LIU Zhang: trekking on the road of poetry

LIU Zhang is the only poet who depicts farmers among the poets of older generation after the founding of new China. His poems are unrivalled in the marked local flavour. Brought up in the countryside, he steeled himself in the rough circumstances; thus, his theme of industry, love and devotion is embodied in his poems, yearning for a better life. His poems before the 1970s imply his depression and hesitation in the careless and free tone, while his later poems seem open and mature, giving expression to a combination of joy and anxiety, of quiet and spur. He consistently keeps the country as the theme; at the same time, he extends the range of subjects. Many poems of the subjects of travel and social life are quite realistic and thought-provoking. In the respect of the form, his poems develop from free verse to varieties; especially in the absorption of the classic poetry they reflect his thorough understanding and skilful application.