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Selected Poems
A timeless, visionary collection of poems from one of China’s most acclaimed poets—now available in English for the first time in a generation and featuring a foreword by his son, contemporary artist and activist Ai WeiweiOne of the most influential poets in Chinese history, Ai Qing is mostly unknown to American readers, but his work has shaped the nature of poetry in China for decades. Born between the fall of imperial Manchurian rule and the establishment of the Communist People’s Republic, Ai Qing was at one time an intimate of Mao Zedong. He would eventually fall out with the leader and be sentenced to hard labor during the Cultural Revolution, when he was exiled to the remote part of the country known as “Little Siberia” with his family, including his son, Ai Weiwei. In his work, Ai Qing tells the story of a China convulsing with change, leaving behind a legacy of feudalism and imperialism but uncertain about what the future will hold. Breaking with traditional forms of Chinese poetry, Ai Qing innovatively adapted free verse, writing with a simple sincerity in clear lines that could be understood by everyday readers. Selected Poems is an extraordinary collection that traces the powerful inner life of this influential poet who crafted poems of protest, who longed for a newer, happier age, and who wrote with a profound lyricism that reaches deep into the heart of the reader.
111 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2021
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225 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
November 20, 2023
Scathing commentary on the despondency and plight of common man and love for nature dominate this bundle
The suppression of free speech is, above all other kinds of violence, the most inhuman
To say that the poet, father to renowned modern artist Ai Weiwei, lived in interesting times is an understatement. This bundle showcases a lot of poems that deal with the hardships of people during the Japanese occupation and the aftermath of World War Two. Love for nature and the land is another recurring theme. Simplicity and prosperity of old times, and a deep love for the land, its natural features including forests and the Yellow River and the ancestors who bequeathed the land to the poet’s generations come back a lot.
Starvation, rot form other more grim themes. Mountain Elm shows the stoicism in nature as in the suffering Chinese peasantry, with an ax at the end of the poem.
My Father reflects on the father of Qing, who grew up under the Manchu regime, and is very personal, kicking off with Qing not returning to his family and his father dying. Breaking free of familial ties, of the owner class background of his father, seems to be the goal the poem is set to convey but a great price must be paid for these socialist ideals.
The Wall, is an interesting critique of the iron curtain compared to the great wall of China. This sense of melancholy is echoed in Lost Years, on the years passing by like smoke or water on parched ground.
Not all poems are equally successful, The Times for instance is very overdramatic, but in general the bundle gives interesting insights in the world in flux that the poet lived through.
Selected quotes/fragments:
The existence of poetry is proof that the soul cannot be conquered
I’ve lost the most valuable days
of my youth;
my life
is like your life
and, like yours, broken.
The resurrected land
To live is to struggle,
to struggle is to evolve,
give it all you can
before Death arrives
Fish Fossil
You can say it’s a kind of art:
a parody that writes
the end of freedom
Bonsai Trees
The suppression of free speech is, above all other kinds of violence, the most inhuman
To say that the poet, father to renowned modern artist Ai Weiwei, lived in interesting times is an understatement. This bundle showcases a lot of poems that deal with the hardships of people during the Japanese occupation and the aftermath of World War Two. Love for nature and the land is another recurring theme. Simplicity and prosperity of old times, and a deep love for the land, its natural features including forests and the Yellow River and the ancestors who bequeathed the land to the poet’s generations come back a lot.
Starvation, rot form other more grim themes. Mountain Elm shows the stoicism in nature as in the suffering Chinese peasantry, with an ax at the end of the poem.
My Father reflects on the father of Qing, who grew up under the Manchu regime, and is very personal, kicking off with Qing not returning to his family and his father dying. Breaking free of familial ties, of the owner class background of his father, seems to be the goal the poem is set to convey but a great price must be paid for these socialist ideals.
The Wall, is an interesting critique of the iron curtain compared to the great wall of China. This sense of melancholy is echoed in Lost Years, on the years passing by like smoke or water on parched ground.
Not all poems are equally successful, The Times for instance is very overdramatic, but in general the bundle gives interesting insights in the world in flux that the poet lived through.
Selected quotes/fragments:
The existence of poetry is proof that the soul cannot be conquered
I’ve lost the most valuable days
of my youth;
my life
is like your life
and, like yours, broken.
The resurrected land
To live is to struggle,
to struggle is to evolve,
give it all you can
before Death arrives
Fish Fossil
You can say it’s a kind of art:
a parody that writes
the end of freedom
Bonsai Trees
December 19, 2022
4.5*
het voelt echt als een geschenk dat ik dit heb mogen lezen 🤍
het voelt echt als een geschenk dat ik dit heb mogen lezen 🤍
Read
March 11, 2024Repetitive in its themes and analogies but that isn’t a bad thing here. Great introduction to modern Chinese poetry and the liberal political movement of Ai Qing’s time.
January 10, 2024
Around the Globe in 52 Books
[Prompt: A Book of Poetry from a Diverse Collection of Authors or a Single Author from Another Country]
Poetry is often something I've always wanted to get into but have always struggled with it. Whether it was the act of writing it, or just trying to read it, its always been hard for me to jump into it. Often, I feel constrained by feeling as if I'm not understanding how most poems are meant to be read. And for the most part, I do feel like poetry can either be too complicated, or just too mundanely simple.
But not this. This was a beautiful collection of works by Ai Weiwei's father that captures themes of oppression, survival, the beauty of nature, of time, and of existence. Ai Qing writes in a very concise way, but leaves plenty enough for your imagination and your own interpretation to fill in. He definitely does not seem to mince words, even with the most vague sense of understanding of the political and historical events happening around him, most readers should be able to understand what Ai Qing's poetry is trying to get at.
I loved the perseverance in his works. And despite being a prisoner, despite being in poverty, there is his ability to see the beauty in things. And I loved his way with words, as simple as that may sound, in his ability to capture the beauty in nature. Particularly that of autumn. And his poems involving the sun were also breathtaking.
Collections like these show how important it is to have works of art translated and to have them translated well. Ai Qing is obviously writing about China and his life there, but its still important to view his art as a Westerner as well. And how easily these works could've been lost to someone like me, is frightening. So I applaud Ai Weiwei for giving the translator Robert Dorsett the chance and ability to translate these works, and I loved the notes that Dorsett shared at the end to show how he went about translating the works as well.
This will definitely have a spot on my bookshelf, and will continue to be a re-read for me as well.
[Prompt: A Book of Poetry from a Diverse Collection of Authors or a Single Author from Another Country]
Poetry is often something I've always wanted to get into but have always struggled with it. Whether it was the act of writing it, or just trying to read it, its always been hard for me to jump into it. Often, I feel constrained by feeling as if I'm not understanding how most poems are meant to be read. And for the most part, I do feel like poetry can either be too complicated, or just too mundanely simple.
But not this. This was a beautiful collection of works by Ai Weiwei's father that captures themes of oppression, survival, the beauty of nature, of time, and of existence. Ai Qing writes in a very concise way, but leaves plenty enough for your imagination and your own interpretation to fill in. He definitely does not seem to mince words, even with the most vague sense of understanding of the political and historical events happening around him, most readers should be able to understand what Ai Qing's poetry is trying to get at.
I loved the perseverance in his works. And despite being a prisoner, despite being in poverty, there is his ability to see the beauty in things. And I loved his way with words, as simple as that may sound, in his ability to capture the beauty in nature. Particularly that of autumn. And his poems involving the sun were also breathtaking.
Collections like these show how important it is to have works of art translated and to have them translated well. Ai Qing is obviously writing about China and his life there, but its still important to view his art as a Westerner as well. And how easily these works could've been lost to someone like me, is frightening. So I applaud Ai Weiwei for giving the translator Robert Dorsett the chance and ability to translate these works, and I loved the notes that Dorsett shared at the end to show how he went about translating the works as well.
This will definitely have a spot on my bookshelf, and will continue to be a re-read for me as well.
December 17, 2024
Willekeurig (maar niet heus) boekjes meepikken uit de bib, ik kan het aanraden! Zo kwam ik bij dichter Ai Qing terecht, die in het tumultueuze culturele landschap van 20e eeuws China met zijn poëzie geliefd en uitgespuwd is. Zijn tumultueuze leven (dat helder in tussenpassages beschreven wordt) kwam prachtig naar boven in zijn poëzie; van hoopvol idealisme tot het paranoïde verstikkende ‘Visfossiel’; veel van Ai Qings beelden spreken recht tot het hart.
En daarboven, altijd terugkerend, een gigantische, lyrische liefde voor de natuur, in al haar tederheid en woede.
En daarboven, altijd terugkerend, een gigantische, lyrische liefde voor de natuur, in al haar tederheid en woede.
December 31, 2021
Obwohl Ai Qing (1910-1996) einer der bekanntesten chinesischen Dichter der Moderne ist, ist sein Werk in Deutschland fast völlig unbekannt. Als Vertreter der Neuen Lyrik, schrieb er in einer verständlichen Sprache gegen das Monopol der Gelehrten an, denen das Verfassen und Lesen von Lyrik vorbehalten war. Themen wie Armut und das Elend der Landbevölkerung stehen in den Werken der Neuen Lyrik außerdem zum ersten Mal im Zentrum von chinesischen Gedichten.
Nun ist eine Auswahl seiner Gedichte in der Übersetzung von Susanne Hornfeck unter dem Titel "Schnee fällt auf Chinas Erde" erschienen. Begleitet werden die Gedichte von einem Vorwort Ai Weiweis, dem berühmten Künstler und Sohn des Dichters, von Anmerkungen und einem Nachwort der Übersetzerin, sowie von Auszügen aus den Notizbüchern Ai Qings, die Einblicke in sein dichterisches Selbstverständnis geben.
Die Gedichte sind eine Zeitreise in das letzte Jahrhundert, in die Geschichte und Kultur Chinas und nicht zuletzt in das Leben Ai Qings. Ein Leben, das geprägt war von jahrzehntelangen Schreibverboten, von Aufenthalten in Straflagern und Gefängnissen. Verse wie “Aus der Dunkelheit/ blicke ich sehnsuchtsvoll/ auf ein Universum” oder “Ich sehne mich nach einem fernen Horizont” führen dem Leser “das Grauweiß” des persönlichen Unglücks vor Augen.
Ai Qings Gedichte werden stets von sprachlicher Schönheit, Prägnanz und Tiefe getragen. Vor den Augen des Lesers entstehen Bilder, die durch ihre Farbkraft und Klarheit bestechen. Es gelingt Ai Qing, Landschaften zum Leben zu erwecken und den Alltag und die Armut der Bauern Nordchinas aus der Nähe darzustellen. Motivisch ziehen sich Krieg, Elend, aber auch Hoffnung und Frühling wie ein roter Faden durch den Gedichtband.
Die Gedichte sind Spiegelbild eines Landes, eines Lebens, von persönlichen Entwicklungen und einer Weltsicht, die zeitweise von der Ideologie der kommunistischen Partei beeinflusst ist, aber sich später auch nicht davor scheut, sie zu kritisieren.
Der Band ist eine Bereicherung für jeden Leser. Er erweitert den persönlichen Horizont, gräbt sich ins Gedächtnis ein und muss deshalb empfohlen werden.
Nun ist eine Auswahl seiner Gedichte in der Übersetzung von Susanne Hornfeck unter dem Titel "Schnee fällt auf Chinas Erde" erschienen. Begleitet werden die Gedichte von einem Vorwort Ai Weiweis, dem berühmten Künstler und Sohn des Dichters, von Anmerkungen und einem Nachwort der Übersetzerin, sowie von Auszügen aus den Notizbüchern Ai Qings, die Einblicke in sein dichterisches Selbstverständnis geben.
Die Gedichte sind eine Zeitreise in das letzte Jahrhundert, in die Geschichte und Kultur Chinas und nicht zuletzt in das Leben Ai Qings. Ein Leben, das geprägt war von jahrzehntelangen Schreibverboten, von Aufenthalten in Straflagern und Gefängnissen. Verse wie “Aus der Dunkelheit/ blicke ich sehnsuchtsvoll/ auf ein Universum” oder “Ich sehne mich nach einem fernen Horizont” führen dem Leser “das Grauweiß” des persönlichen Unglücks vor Augen.
Ai Qings Gedichte werden stets von sprachlicher Schönheit, Prägnanz und Tiefe getragen. Vor den Augen des Lesers entstehen Bilder, die durch ihre Farbkraft und Klarheit bestechen. Es gelingt Ai Qing, Landschaften zum Leben zu erwecken und den Alltag und die Armut der Bauern Nordchinas aus der Nähe darzustellen. Motivisch ziehen sich Krieg, Elend, aber auch Hoffnung und Frühling wie ein roter Faden durch den Gedichtband.
Die Gedichte sind Spiegelbild eines Landes, eines Lebens, von persönlichen Entwicklungen und einer Weltsicht, die zeitweise von der Ideologie der kommunistischen Partei beeinflusst ist, aber sich später auch nicht davor scheut, sie zu kritisieren.
Der Band ist eine Bereicherung für jeden Leser. Er erweitert den persönlichen Horizont, gräbt sich ins Gedächtnis ein und muss deshalb empfohlen werden.
August 1, 2025
"Hardship will be memory in the Earth's warm breast"
For Ai Qing, China's future—and perhaps all people's future—is "Ineluctable poetry". The man who's childhood was beset by imperial Manchurian collapse speaks of many longings, most emphatically of bright change and it's warmth, but his work is quite apparently lined with anxiety. In 'Wild Lands I', a favourite of mine, he illustrates the march of a great procession,
"forever lead by the same shadow,
locked in the same fate;
with endless labor and starvation before them".
There is no condescension in his words, it is not simply the pity of an observer, for he too, 'Wandering on an autumn day', sees before him "the shadows play with sunlight".
However, for just as much fear, there is undeniable love. For the working class, for nature, for the promise the nation could one day realise.
"The sun sets all living things afire
The sun bestows fervor into all living things"
For Ai Qing, China's future—and perhaps all people's future—is "Ineluctable poetry". The man who's childhood was beset by imperial Manchurian collapse speaks of many longings, most emphatically of bright change and it's warmth, but his work is quite apparently lined with anxiety. In 'Wild Lands I', a favourite of mine, he illustrates the march of a great procession,
"forever lead by the same shadow,
locked in the same fate;
with endless labor and starvation before them".
There is no condescension in his words, it is not simply the pity of an observer, for he too, 'Wandering on an autumn day', sees before him "the shadows play with sunlight".
However, for just as much fear, there is undeniable love. For the working class, for nature, for the promise the nation could one day realise.
"The sun sets all living things afire
The sun bestows fervor into all living things"
July 29, 2025
Ai Qing has such a beautiful way with words and imagery. I was interested in reading Ai Weiwei's father's work and was not disappointed! This was simply beautiful.
"Lost years aren't pieces of paper that can be picked up - but water splashed upon the ground: the sun dries it; no shadow can be found."
"Without movement there's no life; to live is to struggle, to struggle is to evolve, give it all you can before death arrives."
"Lost years aren't pieces of paper that can be picked up - but water splashed upon the ground: the sun dries it; no shadow can be found."
"Without movement there's no life; to live is to struggle, to struggle is to evolve, give it all you can before death arrives."
September 21, 2024
very cool, very interesting book that i'm glad i picked up—even if it didn't always grab me. some really beautiful pieces in here regardless
January 27, 2022
"Then why do my eyes tear?
Deep run the currents of love..."
Poems that speak for themselves and feel as though they read themselves to you. Such beautiful imagery and lines that left me speechless. The poems in this collection speak to living through times of war and suffering, where places you love seem to change drastically. As well as the retrospection of relationships with those who have raised you All of these poems feel like they capture a sense of humanity (especially poems like "My Father").
Deep run the currents of love..."
Poems that speak for themselves and feel as though they read themselves to you. Such beautiful imagery and lines that left me speechless. The poems in this collection speak to living through times of war and suffering, where places you love seem to change drastically. As well as the retrospection of relationships with those who have raised you All of these poems feel like they capture a sense of humanity (especially poems like "My Father").
February 17, 2022
Ai qings gedichte verkochen in der simpliziät ihrer sprache, zerbröseln spröde unter ihrem begrenzten wortrepertoire, schaffen selten die von ihm postulierten und notwendigen luziden momente.
January 22, 2025
The West is losing the new cultural cold war and they're losing it badly. Ai Qing was a loyal communist in his younger years then he became a disillusioned liberal yada yada. Guess which political angle this collection chooses to emphasize? Too bad for the publisher that this obscure volume will barely reach any readers at all meanwhile one of China's most popular TV shows of 2024, the historical epic Into the Great Northwest (西北岁月) featured a rousing recitation of one of Ai Qing's early poems celebrating a communist victory when he was a war correspondent for the Red Army. That single performance in a TV drama was more moving and lyrical than anything in this volume under review. Nice try Robert Dorsett. Meanwhile I asked myself when's the last time a major US TV drama gave us poetry readings? I guess Bryan Cranston recited Shelley in an ad once.
I wouldn't be so bitter except that this book's auxiliary material gets into some really nasty and slanderous anti -China and anti-communist polemics. The poet's cosmopolitan failson's name is attached; that's probably why. Skip this and watch Into the Great Northwest instead (full disclosure I translated the English subtitles).
I wouldn't be so bitter except that this book's auxiliary material gets into some really nasty and slanderous anti -China and anti-communist polemics. The poet's cosmopolitan failson's name is attached; that's probably why. Skip this and watch Into the Great Northwest instead (full disclosure I translated the English subtitles).
August 21, 2022
'Mensen, leef je leven tocht ten volle,
koester geen hoop dat de aarde zich je herinnert.'
Uit het laatste gedicht uit 1980
Het mooie van het snuffelen in een goede boekhandel is dat je zo en af en toe geheel onverwachts een boek vindt dat een juweeltje blijkt te zijn. Deze bloemlezing van gedichten is er zo een. Prachtige gedichten uit het hele zeer stormachtige leven van de vader van de beroemde Ai Wei Wei. Dit leven liep parallel met de even stormachtige geschiedenis van China in de twintigste eeuw. Wat een lijden, wat een drama. En dan zulke prachtige en ook prachtig door Daan Bronkhorst vertaalde, gedichten. Deze bundel komt te staan bij telkens weer te herlezen dichtbundels.
koester geen hoop dat de aarde zich je herinnert.'
Uit het laatste gedicht uit 1980
Het mooie van het snuffelen in een goede boekhandel is dat je zo en af en toe geheel onverwachts een boek vindt dat een juweeltje blijkt te zijn. Deze bloemlezing van gedichten is er zo een. Prachtige gedichten uit het hele zeer stormachtige leven van de vader van de beroemde Ai Wei Wei. Dit leven liep parallel met de even stormachtige geschiedenis van China in de twintigste eeuw. Wat een lijden, wat een drama. En dan zulke prachtige en ook prachtig door Daan Bronkhorst vertaalde, gedichten. Deze bundel komt te staan bij telkens weer te herlezen dichtbundels.
September 16, 2023
Ich bin etwas schockiert. Ich hatte viel Gutes über Ai Qing und seine Poesie gelesen. Mitunter sogar Lobpreisungen wie, dass er „der wichtigste Dichter der chinesischen Moderne“ sei. Was sich in diesem Band findet, sind dann allerdings für meinen Geschmack vollkommen unpoetische Texte, die eher anmuten wie Prosa, die in „Form“ gebracht wurde. Einige Texte lesen sich dabei wie die ersten Lyrikversuche eines Teenagers (‚Meerwasser und Tränen‘). Die Sprache ist flach, langweilig (vielleicht liegt es an der Übersetzung ?) — nichts bleibt auf der Zunge liegen. Schade.
November 7, 2025
People ask: Where did spring come from?
I say: From outside the city, from graves.
-- "Spring--"
I say: From outside the city, from graves.
-- "Spring--"
If it's a poem, no matter what form it's in, it's a poem.
If it's not a poem, no matter what form it's in, it's not a poem.
The beauty inherent in poetry is the luminance of humanity's upward-striving spirit expressed entirely through the poet's passion. This kind of luminance not only glitters and splashes like embers from a fire in darkness, but also shoots out like sparks from a rock struck by a chisel or ax.
-- excerpts from the notebooks
August 8, 2025
I think I would rate this higher if not for the really erudite translation choices at times: words that I’m not sure propelled the poems forward. Overall, this is a solid collection and makes me want to read Ai Qing in Chinese now. Themes of regime collapse, the plight of common people, nature, and the tear of familial ties all make this collection a success. Someone else’s review says you can map through Ai’s poems the change in China as a whole, and I agree.
November 15, 2023
ai qing's poetry is one of the more accessible collections of chinese poetry due to his western influences. his writing and this translation is so human in its execution. genuinely stopped reading about 3/4ths into "My Father" to sob. the way he details the experience of the era he lived in is raw, and the word choices encapsulate a lot of emotion without drawing everything out.
March 31, 2024
The life of Ai Qing reads like a history of 20th century China, so the presentation of the poems here in chronological order and dated helps greatly to understand the context in which they were written. The English translations may to draining some of the energy from these poems, but there are many memorable one among those presented.
December 24, 2023
Sea and Tears
The sea's salty,
tears are salty
too. Does the
sea become
tears? Do tears
become the
sea? A billion
years of tears
converge into the
sea. A day will come
when sea and
tears are sweet.
The sea's salty,
tears are salty
too. Does the
sea become
tears? Do tears
become the
sea? A billion
years of tears
converge into the
sea. A day will come
when sea and
tears are sweet.
January 26, 2022
favorites:
my season (pg.16)
i love this land (pg. 39)
the sun’s words (pg. 72)
my season (pg.16)
i love this land (pg. 39)
the sun’s words (pg. 72)
January 28, 2022
My first reading of chinese poetry. I enjoyed the experienced and found the explanation about some peoms at the back fo the book very helpful to understand the context.
Read
August 13, 2022Kraakhelder, politiek, en doorwrocht van natuurpracht.
January 7, 2023
bought this sometime last year at a bookshop off campus w a friend! she said ai qing was taught in chinese schools but i think that can’t be true…
April 30, 2023
A very poignant look at the landscape of China; I thought the translation quite well done.
August 28, 2024
Uneven. Often frustratingly didactic. But I very much appreciated Lost Years and The Reef.
December 5, 2024
These poems create a harsh, beloved landscape
May 22, 2025
Would purchase if possible. Checked it out from the library. Loved it.
August 28, 2025
Incredible imagery, among the best poetry I’ve ever read
September 6, 2025
Short and sweet.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews