"100 Days to Tell 100 Stories of the Communist Party of China's Foreign Exchanges" No. 38
"The land of China,
I want to speak to you,
Use only the language of the earth,
Using only the green language of rice,
Use only the language of crimson flames. ”
This is an affectionate poem left by the Nobel Prize winner and the famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda in "Song of the Land of China". In his lifetime, he wrote many poems praising the revolutionary struggles of the people of the world, and at the same time, he also came to China three times, leaving a large number of poems praising China in his immortal chapters.
More than once in his poems he expressed support for the revolution led by the Chinese Communist Party. In 1949, he praised Chairman Mao Zedong as a great poet and praised Chairman Mao for triumphantly leading a war that would change the fate of millions of people. In 1950, he wrote in an inscription in a translation of the Collected Poems of Neruda: "Long live, Mao! Long live, People's China! Premier Zhou Enlai praised him as "the first swallow of the Spring of Friendship between China and Latin America."
Neruda on the Great Wall
In 1951, Neruda visited China for the second time. The experience of traveling in China more than 20 years ago has left him with a bleak scene of war and chaos, people's livelihood and the world. However, more than 20 years later, as the Chinese Communist Party led the revolution to victory, the whole country took on a new look, and he was amazed by the purity of social morality. Neruda spoke highly of Chinese, saying, "Chinese the most smiling person in the world. They laughed and lived through relentless colonialism, revolution, starvation and massacre, and no nation knew how to laugh better than they did. The laughter of Chinese children is the most beautiful rice harvested in this populous country. With a strong interest in China, he wrote a long poem "The Song of New China" about the various perceptions of this short trip, enthusiastically praising the new China. In the final stanza of the long poem, "Tribute to China," Neruda writes:
"Now, the people of the whole world see clearly,
Your vast land has been united and united,
You are as swift and powerful as the wind.
Your sharp axe slashes at the adulterer,
The light of victory pierces the enemy,
Ah, victorious republic,
Stretch out your arms and embrace the whole land,
Lay the foundation for your eternal peace! ”
In 1957, Neruda came to China for the third time. He found that the country had undergone more dramatic changes. Five years ago, everyone on the streets, men and women, young and old, everyone wore blue simple overalls, but now the vast number of Chinese people have changed into colorful and better textured clothes, and the streets have become a wonderful rainbow. He lamented the rapid development of China's textile industry and the ingenuity of Chinese laborers, praising: "This nation will not create anything ugly at all, even the most primitive straw shoes are like flowers made of straw." ”
He also went deep into various parts of China with the famous Chinese poet Ai Qing and other literary and artistic friends to investigate the people's sentiments, lamenting that "the vast land, hard work and gradually eliminated injustices will eventually make the beautiful, broad and profound Chinese flourish." It was during this trip that he wrote a long poem full of deep love, "Song of the Land of China", which he personally recited to the Chinese audience at a rally in Beijing. He declared to the world, "Chinese is creating its own earth. ”
Neruda and Ai Qing boated the Yangtze River
After leaving China, Neruda still cared about China's revolution and construction for a long time, and was one of the founders of the Chilean-Chinese Friendship Association, the earliest friendly Chinese organization in Latin America, and made important contributions to enhancing the friendship between the two peoples and promoting the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Chile. When the Chinese delegation returned to the United Nations, the representative of Chile welcomed it with a message and quoted Neruda's poetry in praise of China. Until the end of his life, he remembered the unforgettable days he spent in China.