"The last poet of the Nine Leaves School" Zheng Min died, and he studied in middle school in Nanjing

Modern Express News (reporter Wang Ziyang) "Golden rice bunches stand in / Cut autumn fields / I think of countless tired mothers ..." Once upon a time, the poetry of the "Nine Leaves School" came out of nowhere, influencing countless literary youth. And now, the spirited poets of that year are scattered and withered, gradually disappearing...

At 7 o'clock on January 3, 2022, Zheng Min, "the last poet of the Jiuye School", poetry critic, scholar and professor of the School of Foreign Chinese Literature of Beijing Normal University, died of illness in Beijing at the age of 102 due to illness.

Mr. Zheng Min, whose original surname was Wang, studied in middle school in Nanjing

Many people do not know that Zheng Min was actually originally surnamed Wang. She was a native of Minhou, Fujian, the Wang family had been a large family in Fuzhou, and her grandfather Wang Youdian was a well-known local poet. Her biological father studied in France and Belgium, specializing in mathematics. Her biological mother studied private school and was very fond of poetry.

Zheng Min recalled before his death that when he was young, he was passed over by his parents to his aunt, and then naturally changed his surname to Zheng with his uncle' surname, that is, his adoptive father. She once joked that she could live a long life, perhaps closely related to the family environment when she was a child.

When she was young, Zheng Min was frail and sickly, and her adoptive father often let her participate in sports activities. For a while, she went to work and live in the Liuhegou Coal Mine in Henan with her adoptive parents, and her adoptive father took her to climb the mountain every day, and encouraged her to learn to swim, exercise while also cultivating her strong will quality.

When he got older, Zheng Min's family moved to Nanjing. Born smart, she did not have time to finish the sixth grade, and was directly admitted to the Jiangsu Provincial Nanjing Girls' High School to attend junior high school. Her academic career in Nanjing had a great influence on her literary career, and here she was exposed to a large number of literary works, from Charlotte Brontë and Nietzsche to Li Yu and Li Qingzhao, she read no books. It was not until the flames of the War of Resistance Against Japan reached Nanjing that she and her family left the ancient capital.

Enrolled in the Southwest United University, under the influence of Feng Zhi, he embarked on the path of poetry

It is impossible to mention Zheng Min without mentioning her experience of studying at Southwest United University, where she received the teachings of many generous families. Zheng Min once recalled as many families: Wen Yiduo seemed very peculiar, while smoking a pipe, while lecturing; Bian Zhilin's poetic temperament was very strong, and his accent was also very heavy; Shen chose words and sentences, and lectured very slowly...

The greatest influence on Zheng Min was the famous poet and scholar Feng Zhi. At that time, Zheng Min was assigned to Feng Zhi's Devon class and also began to come into contact with his Sonnets. She said that after reading the "Sonnets", she was simply fascinated by Feng Zhi's poems and felt that his poems were permeated with philosophical atmosphere. This had an important influence on Zheng Min's later path of writing poetry and writing poems with "philosophy as a close neighbor".

Zheng Min said that in her third year of college, after a class, she handed a narrow paper book with poems to Mr. Feng Zhi outside the classroom and asked him for advice. The next day, Feng Zhi stood in the breeze, holding a cane in one hand, and handed the pamphlet of the poem manuscript back to Zheng Min with the other, saying in a characteristic, kind and sincere voice: "There are poems here, you can write them, but this is a road full of bumps." ”

After Zheng Min listened, he could not calm down for a long time, until Feng Zhi walked away. Perhaps it was at that moment, she said, that she was doomed to an indissoluble relationship with poetry.

Nanjing poets admire Zheng Min's "spiritual purity"

The Modern Express reporter found that after Zheng Min's death, social networks were full of mourning voices. Many people share their memories about Zheng Min and about the "Nine Leaf Sect". Jiuye poetry refers to a modern poetry genre in China in the 20th century, represented by Xin Di, Chen Jingrong, Tang Qi, Mu Dan, Zheng Min, etc., who pursue the balance between reality and art, sensibility and rationality in new poetry writing, which has a far-reaching influence.

"When I was in high school, I read Mr. Zheng Min's poems, the text is very beautiful, and there is a broad historical narrative and life construction, which is still fresh in my memory." Nanjing poet Ping Zi told reporters that in the 1980s, the poetry collection of the Jiuye School was very popular.

"At that time, there was a version of the nine-leaf school of poetry, which almost became the pillow book of our whole class. At that time, I also copied Mr. Zheng Min's "Golden Rice Bunch", which is still preserved. Those are all indelible memories of youth. Pingzi said that it was really sad to learn that Mr. Zheng Min had passed away, and she had a very important influence on her own words.

Huang Fan, a poet, novelist and professor at Nanjing University of Science and Technology, told reporters that when he learned the news of Mr. Zheng Min's death, he was in a foreign country, and he was surprised and shocked and sad at the first time. "I have great respect for Mr. Zheng Min, and this respect is not only for Mr. Zheng Min's poetry, but also for her clear character."

He recalled that he and Mr. Zheng Min once had a relationship. "I remember that ten years ago, I went to her house with Tang Xiaodu, Nishikawa and other friends to visit her old man's home, she was 92 years old at the time, and she didn't talk much during the whole chat, but she showed a quick thinking, a clear understanding of people and things, and the spiritual purity she tried to maintain was admired by me."

"She gave me the impression that a poet who likes to be alone, her own spiritual world, but not ignorant of the world, just unwilling to be in it, she really exudes a clear breath and style." 」 Huang Fan said.

(Courtesy photo)