Striving towards solitude

Author: Xu Gang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: For about seventeen or eighteen years, I have devoted a significant portion of my time and energy to field research, studying the ecological conditions of China's land desertification, rivers, wetlands, and other environmental aspects. I have traveled extensively, particularly in the western regions, more specifically west of Hexi Corridor. The sand dunes, cracked soil, and vast deserts have left a deep imprint on my heart, becoming a profound sense of life. The insights I have gained from the land, and the reflections that have followed, are some of the most rewarding experiences in my writing career. At least in this era where the world is overwhelmingly focused on profit, I have stood in the wilderness, calling out and watching over. I have not become shallower, but depth and nobility are certainly not something I can claim, especially when compared to all the life on this land. How can I possibly understand a small blade of grass in its entirety? How can I feel the towering presence of the desert poplar, whose golden leaves are intoxicating in autumn? I have only, and repeated, about the land, about water, about grains and vegetables, about planting grass and trees, about approaching brilliance with caution. I have been searching for a little bit of green in the desert, the background of a tree planter in the wilderness, and the dead desert poplars by the Tarim River. A recently abandoned courtyard on the sand dunes, the weathered sheep dung balls I have caressed, the passage of time. Where are the herders and their lambs now? All the fragments, chapters, or even titles, are merely records I have collected from the land and a dream.