the youth of China undertake a vast intellectual, literary, and cultural revolution to rejuvenate the nation. Many of the young writers who contributed to the monthly—among them Hu Shi, a liberal promoter of the vernacular literature, Lu Xun, a leading short-story writer and essayist, Li Dazhao, Chen’s chief collaborator in the Chinese Communist Party, and Mao Zedong—were later to become important intellectual and political leaders.
Chen’s revolutionary mission assumed even greater importance; when, in 1917, he was appointed dean of the School of Letters at Peking University, he took care to gather around him many liberal and progressive professors and students. With their help, he established the short-lived radical Meizhou Pinglun (“Weekly Critic”) in December 1918. Their “new thought” and “new literature” dominated the May Fourth Movement, named after the date of the massive student protests in 1919 against the Chinese government’s weak policy toward Japan and the Shandong resolution of the Versailles Peace Conference, which was going to transfer German rights in China to the Japanese. In the fall of 1922, Chen established the influential Xiangdao Zhoubao (“Guide Weekly”) as a successor to the “New Youth,” which he had converted into a communist organ two years earlier.
A fearless protester, Chen rejected China’s traditional values and saw Marxism as a means to achieve a “mass democracy” with the broad labouring masses as its base. He recognized, however, the significant role played by the bourgeoisie in the Chinese revolution that he hoped to achieve. During the last years of his life, Chen, still a socialist, denounced Joseph Stalin’s dictatorship and defended such democratic institutions as an independent nonpartisan judiciary, opposition parties, the free press, and free elections.
During childhood, Chen was educated in the Chinese Classics and traditional literature in turn by his grandfather, several private tutors, and, finally, his brother. In 1896 Chen passed the first civil service examination summa cum laude in Huaining and the next year passed the second in Nanjing. His experience in the examinations, however, convinced him of the irrelevance of the traditional educational and governmental systems in the 20th century and prompted him to become a social and political reformer. Consequently, he entered the renowned Qiushi (“Truth-Seeking”) Academy in Hangzhou, where he studied French, English, and naval architecture.
The period of Chen’s greatest influence on Chinese thought and politics began on his return to China in 1915, when he established the monthly Qingnian (“Youth Magazine”) in Shanghai, later renamed Xinqingnian (“New Youth”). In its pages he proposed that the youth of China undertake a vast intellectual, literary, and cultural revolution to rejuvenate the nation. Many of the young writers who contributed to the monthly—among them Hu Shi, a liberal promoter of the vernacular literature, Lu Xun, a leading short-story writer and essayist, Li Dazhao, Chen’s chief collaborator in the Chinese Communist Party, and Mao Zedong—were later to become important intellectual and political leaders.
Chen’s revolutionary mission assumed even greater importance; when, in 1917, he was appointed dean of the School of Letters at Peking University, he took care to gather around him many liberal and progressive professors and students. With their help, he established the short-lived radical Meizhou Pinglun (“Weekly Critic”) in December 1918. Their “new thought” and “new literature” dominated the May Fourth Movement, named after the date of the massive student protests in 1919 against the Chinese government’s weak policy toward Japan and the Shandong resolution of the Versailles Peace Conference, which was going to transfer German rights in China to the Japanese. In the fall of 1922, Chen established the influential Xiangdao Zhoubao (“Guide Weekly”) as a successor to the “New Youth,” which he had converted into a communist organ two years earlier.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 30, 2021
While creative and loaded with powerful imagery, the poetry contained here is often dry and rigid. In spite of the epic events unfolding around them, the poets - Chen Duxiu, Zheng Chaolin, Chen Yi, and Mao Zedong - come across as restrained and stoic, expressing their emotions with an ironic subtlety using tropes from Chinese history and mythology. This collection is perhaps more valuable for its historical context, displaying the inner feelings of four men intimately involved with the making of world history, or, in the case of Chen Duxiu, being left aside from it. And while he is (at least in my opinion) the best poet of the four, full of cynical humor, bitter determination, and clever twists on folklore, the focus on Chen reflects Verso's Trotskyite sympathies - despite his exile and imprisonment and obscurity in today's discussions about the Chinese revolution, his prominent position in this collection suggests a sort of historical revisionism in which Chen and his trampled faction were the *real* revolutionaries, pushed aside by Mao to the revolution's detriment. In reality it was Mao's leadership which lead the Communist Party to victory while Chen's excessive orthodoxy floundered, though despite my political sensibilities he does come across more of a persecuted eccentric than a traitor to China, as he was declared by Mao in 1951. Yet while his story deserves to be resurrected, I can't help but be bothered by Trotskyites' biased and myopic view of the Chinese revolution, attempting to turn yet another factional dispute into the epic struggle between Trotsky and Stalin which so animates their imagination. Meanwhile, Mao's greatest strengths and faults are on full display in his poetry, already well known in the west. He frequently compares himself to legendary emperors and bandits of antiquity, exemplary of his supreme self-confidence and embrace of chaos. It is rare to witness the personal character of such world-shaping figures as Mao with such intimacy, and any student of Mao - either his thought or his role in history - would do well to study these poems, along with the biting criticism of Chen.
January 6, 2024
Rly interesting to think about the complicated relationship these poets had w traditional forms - the intro made it seem like they wanted to break free but couldn’t help but tap into the wealth of history they invoke. Love how exchange poems work. Also interesting how traditional forms had like utility in prison - the structure made them easy to remember when you couldn’t write and the classical allusion made it possible to be elliptical and avoid censorship
Unfortunate that the translation was bad (why would you translate anything as “bivouac” or “vicissitudes” - let alone smth as evocative as 沧桑) and the notes informative about history but waaay too editorialized when it came to the prefaces to individual poems
Want to reread Chinese when I have the paper copy. I found the Chen yi line about news of victory being used as paper money to mourn martyrs rly beautiful, and alas mao’s Changsha (whose authorship the book questions) is also a rly good poem
Unfortunate that the translation was bad (why would you translate anything as “bivouac” or “vicissitudes” - let alone smth as evocative as 沧桑) and the notes informative about history but waaay too editorialized when it came to the prefaces to individual poems
Want to reread Chinese when I have the paper copy. I found the Chen yi line about news of victory being used as paper money to mourn martyrs rly beautiful, and alas mao’s Changsha (whose authorship the book questions) is also a rly good poem
Read
January 28, 2022I don’t really have an opinion on the content since I was mostly just curious about the poems, but as for the actual publication, I think Verso Books did it right. They published the English translation alongside the original Chinese, and with the pinyin as a bonus. I find that a lot of publishers don’t do this and it’s quite frustrating because I am often curious what the original content is like when it comes to poetry. Pinyin was a bonus for me since I can’t read Chinese but as a Chinese speaker I can sound it out properly and feel the rhythm of the poems when reading it.
November 4, 2022
A treat for lovers of Chinese poetry with an interest in Chinese 20th century history and politics. A selection ably compiled with a fine general introduction to the topic, followed by more detailed specific entries on each poet by the excellent scholar Gregor Benton. All lived remarkable lives, whether Chen Duxiu, a co-founder of the Communist Party (elected general secretary at its first five congresses) and much else besides, later expelled as a Trotskyist and a leading figure in that movement; Zheng Chaolin, his Trotskyist comrade who holds the distinction of being the longest known political prisoner in history (beating Auguste Blanqui by a year) under both the Nationalists and the Communists; Chen Yi, the ‘poet marshal’ communist military commander in the Chinese Red Army, later mayor of Shanghai, a vice premier and foreign minister; and, of course, Mao.
Each had something special to offer as a poet, whether they drew upon classical or modern styles (or both) and their subject matter is revealing of their interests, states of being, and how they viewed themselves.
The latter usually through a framework seen in relation to others or Chinese history in general, regularly alluded to in the poetry, itself often studded with literary references drawing upon the Chinese canon.
Each had something special to offer as a poet, whether they drew upon classical or modern styles (or both) and their subject matter is revealing of their interests, states of being, and how they viewed themselves.
The latter usually through a framework seen in relation to others or Chinese history in general, regularly alluded to in the poetry, itself often studded with literary references drawing upon the Chinese canon.
August 6, 2021
I don't think the Chinese Civil War, China in WWII, and the Chinese Revolutions of the 20th century is discussed enough in western literary discussions. Part of the reason is from the difficulty of translating Chinese to English because of the expressiveness of chinese and the total lack of (at times) in English.
I came into this book with a poor background of the major figures of 20th century china, and I think I'm leaving this book with more questions than anything else.
Poets of the chinese Revolution is an insightful book on the varying conditions and power struggles of 20th century china. The formation of the Chinese Communist Party, the denouncement of Chen Duxiu, the Long March, the turn from Stalinism, the Cultural Revolution, etc. The book manages to cover such a wide swath of China's modern history. and the complicated revisionist relationship it's always had with it's major figures.
It's fun reading all of the footnotes added about the context of the poems and how they managed to dodge political sensors, but it's a very difficult book in the sense that a strong background in historical chinese poetry would elevate the commentary of these poems.
All in all, I'm a little too undereducated to fully grasp the meanings and subtle nuances used by these poets, but at the same time, it paints a great picture of the progress of the early revolutions and specifically, the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward.
I would reccomend this book if you:
- are interested in the history of 20th century China
- want to really challenge yourself with another style/format of poetry.
- are willing to do a little googling on the side
I came into this book with a poor background of the major figures of 20th century china, and I think I'm leaving this book with more questions than anything else.
Poets of the chinese Revolution is an insightful book on the varying conditions and power struggles of 20th century china. The formation of the Chinese Communist Party, the denouncement of Chen Duxiu, the Long March, the turn from Stalinism, the Cultural Revolution, etc. The book manages to cover such a wide swath of China's modern history. and the complicated revisionist relationship it's always had with it's major figures.
It's fun reading all of the footnotes added about the context of the poems and how they managed to dodge political sensors, but it's a very difficult book in the sense that a strong background in historical chinese poetry would elevate the commentary of these poems.
All in all, I'm a little too undereducated to fully grasp the meanings and subtle nuances used by these poets, but at the same time, it paints a great picture of the progress of the early revolutions and specifically, the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward.
I would reccomend this book if you:
- are interested in the history of 20th century China
- want to really challenge yourself with another style/format of poetry.
- are willing to do a little googling on the side
October 3, 2021
Hermosa antología. La edición de Verso como siempre preciosa, bilingüe y comentada. Los poemas bellísimos: lamentos solemnes, tigres y la luna. Mi primer acercamiento a la poesía china, de la revolución y en general. Positivísimo. Recomiendo.
July 17, 2022
Poems and historical context are quite excellent (it's great to see the original Chinese versions as well as Pinyin translations with the English translations) but the book's editorial bias towards Trotskyism is to its detriment
July 31, 2024
Should be advertised as a Zheng Chaolin book
November 7, 2022
An interesting collection of poets from four Chinese Revolutionaries- the first two, Chen Duxiu and Zheng Chaolin were trotskyists, Chen Yi was not one who was easily labeled, though tended along more Maoist lines, and Mao should, I hope, be self-evident. Gregor Benton holds an obvious love for Zheng, as his poems are the most prominent throughout the book, and he is the most apologetic. As for the others, Benton holds love for Duxiu as well, more or less neutral on Yi and actively hostile towards Mao, almost to the point of portraying him as an idiot. This is in line with Benton’s seemingly Trotskyist sympathies, and his love for Zheng- who found himself persecuted under Mao. In terms of the poems themselves I will admit that Chinese poetry is something I struggle to fully comprehend for a variety of reasons, though I appreciate the inclusion of the original text and Pinyin. Due to the sheer volume of Zheng, one learns to appreciate certain intricacies after awhile, though Yi and Mao’s styles were generally more easy for me to immediately enjoy due to their more direct nature. Unfortunately there are several rather noticeable typos as well, though the formatting is absolutely excellently done.
January 22, 2022
I am always appreciative of a translation that includes the original text, and if the original text is not in the Latin-script alphabet that romanization is included. The side by side give us a greater appreciation of the flow of the rhythms and rhymes of the original work instead of solely relying on footnote commentaries. This is especially useful for translations of poetry. This is exactly what Gregor Benton and Feng Chongyi have chosen to do for this collection.
This books provides us background of the lives of each poet, and context of the times for each poem. Thank you to the editors and translators Benton and Feng for putting together this collection for an intimate look at the lives and times of these four poets.
This books provides us background of the lives of each poet, and context of the times for each poem. Thank you to the editors and translators Benton and Feng for putting together this collection for an intimate look at the lives and times of these four poets.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews