Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t20.13

v2.c10.s2.t20.13

Tagore’s popularity throughout the world had a tremendous impact on the Chinese new literary movement. Guo Moruo read Tagore ‘s poems during his travel to Japan, and this ignited in him a strong desire to become a poet. At first, he imitated Tagore and wrote several blank verses. In his first collection of poems, *Goddess*, one can easily see the traces of the profound impact that Tagore’s poems left on him. *Crescent Moon* has been the title for his poetry more than once. In his poem, he greeted Tagore good morning, and wished him a long life. Guo Moruo accepted Tagore as his idol; he wrote a poem in which he incorporated a few lines taken from a poem in *Gitanjali*. He said that in his literary carrier, the poems he wrote during this period were in Tagore ‘s style. Later, he became the first poet in the history of modern Chinese literature and was inseparable from Tagore’s influence and image. Other than Tagore, Guo Moruo also drew enlightenment from other foreign poets like Whitman and Goethe. However, as his first literary mentor, Tagore played a great role for his road to success.