Spring 2022, Voice of April (2): Bei Dao "Someone must rewrite love"

After listening to Cui Jian on Friday, April 15, 2022, I saw Bei Dao's new book reading event "Someone Must Rewrite Love" on Tuesday, April 19. All of a sudden, the historical concentration of the eighties seems high.

The earliest I knew about Bei Dao was probably in middle school. The most impressive verse is "The despicable is the pass of the despicable, and the noble is the epitaph of the noble" ("Answer"). It's amazing, an unforgettable read. When I was a student, I didn't have a deep understanding of society and human nature. At that time, I should have no understanding of the connotation of this verse, but simply felt the formal beauty of the poem itself.

I used to think that the people who appeared in the textbooks were very sacred and ancient, and I thought they should all be ancient people, and I haven't seen any new trends in them in the past few years - of course, all of this is due to my own ignorance. . Later, I forgot to see any news about him, only to find out that he is still alive and teaching, but not in mainland China.

When I was a child, I felt that a lot of Chinese people went abroad, and I don't understand why. Some relatives at home also went out, probably because it is easier to make money abroad. But Bei Dao and Zhang Ailing, they definitely didn't go abroad to work and make money, so why? There are two words I didn't know before, one is "exile" and the other is "political asylum". Zhang Ailing, who is famous for her love story, actually went to the United States to apply for political asylum as a refugee. Why apply for political asylum? Who persecuted her? Once I went to Hong Kong, I was surprised to see her Yangko and Love in the Red Land in a bookstore, because I had never heard of these two works in the mainland, and only after reading did I realize that they were originally written during the land reform period. These two books are still banned in mainland China. Later, when I learned that she went to Hong Kong in 1952, and learned a little about the sensational history of the early days of the republic, I was shocked to realize that this huge and unspeakable truth was hidden in the middle.

As for the North Island, the situation is similar. Unexpectedly, this famous poet was forced into exile due to political reasons for participating in the pro-democracy movement in 1989. At that time, there was another large group of people who were in exile for the same reasons. The entire 1989 pro-democracy movement has had a huge impact on Chinese society and even the history of the world until today; and those of us who grew up inside the walls and did not experience that era actually know nothing about it, or at least what we know about it. Cognition is definitely far from its place in history. The CCP has hijacked the state apparatus and made the June 4th incident systematically disappear from the media, books, and eyes to ensure that this incident does not exist in the limited and unreliable human memory, and falsifies history with lies.

Lincoln famously said: "You can fool all the people for a while, and you can fool some people for a long time, but you cannot fool all the people for a long time." The state machine can delete specific words, but it cannot erase the entire era Mark of. What happened in an era changed people's thinking, changed the relationship between people, changed the relationship between people and society, changed the relationship between people and the country, and these changes are irreversible. Those in exile, after all, have carved this experience into their lives, and a new wave of immigration seems to be brewing. The past, where many things happened, have not disappeared without a trace, and we are still listening to Cui Jian's songs and reading Bei Dao's poems today.

Life in exile and wandering abroad for decades must not be easy. I heard that Bei Dao can finally go back to Beijing, and I am very happy for him. "The youngest left home, the old one returned." When I was a child, I didn't feel much when I read this poem, but when I think about it now, I feel that this is really a thorn in our culture. Bei Dao has finally returned, but there are still many people who are drifting away who cannot return, and many are separated forever and ever. After the promulgation of the Hong Kong version of the National Security Law in 2020, a large number of Hong Kong people left their homes; this year, the outbreak of the epidemic in many places in China led to strict lockdown measures, especially in Shanghai, which led to many secondary disasters, and some people finally saw the lice on their gorgeous robes , so a new wave of immigrants emerged, euphemistically called "run" (run). Senior commentator Chang Ping also thought of his grandmother, and gave her the reputation of "running queen" .

In just one spring, I heard that the eight-child mother who was chained by the neck was abducted by her daughter, that Russia invaded Ukraine by force, that some people in the blocked cities could not buy food, and some people could not seek medical treatment... Bad news Constantly, perhaps the heaviest is seeing China being pulled by a huge force, unswervingly going in the wrong direction of history, and the front looks a lot like the era when Bei Dao people wrote hazy poems. The tragedy of history may be repeated and cannot be avoided. But at least we still have poetry and songs. Seniors who have experienced hardships tell us that someone must rewrite love.

believe in future.

This reading session did not read aloud, nor was it included in the book, Bei Dao's most famous "Answer":

 "Reply"

Vile is the passport of the vile,
Noble is the epitaph of the noble,
Behold, in that gilded sky,
Floating with crooked reflections of the dead.

The ice age has passed,
Why is there ice cream everywhere?
The Cape of Good Hope found,
Why are thousands of sails competing in the Dead Sea?

I came into this world,
With only paper and rope and figure,
For before the trial,
Read the voices of those who have been sentenced.

Let me tell you, the world I--don't--believe!
Even if there are a thousand challengers at your feet,
Then count me as one thousand and one.

I don't believe the sky is blue,
I don't believe the echo of Ray,
I don't believe that dreams are fake,
I don't believe in death without retribution.

If the ocean is doomed to burst its banks,
Let all the bitterness pour into my heart,
If the land is destined to rise,
Let mankind re-select the peak of survival.

New turning points and twinkling stars,
Filling the unobstructed sky.
That's five thousand years of hieroglyphics,
Those are the eyes of people in the future.

"Electric Shock" read by the guests at the reading meeting:

 "Electric Shock"

I once shook hands with an invisible person with a scream and my hands were scalded and branded When I shook hands with those visible people with a scream, their hands were scalded and branded I dare not touch others again Shaking hands I always hide my hands behind my back But when I pray to God, I clasped my hands together eleven screams left a mark in my heart

The title poem for this book club is from "We":

 "us"

Lost soul chasing spring with a lantern Scar shines, the cup turns the light is created to see that enchanting moment:
The thief sneaks into the post office, the letter shouts, nails, nails, the lyrics can't be changed, the firewood hugs each other tightly, looking for the listeners, looking for the heart of winter, the boatman waiting at the end of the river

 "Believe in the Future" ◎Forefinger When the spider web mercilessly seals up my hearth When the smoke of the ashes sighs the sorrow of poverty I still stubbornly flatten the ashes of disappointment Write down with beautiful snowflakes: Believe in the future when my purple grapes turn For the dew of late autumn, when my flowers are nestled in the feelings of others, I still stubbornly write on the desolate ground with the frosty vines: I believe in the future, I will use my fingers, the waves that rush to the sky, and I will hold them with my palms. The sea of the sun is swaying with the dawn. The warm and beautiful pen is written in the pen of a child: I believe in the future. I firmly believe in the future. Pupils Regardless of whether people's melancholy and the pain of failure are moved tears, deep sympathy, contemptuous smiles, and bitter ridicule for our rotten flesh , failures and successes will definitely give enthusiastic, objective and fair evaluations Yes, I am anxiously waiting for their evaluation friends, I firmly believe in the future, I believe in indomitable efforts, I believe in young people who conquer death, I believe in the future, and love life.

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Reading Beidao in troubled times: I just want to be a person in an era without heroes｜Girls' Book Club| Hong Kong 01

Bei Dao Theory | Online Edition of "21st Century"

The Rose of Difficulty Reborn——Reading Bei Dao's Poem "The Rose of Time"

Utopia imaginist | Bei Dao: Someone must rewrite love | WeChat live preview

Book Introduction: Someone must rewrite love | Douban Reading

Book Introduction: Someone Must Rewrite Love | Imaginist

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 * "The only way to deal with an unfree world is to make yourself absolutely free, and your very existence is resistance." - Camus, The Myth of Xerxesphus
*The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory and forgetting. – Milan. Kundera's "Laughing and Forgetting Book"
*Let's make a little firefly and light each other in the dark.