BEIJING, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Four years ago, in October, the famous poet Chen Chao left this world. This year, his student and poetry critic Huo Junming completed a 480,000-word book, "The Reincarnated Peach Blossom : A Biography of Chen Chao", which reviews the teacher's fortunate and unfortunate life and was recently published. He said that through this book, he wanted to present the depth and complexity of a poet's soul, as well as a deep nostalgia for the teacher.
Data chart: "Reincarnated Peach Blossom - Chen Chao's Commentary". Photo by Li Xiaowei
The Biography of Chen Chao records the life of the late poet
Chen Chao, a famous poet, was the vice chairman of the Hebei Writers Association, a professor and doctoral supervisor of the College of Literature of Hebei Normal University.
He is the author of many works such as "Treatise on the Poetics of Life" and "Opening the Drifting Bottle of Poetry - Modern Poetry Research", and won many awards such as the Third "Lu Xun Literature Award" and the Sixth "Zhuang Chongwen Literature Award". Chen Chao's literary research is extensive, especially the study of modern poetics, which enjoys a high reputation at home and abroad.
After his death, it took three years for Huo Junming to complete "The Reincarnated Peach Blossom - Chen Chao's Commentary".
It is understood that this is the first biography of the famous poet and poetry critic Chen Chao. The book not only records Chen Chao's childhood and adolescence, but also records the small fragments of his lifelong love and family life.
In order to write the book, Huo Junming said that he read Chen Chao's manuscripts, letters, diaries and other important personal materials, and almost read through the diaries, letters and biographies of other important writers and poets he collected.
"The death of the teacher had a big impact on me. At one point, I had palpitations, panic and even heartache when I looked through my teacher's past materials. Huo Junming said, therefore, he did not deliberately suppress strong feelings in his writing, but used the poet's prose style to write and narrate, hoping to present the life of the poet Chen Chao as originally as possible.
Remembrance: Writing to friends a lot is a very reliable person
In the eyes of friends, what kind of person is Chen Chao?
The poet Xie Mian felt that Chen Chao was a very reliable person, and he liked him at first sight, "But now that I read this book, he is only in his 50s and has gray hair." I'm a little sentimental, having gray hair so early, and how much pressure he's undergone in life, we don't know. ”
In July 2004, Chen Chao (right) and his family of three were in Shenzhen. Photo by Xu Jingya
"I think Chen Chao has a big feature: writing letters. He would often write letters to friends. After I came to Beijing, I also sent me at least five letters. Poetry critic Zhang Qinghua, who has known Chen Chao for more than 20 years, recalled, "Chen Chao will have an inner exchange with you in the letter, indicating that he is very affectionate and righteous, and he is also a person who expects emotional exchange." ”
Specific to his works, Zhang Qinghua has always felt that Chen Chao is a "poet critic" - to go deep into the authenticity of poetry with the background of a poet, and to perceive poetry on the basis of inner understanding, "He integrates the life impulse of poetry writing into poetry criticism and poetry research, so I think he is a poet and critic with spiritual portrait significance."
A depressed person struggles
However, the excellent poet in the eyes of this student and critic is forever frozen in 2014. In October of that year, Chen Chao chose to say goodbye to the world by suicide. When the bad news came out, many people couldn't believe it. But Huo Junming knew that the teacher had been suffering from depression and had been fighting with it for many years until the day of his death.
Some people have speculated that Chen Chao's only son has an intellectual disability, which is an important reason for his heavy psychological burden. Children need to be cared for all the time. In addition to heavy work, it will undoubtedly bring great pressure to Chen Chao.
"After discovering the illness, Teacher Chen Chao was optimistic." Huo Junming confirmed this statement to reporters, recalling that in those years, Teacher Chen Chao's work was not affected in any way. Relatives and friends around me did not find too many abnormalities.
It has been reported that on the night of Chen Chao's illness, he was still grading homework for graduate students and doctoral students.
Unfortunately, Chen Chao finally chose to leave this world. After his death, he left behind a sick only son and an elderly mother, and his family was not wealthy, and some people have proposed to donate money to his bereaved family.
Today, four years later, there are still people who miss him and his poetry. Once, when Huo Junming came to the place where he and Chen Chao had a meeting and class, he said that he suddenly had red circles in his eyes, "We will always remember this gentle and enthusiastic teacher." (End)