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Zhang Zao

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Zhang Zao
张枣
Born(1962-12-29)December 29, 1962
Changsha, Hunan, China
DiedMarch 8, 2010(2010-03-08) (aged 47)
Tübingen University Hospital (Universitätsklinikum Tübingen), Germany
Notable workLetters in Four Seasons (poem collection)

Zhang Zao (simplified Chinese: 张枣; traditional Chinese: 張棗; pinyin: Zhāng Zǎo; December 29, 1962 – March 8, 2010) was one of the most important Chinese poets of the 20th century. He was considered one of the "Five Masters from Sichuan" (巴蜀五君子) in the 80s' Chinese poetry scene, along with other famous poets Bai Hua (simplified Chinese: 柏桦; traditional Chinese: 柏樺), Ouyang Jianghe (欧阳江河; 歐陽江河), Zhai Yongming (翟永明), and Zhong Ming (钟鸣; 鐘鳴).[nb 1][1][2] These poets are sometimes said to belong to the "Post-Hermeticist School" (后赫耳墨斯学派; 後赫耳墨斯學派; German: die Posthermetische Schule) of poetry.[1][3]

Zhang's writing was sparse, having written for half a century but left behind only about 130 poems.[4] He is arguably most famous for his debut poem in his early twenties, titled In the Mirror (《镜中》; 《鏡中》),[5] with the much quoted lines, "once regrets come to mind, plum blossoms fall and cover the Southern Mountain" (只要想起一生中后悔的事 / 梅花便落满了南山).[6] His style of poetry is described as "enigmatic", "complex" and "elegant", balancing between contemporary techniques and various aspects of classical Chinese literature aesthetics.[7][8] Being able to speak English, German and French, as well as Russian and Latin to some degree of familiarity, He was also able to write with a certain sort of "multilingualist" property, drawing inspirations from other languages.[8]

Zhang died of lung cancer on 8 March 2010 at the age of 48 at Tübingen University Hospital in Germany.[9] The only collection of his works published pre-humously is Letters in Four Seasons (《春秋来信》) , which contains 63 poems, selected by the poet himself.[10]

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Some include Sun Wenbo (孙文波; 孫文波) in the list, while either excluding Zhong Ming or excluding Zhang Zao.

References

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  1. ^ a b Leipold, Alexandra (2011). Die Fünf Meister aus Sichuan die posthermetischen Lyriker Bai Hua, Zhang Zao, Zhong Ming, Ouyang Jianghe und Zhai Yongming = (Sichuan-wu-junzi). Hamburg: Disserta-Verl. ISBN 978-3-942109-62-8. OCLC 725017714.
  2. ^ Cheng, Guangwei (2003). Zhongguo dang dai shi ge shi = Zhongguo dangdai shigeshi. Beijing: Zhongguo ren min da xue chu ban she. ISBN 7-300-04714-9. OCLC 54528263.
  3. ^ Zhang, Guangxin (2013). Ci qing jian shi : Zhongguo dang dai xin shi de yue du yu xiang xiang (BOD 1 ban ed.). Taibei Shi: 秀威資訊科技股份有限公司. ISBN 978-986-326-064-6. OCLC 846125706.
  4. ^ Zhang, Zao (2010). Zhang Zao de shi (Beijing di 1 ban ed.). Beijing Shi: Ren min wen xue chu ban she. ISBN 978-7-02-008174-5. OCLC 692162731.
  5. ^ 颜炼军编; 颜炼军, eds. (2020). Hua ou hua gu de dang dai Han yu shi yi. Zhang Zao yan jiu ji (Di 1 ban ed.). Beijing: 华文出版社. ISBN 978-7-5075-5323-9. OCLC 1227915405.
  6. ^ Zhang, Zao (2017). Chun qiu lai xin (Di 1 ban ed.). Beijing: Bei jing shi yue wen yi chu ban she. ISBN 978-7-5302-1643-9. OCLC 1050541989.
  7. ^ "About Poetry International Archives - Poetry International". www.poetryinternational.org. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
  8. ^ a b "《洞见》第133期:众人忆张枣_洞见频道_凤凰网". culture.ifeng.com. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
  9. ^ 芮虎. "若枣之性 如鹤之舞——与张枣之父忆诗人". Archived from the original on 2019-03-30. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  10. ^ 春秋来信. 北京十月文艺出版社. February 2017. ISBN 978-7-5302-1643-9.