Huang Zunxian: The first generation of Chinese poets who went to the world

Huang Zunxian was born in 1848 between the two Opium Wars. His generation of late Qing dynasty literati saw that the country was in decline, increasingly weak and closed, and needed enlightenment and change.

Huang Zunxian has a poem "Double Swallow", in which "Luofu" is written about a fairy mountain in China and the image of the whole of China.

"Luo Fu slept, tried to summon the crane to call the dragon, by whom to wake up?" Dust sealed Dan stove, leaving the stars and moon cold. If you want to ask the family of Xianjing, where to find, the wind and fog sideburns? Only should be independent and sing the summit of Wanfeng Peak.

Wild Trail. Basil is semi-hidden. Fortunately, there is no one in the empty valley, and the shelter should be stable. Leaning on the dangerous building, I saw the clouds and flowers. Looking back at the waves like a mirror, the old shadows suddenly appeared and flew in. And the sorrows and storms merge, turning into a fairyland for others. ”

Reading this poem makes people feel the same heartache as the author, and they have an independent and vast mind. In the context of the Era when the Qing Dynasty was faced with the inability of the Western powers to save itself, this inscription given to a friend wrote the author's grand and deep sense of distress and the broad mind of shouldering the heavy responsibility of history. Even if Huang Zunxian has only this one word, he is a rather outstanding poet.

Huang Zunxian is known as the "teacher of innovation in the poetry world" and is also known as "the first person in modern China to go to the world". In 1877, at the age of 29, Huang Zunxian was appointed counsellor in Japan, the beginning of more than a decade of diplomat career. During his four-year term of office, he composed more than 200 "Japanese Miscellaneous Poems" based on Japanese history, politics, scenery, customs, etc., and opened up new contents of classical Chinese poetry. His poems were so popular that some Japanese called him "the master of cutting clouds and sewing the moon".

After leaving Japan, Huang Zunxian went to the United States and served as consul general in San Francisco. As soon as he set foot on the American continent, he encountered an anti-Chinese incident, and many expatriates were arrested and filled with prisons. Through his efforts, all the overseas Chinese who were arrested were released. He also used international law to gain the right of the consul general to issue licenses to Chinese workers. Since then, he has experienced overseas envoy careers in Britain and Singapore.

He spent eight or nine years and did a very bold thing, that is, he wrote more than 500,000 words of "National History of Japan" with the mission of the "small pedestrians" of the Zhou Dynasty who walked in the four directions at the behest of the state and collected and reported on the situation in the four directions. The book provides a comprehensive introduction to the current situation in Japan, and also details the history of the Meiji Restoration in Japan, discussing the process of Japan's reform and the pros and cons of gains and losses. Unfortunately, this monumental work was published too late, and by the time it had an impact on Chinese intellectuals, it was already after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, China's defeat and peace, and the forced payment of land reparations.

Liang Qichao commented that Huang Zunxian's "Chronicle of Japan" could not be circulated for 10 years, "so that Chinese know little about Japan, do not learn, do not prepare, do not suffer, do not fear, to this day also." Others attribute China's defeat in the Sino-Japanese War to not seeing the Chronicle of Japan early, which also reflects the value of this tome that opened Chinese's eyes to understand the world.

Opposing the great powers, defending the country, and changing the law to become stronger are important themes in Huang Zunxian's poetry. In these works, he celebrates the War of Resistance, attacks surrender, and is full of patriotic passion. Many of these chapters are grand in scale and very bold.

Huang Zunxian said: "Gou can be what the body encounters, what the eyes see, what the ears hear, and the pen is in the poetry, why should the ancients be?" I have my own poet. So he advocated a poetic revolution of "I write my mouth by hand." His poems use "old style with new artistic conceptions", describing new things overseas, broadening the field of reflecting life, recording what Chinese intellectuals who go abroad see and feel, and opening up a new space for ancient and near-body poetry to express real life.

For example, when he climbed the Eiffel Tower in Paris, he saw and thought: "A panoramic view of the world, the five continents are in the palm of your hand." Not only to the top of the mountain, but also to think of the wind. And his feelings when sailing on the sea: "The world of stars is all over the heavens, not counting three thousand and a thousand." If there is a guest in the chalk, look back at my earth circle. ”

Huang Zunxian has a nickname of "master of the human realm", which is taken from Tao Yuanming's famous sentence "The knot is in the human realm, and there is no car and horse". His former residence is also named after the "Renjing Lu", which has a short link that he wrote in his later years: "Cool in the morning, autumn in the late season", which is a portrayal of his life.

"Chao Lai Shuang Qi" refers to his early years: he sent envoys to various countries in the world, set off a revolution in the poetry circle, and then spread the idea of restoration, implemented the New Deal in Hunan, and walked in the forefront of the times. "Late Autumn Rong" refers to his later years: he was the leader of the Reform faction during the Penghu Reform Movement, and after the failure of the Reform Movement, he was one of the few survivors of the Reform Faction, and he has continued to follow the times since then.

"I am a native of the East, West, South, and North, and I have always called myself a storm dweller. In the past half of the century, the continent has traveled four times, and the homeland has been left for fifty springs. "He is the Chinese poet who has left the most footprints overseas, and he is also the Chinese poet with the broadest vision in the past and the present."

Guest Editor: Dong Xueren

Source: China Youth Daily client