China News Service, Kaifeng, April 22, Telegram: Dialogue with Poetry Critic Geng Zhanchun: Reading ancient poems is my moment of enjoyment
Author Kan Li Li Chaoqing
After the lunch break, at the Poetry Cloud Book Club at the east gate of Henan University, Geng Zhanchun sat in the corner with a cup of black tea and read "The Collection of Du Fu".
On the eve of World Book Day, he was invited to accept an exclusive interview with a reporter from Chinanews.com.
The meeting place is right here.
"Pour some cups of tea."
"It's ready, or the tea you put here."
From the simple conversation between Geng Zhanchun and the owner of the bookstore, as well as several photos of him hanging in a prominent position in the bookstore, it can be seen that this is his permanent place.
Geng Zhanchun, born in 1957, is a judge of the Lu Xun Literature Award, a professor at Henan University, and a researcher at the Institute of New Poetry at Peking University.
Recently, he has lived in Henan University in Kaifeng, the ancient capital, teaching master and doctoral students.
In the Chinese poetry world, he is a poet and a scholar of poetry theory, and has long written literary criticism.
Author of representative works such as "Metaphor" and "The Observer's Illusion".
The first time I met Geng Zhanchun was at the 2014 Shennong Mountain Poetry Society.
At this meeting, he still has the gray beard that he wore many years ago.
In the dialogue with reporters, each of his answers was concise and full, and his words were simple and gentle.
On the eve of World Book Day, Geng Zhanchun (right) was interviewed by a reporter from Chinanews.com.
Photo by Li Chaoqing
In the world of poetry, Du Fu is a must-have name.
Geng Zhanchun is the same.
"Du Fu is a poet who takes history into poetry. Since the birth of modern poetry, the characteristics of this writing have become more and more clear." Geng Zhanchun said, "This is not only to express the emotions of a subject like other classical poetry, but also to express our the world to live in."
Geng Zhanchun, who is devoted to the study of modern literature, often reads classical literature including Du Fu's poems.
In his view, today's life brings a lot of anxiety and anxiety, and classical poetry is like an antidote to modern life, "can have a lot of resonance with your heart."
"As soon as you read a classical poem, you will be enveloped by the momentum of 'the stars are falling and the plains are wide, and the moon is flowing in the river'." Geng Zhanchun's words made reporters feel the same way.
He told reporters that after engaging in literary criticism and research, his main energy has been on modern poetry. "The classical poetry that has been accumulated for a long time basically does not require critics to make new judgments."
"There is no problem if you like Li Bai, Du Fu, Wang Wei, and Meng Haoran. Their poems are all amazing, and they have passed through time." In Geng Zhanchun's view, nowadays, with so many modern poems, the readers' judgment and cognition Power is a big challenge, "modern poetry can throw you into all kinds of chaos and disorder".
Having said that, the contemporary readers of poetry cannot avoid the times of life, they need to understand modern poetry, as well as the emotion, mentality and spiritual state of the modern poet.
Geng Zhanchun said with a smile, "I take reading classical poetry as a moment of escape and a moment of enjoyment."
He believes that poets usually write about themselves, but in recent years they have begun to pay attention to reality, and they can write what is happening into modern poetry, or create with certain events as the main body. This is a visible influence of Du Fu's poetry.
As he once said, many of Du Fu's poems have entered the blood of our language and become a part of Chinese.
At the end of the interview, Geng Zhanchun, who has been paying attention to the Du Fu Poetry Festival for many years, sent a message to the "Eighth Du Fu International Poetry Week" that will be launched in the near future, not only discussing Du Fu in the history of poetry, but also in a deeper history and a broader context. In culture, to study him comparatively, "I think we can do some expansion work around Poetry Week." (End)