Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t12: Ai Qing
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t12
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Ai Qing
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Ai Qing (艾青, March 27, 1910 - May 05, 1996) is the pen name of Jiang Haicheng (蒋海澄). One of the prominent figures of the new wave of modern Chinese poetry, Ai Qing had a significant impact on the development of Modern Chinese Poetry. He published more than 20 volumes of poetry and also wrote essays and translated poetry. His works have been translated into more than 10 languages and have been published abroad. In India, his poems are included in the syllabus of courses on Chinese Literature and on the History of Chinese Literature,
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*Ai Qing*
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taught in university departments and centres of Chinese language, literature and culture. Indian scholar Priyadarsi Mukherji's translations of his poems have been included in *Ai Ch'ing-er kabyo o kahini* (Poems and Fables of Ai Ch'ing) (in Bengali, 2000) and *Cross-Cultural Impressions Ai Ch'ing, Pablo Neruda and Nicolas Guillen* (2004).
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Ai Qing was born in Jinhua of Zhejiang province in China. In 1928, Ai Qing entered the Hangzhou National West Lake School of Art where the great artist Lin Fengmian impacted his life greatly. Under Lin’s encouragement, he went to France the following year to study painting, where he became interested in modern European poetry. Ai Qing returned to China in early 1932 and joined the China Leftist Artists’ Federation (中国左翼美术家联盟) in Shanghai. He engaged himself in various revolutionary and cultural activities there and was soon arrested for opposing Chiang Kai-shek. When in prison he wrote several poems, among
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'New Edition of Ai Qing's literary works (Ai Qing zuopin xinbian)', front cover
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them “Da Yanhe – My Wet-nurse” (《大堰河——我的保姆). This poem caused a sensation and he became famous.
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In 1935, Ai Qing was released from prison and the following year he published his first collection of poems, entitled *Da Yanhe* (《大堰河》). After the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan, he initiated various anti-Japanese national salvation movements at Hankou, and played the role of a poet-soldier and advocate of national progress.
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In 1941, Ai Qing became Chief Editor of *Poetry* (《诗刊》) in Yan’an. He was deeply affected by the atrocities of the anti-Japanese war in China and his anguish and resentment were reflected in his poetry. During this period he published nine volumes of poetry. After the anti-Japanese War, he took charge as the Vice-President of the Art College at North China University.
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Following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, Ai Qing became the Deputy Editor of *People's Literature* (《人民文学》) and a member of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles. The Chilean poet Pablo Neruda once described him as “the charming Ai Qing, old communist and prince of Chinese poets”. In 1957, however, he was labeled a ‘rightist’ and was sent to Heilongjiang and Xinjiang to do manual labour. This created a disruption of 20 years in his life and career, although he continued to write poetry through this period.
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In 1979, after his rehabilitation, Ai Qing took charge as the Vice-President of the All China Writers’ Association and the Vice-Chairman of the Chinese PEN Centre. In 1985, he was awarded the highest French award for literature and arts, being the first Chinese poet to receive such a prestigious foreign literary award. In 1996, Ai Qing passed away at the age of 86.
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Ai Qing had a painter’s intuition and a poet’s aesthetic sensibility combined with a revolutionary spirit, which gave richness and deep meaning to his