From China: Three readers and a composer

Thursday night, Rackham Auditorium: readings by Yu Hua, Ha Jin and Bei Dao. The name Ha Jin, National Book Award winner in 1999, would draw the American audience, and the other two would pull in the Chinese. Boon and I went because we'd both read some of Ha Jin's work. Several years ago, Ha Jin came to Borders in Ann Arbor to read, and I went away a little unimpressed because I didn't learn anything new from the reading.

After tonight's reading, I didn't really learn anything new from Ha Jin's reading again, but I enjoyed the other two readings by Yu Hua and Bei Dao. Yu Hua is a fiction writer, and his second novel To Live was made into a film by Zhang Yimou. Of course, the movie was banned in China and this sort of things always does wonders to the sales of your book and ups your celebrity status. The excerpt he chose to read was set during the Cultural Revolution, and a father cooks imaginary food for his hungry children because it's his birthday. I was pleased that I could grasp most of Yu Hua's reading in Mandarin. (Peter Ho Davies read the English translation.) Of course, I gather that I understood the Mandarin because the text was about food and cooking, contexts I'm very familiar with so the words weren't difficult.

Not so when it came to Bei Dao's poetry reading. First off, Bei Dao has amazing diction. I've never heard anyone speak more beautiful Mandarin. Poetry in English can be difficult as it is, so Chinese verses were swathes of wondrous, colorful, I-don't-really-know-what-I'm-hearing words. This didn't bother me. The graceful enunciation of the poet kept me awake and content. When the lines were delivered by Linda Gregerson in English, my enjoyment went a step further as the meanings arrived. Even in translation, the poetry seemed no less beautiful. Bei Dao has already been on the short list of candidates for the Nobel Prize. He was a Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution and his work aims to identify both public and private wounds, and targets afflicted people. He was forced into exile after the Tiananmen Square Massacre and now teaches in California.

Selections from Bright Sheng's CD, China Dreams, were played during each reading. Bright Sheng teaches at the music school here at University of Michigan, and according to my friend, Peiming, is a "big-shot" - a MacArthur Fellow and Leonard Bernstein Distinguished University Professor of Music (he was taught by Leonard Bernstein). The compositions featured music on pipa and cello, and were quite lovely.

Naturally, the groupie instinct drove me to get two of Bei Dao's poetry collections and then directed me to the table where he sat signing books.

An interesting night, as Boon pointed out, with his hairdresser from the Chinese hair salon buying poetry books and waiting for autographs. A large turnout of Chinese students and residents in Ann Arbor. One couldn't help but feel patriotic. Or in my case, pretty pleased about my ethnic heritage. Four years ago, when I was graduating and receiving an award for a piece of fiction set during the Cultural Revolution, the emcee mistakenly referred to me as a Chinese citizen, and that the story was based on family history, thereby inferring that my parents were Red Guards! This, even after I'd submitted a bio indicating that I am Singaporean, that I'd never been to China and had to carry out research before I could write the story. I was mortified for my family who was present, but well, as Lin Kiat said later, never mind, let the audience think you're from China, let them think that a little Chinese girl is capable of winning an award from the English department!

Posted by Monoceros at March 11, 2004 10:29 PM