Look up at the deep

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 sandstorms, cracked soil, and vast deserts have deeply imprinted themselves in my heart, becoming a profound sense of life. The insights I have gained from the land, the reflections they have inspired, have been the most rewarding period of my writing career. At least in this era where everyone talks about profit, I have stood in the wilderness, calling out and watching over. I have not become shallower, but depth and nobility are out of the question, especially when compared to all the life on the land. How can I possibly understand a small blade of grass in its entirety? How can I sense the towering desert poplar that stands alone in the desert, its golden leaves intoxicating in autumn? I have only faintly called out and repeated, about the land, about water, about grains and vegetables, about planting grass and trees, about approaching brilliance with caution. I have searched for the little patches of green in the desert, the background of tree planters in the wilderness, and the dead desert poplars along the Tarim River. A recently ruined courtyard on the sandstorm line, 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 some records I have collected from the land and a dream.