Shu Ting (; born 1952 in Jinjiang,

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its ...

) is the pen name of Gong Peiyu (), a modern Chinese poet associated with the

Misty Poets The Misty Poets () are a group of 20th-century Chinese poets who reacted against the restrictions on art during the Cultural Revolution. They are so named because their work has been officially denounced as "obscure", "misty", or "hazy" poetry ('' ...

. She began writing poetry in the 1970's and later had her works published.

Life

Shu Ting grew up in Jinjiang, Fujian. However, as a teenager her father was accused of ideological aberrance and moved her to the countryside. Upon her return to Fujian, she took up job positions at a cement factory, a textile mill, and a lightbulb factory. She began to write poetry and, in 1979, published her first poem and was one of the first people to have her work published in the underground journal ''Jīntiān'' ''(Today).'' She became part of the group known as the

. Other Misty Poets include

Bei Dao Bei Dao (, born August 2, 1949) is the pen name of the Chinese-American writer Zhao Zhenkai (S: 赵振开, T: 趙振開, P: ''Zhào Zhènkāi''). Among the most acclaimed Chinese-language poets of his generation, he is often regarded as a candida ...

, Gu Cheng, Fei Ye, and

Duo Duo Duo Duo or Duoduo (, born 1951) is the pen name of contemporary Chinese poet, Li Shizheng (栗世征), a prominent exponent of the Chinese Misty Poets (朦胧诗). Duo Duo was awarded the 2010 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. Biogr ...

. The journal, ''Jīntiān'' ran from 1978 to 1980 until

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. Aft ...

, a new Chinese statesman halted the publication due to suspicions of ideological nonconformity. In the early 1980s, she achieved prominence as the leading female representative of the

. She was the only Misty Poet given official government support. Because of this she worked clandestinely with other poets such as Gu Cheng and

. Her first collection, '' Shuangwei Chuan'' appeared in 1982, as did a joint-collection with Gu Cheng. She married her husband Zhongyi Chen in 1982. She was asked to join the official Chinese Writers' Association, and won the National Outstanding Poetry Award in 1981 and 1983. During the "anti-spiritual pollution" movement that was launched in 1983, she, like other writers that were thought to be subversive by the state, was heavily criticized. Following this, she published two collections with poetry: ''Hui changge de yiweihua'' and ''Shizuniao''.

Works

''The mist of my heart: selected poems of Shu Ting''
Translator William O'Donnell, Panda Books, 1995,

(ed. by Eva Hung). Hong Kong: Renditions Paperbacks, 1994.
Shu,Ting. ''Shuang Wei Chuan''
Shanghai: Shanghai wen yi chu ban she, 1982. Print.

Writing style

Shu Ting's writing style is known to be very straightforward. Andrea Lingenfelter's describes Shu Ting in her review of ''Selected Poems. An Authorized Collection by Eva Hung:'' "her attitude sidealistic, patriotic, and yet apolitical. In terms of form, the poet takes few, if any, risks." Her work is also known to have somewhat of a feminine voice, characterized by a personal style. At the time it stood out because of the contrast of styles between what was being advanced by the government. Many of her works were published during the Cultural Revolution and were scrutinized by the government, even if they did not have direct political references.

Anthology inclusions

* * * *

External links

References

Bibliography

* Kubin, Wolfgang. “Writing with Your Body: Literature as a Wound— Remarks on the Poetry of Shu Ting.” ''Modern Chinese Literature'', vol. 4, no. 1/2, 1988, pp. 149–162. ''JSTOR'', www.jstor.org/stable/41490632. *Lingenfelter, Andrea. ''Modern Chinese Literature'', vol. 9, no. 2, 1996, pp. 395–397. ''JSTOR'', www.jstor.org/stable/41490766. * Yeh, Michelle. “Misty Poetry.” ''The Columbia Companion to Modern Chinese Literature'', Columbia University Press, 2016, pp. 286–292. *Zhang, Yingjin. ''A Companion to Modern Chinese Literature''. John Wiley & Sons, 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:Shu, Ting 1952 births Hokkien people Chinese women poets Living people People from Quanzhou Poets from Fujian Misty poets 20th-century Chinese women writers 20th-century Chinese writers 21st-century Chinese women writers 21st-century Chinese writers