A Century of Chinese Children's Poetry Selection

Author: Tan Xudong, Qiao Dama, Tan Wuchang (editors)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-03-01
Features: Far away, the streetlights are lit, as if twinkling with countless stars. The stars in the sky appear, as if lighting up countless streetlights. I imagine in the ethereal sky, there must be a beautiful marketplace. The items displayed in the marketplace must surely be rare treasures unseen in the world.
The current imbalance in the creation and development of children's poetry in China is also evident:
First, there is an imbalance in regional development of children's poetry. On the mainland, children's poetry has emerged in a "tripartite alliance" situation. In Beijing, there is a strong poetic group represented by Jin Bo, Gao Hongbo, Fan Jiajia, Yin Julin, Peng Li, and Jin Ben. In Shanghai, there is a poetic group led by the veteran poets Sheng Ye, Lu Bing, and Ren Rongrong. In Sichuan, there is a rather powerful group of children's poets led by Zhang Jilou, with Qiu Yidong and Pu Huqing as key figures. Additionally, except for Liaoning and Jilin in the three northeastern provinces, where children's creative forces are relatively strong, the weak teams of children's poetry creators in other provinces are a cause for concern. Especially in Xinjiang, Tibet, Ningxia, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Guangdong, and Fujian, during the new era of children's poetry, there are few dedicated children's poets who have achieved notable results in children's poetry creation.
Second, there is an imbalance in the gender ratio among children's poetry creators. From the contemporary children's poetry scene, male poets dominate the vast majority of the field, while female poets are rare.
In summary, over the past century, Chinese children's poetry has basically presented a diverse artistic richness, collectively crafting the glory that a century of children's poetry should have through a "polyphonic chorus." We sincerely hope that the whole society pays attention to children's poetry. We hope that readers, the poetry community, and colleagues in children's literature will not neglect or disregard children's poetry. Children's poetry possesses a unique artistic charm and social value that cannot be replaced by other literary forms, and it deserves high attention from readers and in-depth discussion by literary historians and critics!