Zang Kejia's Memoirs

Author: Zang Kejia
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-01-01
Features: Zang Kejia, born in 1905, is nearing his 90s, a highly respected figure and one of the last "poetic giants" in modern and contemporary Chinese literature. He began writing new poetry in 1923 and has since had an 80-year creative journey. The length of his career and the richness of his achievements are unmatched. As Wu Bngxing said, "His poetic life is almost indistinguishable from the history of Chinese new poetry's emergence and development. He is almost a living, speaking history of Chinese new poetry." In 1933, he published his first poetry collection, Brand Marks, which quickly gained praise from literary giants such as Wen Yiduo, Mao Dun, Lao She, and Zhu Ziqing, bringing him fame and recognition in the poetic world. Gu Mu praised him for "dedicating his life to the kingdom of poetry," while Zhang Guangnian described him as "transforming from a passionate patriot and revolutionary democrat into a cultural warrior for socialism," a testament to his profound understanding. He devoted both his life to poetry and poetry to his life, persistently pursuing art, truth, light, and revolution, unwavering in his convictions even in the face of setbacks, and growing stronger with age. He was one of the few founders and pioneers of Chinese new poetry. Zang Kejia personally participated in the 1927 Revolution, engaged in cultural propaganda during the War of Resistance Against Japan, and sang for the liberation of the nation. During the Liberation War, he faced darkness with a pen as his weapon, composing political satirical poems. He kept pace with the times, focused on social realities, and concerned himself with the fate of the nation, introducing major historical events and ordinary working people into his poetry. His early works primarily expressed the suffering, hardship, diligence, perseverance, struggles, and resistance of the laboring people, especially farmers, in old China, exposing and condemning the cruelty and corruption of Japanese invaders and reactionary rulers. They reflected the poet's deep sympathy for the oppressed, his fierce hatred for the reactionary forces, and his ardent longing for a brighter future. After the liberation, the poet channeled his patriotic passion into passionate poems that celebrated the motherland, its people, and the Communist Party, praising the great cause of socialism. His poetry combined both heart-wrenching laments and soaring anthems, reflecting the spirit of the times from the Northern Expedition, War of Resistance Against Japan, Liberation War to the socialist period. Through the poet's unique perspective, it depicted the historical process of the Chinese nation enduring suffering, rising in resistance, and ultimately achieving liberation, shining with the light of humanism, patriotism, and idealism. Collections such as Brand Marks, The Guilty Black Hand, Songs of Mud, and The Collection of Cheers exemplify this. Thus, a poetic critic called Zang Kejia's poetry a "chronicle of modern Chinese social life" (Wang Xiquan) and a "history of 20th-century China" (Wang Changding), a description that holds true. In the over 80-year history of Chinese new poetry, marked by constant cultural collisions between the ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, Zang Kejia remained unshaken by Westernization trends and undisturbed by retrogressive waves. He drew on the valuable experiences of foreign poetry while vigorously promoting the fine traditions of classical Chinese poetry and folk songs, absorbing the artistic nourishment of Chinese new poetry since the May Fourth Movement. His poetry, rich in Chinese style and spirit, was truly Chinese and nationalized. As Chen Liangyun said, "His poetry is exceptionally Chinese, thoroughly Chineseized and nationalized. It is a prominent example or early model of nationalized Chinese new poetry." Zang Kejia's poetry is characterized by vivid and abundant imagery, diverse techniques, exquisite craftsmanship, novel and refined language, and a distinct artistic style: simple, rigorous, concise, and subtle. He made indelible contributions to the healthy development of revolutionary realism in Chinese poetry and the nationalization and popularization of Chinese poetry. Zang Kejia was not only a poet with a unique style but also a distinguished poetic critic. For decades, he tirelessly explored the path of Chinese new poetry's development both in creation and theory. With rich creative experience and profound understanding of poetry, his poetic theories distinguished themselves from both general scholars and ordinary experts. They moved beyond abstract concepts and theoretical discussions, instead progressing from the concrete to the abstract, from practice to theory—rational elevation of perceptual understanding and scientific summary of creative experience. His theories possessed an independent aesthetic system and a unique theoretical framework, broadly summarized as follows:
- A theory of poetic origin rooted in life and emerging from life.
- An ontology of grand and robust realistic beauty.
- A theory of artistic creation emphasizing subtlety and conciseness.
- A theory of the poet that unifies character and poetic quality.
- A theory of poetry's utility in enriching life and benefiting society.
- A theory of appreciation that combines understanding the person with understanding the times and interpreting the poet's intentions.
- A theory of inheritance and innovation through extensive learning and selective adaptation.
- A theory of works that upholds the principles of truth, goodness, and beauty.
Each of these theories possessed a progressive and extraordinary quality. Zang Kejia's first published work was not poetry or a poetic theory but prose. In 1939, he published his prose collection Wild Weeds. After that, he pursued both prose and poetry writing simultaneously. He wrote poetry and prose with equal passion. Zang Kejia himself said, "Poetry and prose are equally important." Some praised his prose as "as beautiful as his poetry" (Feng Min), while others said, "His prose surpasses his poetry" (Gu Dong). In reality, both his poetry and prose excelled in their own ways. If his poetic peak stood tall before the liberation, overshadowing his literary fame, then his prose peak rose after the liberation, with literary quality surpassing poetic quality. As he aged, the quantity and quality of his prose increased, and its influence grew. Moreover, his prose bore the distinctive personality and charm of a poet. His "temperament, emotions, and interests" were "all poetic," giving his prose a unique poetic quality and essence—beauty in emotion, poetic scenes, subtlety, refinement, and literary elegance. Many prose masterpieces, such as The Forge, Jibei Lake, and The Story of Books, reached a perfect artistic realm of heartfelt sincerity, moving readers deeply. Zang Kejia's classical Chinese poetry and prose appreciation, as well as his studies on Mao Zedong's poetry, also achieved remarkable success. Due to the spiritual connection between ancient and modern poets, coupled with Zang Kejia's own experiences of creative struggles, he easily grasped the creative mindset and artistic sensibilities of the ancients. Thus, his classical poetry and prose appreciation was imbued with the spirit of a poet rather than the dryness of an academic, revealing artistic truths that ordinary scholars struggled to fathom. He illuminated hidden depths, offered profound insights, and guided readers into a realm of ultimate truth, goodness, and beauty. Similarly, his studies on Mao Zedong's poetry were groundbreaking and authoritative, not only opening the field of study but also becoming one of its leading experts.