Bei Dao Influences

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In a nation where free speech is prohibited, speaking freely can get you into a lot of trouble. Zhao Zenkai, more commonly known as Bei Dao, is a renowned Chinese poet, who lived in China during its conversion to communism. Living during and experiencing the Cultural Revolution, which was a series of political and cultural reforms in China, heavily influenced his writing. He was a member of the Misty Poets, a group of poets in communist China that used abstract metaphors in their poems to speak out against what their nation was doing. China would often censor or ban their work in an attempt to suppress their influence on the common people of China. Finally, in 1989, following the massacre at Tiananmen Square, Bei Dao was exiled from China. However, this did not stop his poetic desire. Throughout his career, Bei Dao’s poetry was impacted by his life experiences. Bei Dao would commonly write poetry from a political perspective, touching on topics such as the negative effects of the Cultural Revolution, politically charged events such as the massacre at Tiananmen Square, and communism as a whole. He would also often write from a personal perspective towards what was going on around him.. …show more content…

Growing up, he supported his country. After the Cultural Revolution cut his education short, he even went so far as to join the Red Guards. The Red Guards were a group of youths in China who supported the government and used intimidation to scare any who opposed the new communist ideals. During his time in the Red Guards, however, he began to question China and communism as a whole. After deliberating the topic, he left the organization and, as a result, was sent to be a construction worker for ‘re-education’ (“Dao Bei - Biography in Context”). During these lonesome days was where his poetry career

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