Post-Cultural Revolution Chinese Poetry (1978–2000)

Post-Cultural Revolution Chinese Poetry refers to works written after the conclusion of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), a political campaign on the Chinese mainland spearheaded by Mao Zedong 毛澤東 (1893–1976), which soon led the country into chaos. This article gives an overview of its history from the end of the Cultural Revolution to the early twenty-first century in the context of the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) sociopolitical developments and dramatic transformations amidst the country’s post-Mao realities. The emphasis is on landmark events and poetry movements such as the Baiyangdian Poetry Community, menglong poetry printed on the pages of Jintian journal, individual poets and literary statuses, as well as public events portrayed in private works. Contemporary Chinese poetry is rich and multilayered, and a mere political reading of its value will be misleading; it is at the same time entangled in politics. Despite its historical specificities, contemporary Chinese poetry can also be viewed as a continuation of the twentieth-century Chinese ‘new poetry’ that emerged in the aftermath of the ‘New Culture Movement’, written in the vernacular Chinese or Baihuawen.