On the Surge of New Chinese Poetry

This article is a reconsideration of the course of the development of the New Chinese Poetry in the twentieth century. The article points out that poetry can often become the premonition of social reform. Poetry can be overcharged with other functions beyond the artistic function. The basic emotion of the new poetry appearing in 1979 and the following new poetry trend is sentimentality and gloominess in which is embodied the best corporation of ancient collective consciousness and unfamiliar individual consciousness. The artistic form changes, but the essence of poetry does not change or changes very little. The trend of new poetry is the introduction to Scar Literature, Reflection Literature and Root-seeking Literature. The value of the new poetry trend is to give a full stop to the revolutionary poetry movement in its self-completion and to give a colon to the second poetry revolution in its self-trial. The discovery of the inner world of life by the new poetry trend not only provides a brand-new land for the following new thoughts but also enables the Chinese new poetry to break the barrier of nationality so as to enter world modern poetry.