An Interview With Xue Di
conducted by Melanie Greenhouse
MG: After your harrowing escape from security police following the Tiananman Square demonstration, how difficult was it to get a plane ticket & visa out of China? What was your destination?
XD: My former translator bought the plane ticket for me in the US; I had no problem securing a visa from the American Embassy. In fact, the undersecretary in the Embassy sped up the time to issue me a visa because he knew that I was politically in a horrible stage. I got the visa quickly, and that was an important factor which enabled me to leave China immediately.
MG: In other interviews, you’ve spoken of how dangerous it was to be a poet in China because poets tell the truth. On your return to China in 1996, did you sense the same degree of danger?
XD: In 1996 and even now, there was and is a great danger for poets, artists and common people who speak the truth; who tell the true feelings of their lives without fear of persecution. The inhuman situation will continue unless the politicians open their minds and accept democracy.
MG: You spoke of a tragic childhood that was redeemed primarily through literature. What, besides literature, rescued you from becoming a hostile teenager? Adult?
XD: Poetry. Yes, it was poetry and the pursuit of being a poet. The understanding of poetry saved me from being a mean or hostile man. Poetry is supposed to be filled with love; longing of love; appreciation of beauty and nature; belief in hopes and dreams; deep understanding of human desperation, difficulties and joy in our lives. To write more poems, good ones, to determine to be a good poet, requires one to be a decent human being. The purer and kinder we are, the more power is contained in the poetry we create, which covers and penetrates more levels of human living experiences. The poetry will be more as itself to display the origin and transfer the force. The higher level I am in writing poetry, the deeper and stronger belief and understanding I have to present myself as being decent. Thank you so much for asking this question.
MG: Could you talk a bit about the Chinese aesthetic and approach to writing?
XD: We believe in the spirits. We believe everything has its own spirit. A tree, the wind, a narrow meandering river. We believe there are many lives within a human life; you do the kind and right things and then you will get good returns. We believe in following the spirit more than following the material. Perhaps I should say we used to believe in…Because now things have changed, have sadly changed a lot. To talk about the Chinese aesthetic, the best examples would be the poetry created during the Tang and Sung Dynasties. These poems were very abstract, but full of fresh and beautiful imagery and symbols, carrying the spirits of living to fly. They were very melodic, compelling and picturesque, but layers of meanings were deposited within. They are spiritual, detailed and heartwarming!
MG: What is the most striking comparison you can make between American & Chinese poets?
XD: American poets put more focus on the details of objects; details of experiences; details of the writing process. So the written work presents much more clarity and sharpness. Chinese poets put more focus on the whole appearance of objects; the strength and broadness of the experience; the wholeness of the writing process. So the written work presents more of a macrocosm of its receptivity and perception, yet is more abstract and vague.
MG: Do you feel American poets might be too stuck in the present, possibly losing a spiritual connection with the past?
XD: This is a fast paced country; such a free country which embraces all kinds of new things and objects. The modern technologies change Americans’ daily lives in unpredictable ways. This is the reason why American poets are stuck more in the present: they live the same speed as that of the modern world. The United States does not have a long history; the modern era is much more striking and stunning, that’s also another reason why American poets are going with the present. Ancient countries, like China, are much more developed from the past; we do not treasure the present as much as we treasure the past. The ancient countries are more focused on the spirits and histories than on the living materials. That’s why the Eastern poets are connected with the past much more than the Western poets.
MG: Would you care to comment on the translation process? Your work with Keith Waldrop?
XD: I am very happy and grateful for Keith’s translations. I am very satisfied with his precise and beautiful translations of my work.
MG: Please comment on your attraction to the work of Van Gogh.
XD: The reason that I love Van Gogh’s paintings is that he devoted his life to art and to his spiritual desires. That spiritual desire of living in his heart and in his honesty—to display himself as a true and original human being—has deeply impacted me. Like Van
Gogh, I appreciate nature; I prefer being alone in nature than to be among crowds. Nature has given me inspiration and revelations of life. When I am quietly in nature, I can hear nature talk, that always gives me great happiness and makes me appreciate life in a deeper way. I admire Van Gogh’s ability to burn through his existence and creativity, and transfer such beauty, inspiration and love to all. A love which seems so lonely and full of grief, yet it’s powerful and poignant. His love tells us to be ourselves, to love and give, no matter what the circumstances.
MD: In your transition from a country with oppressive government policies to a country with relative freedom of speech, what effect has this had on your writing?
XD: To live as myself; to write, publish and speak without fear, this has all changed my life to the good forever. I can live honestly, with dignity, with sincerity, with my true wish. In the absence of fear, I can hear myself much clearer and deeper, I can understand and interpret my existence, and live in society in an original and undistorted way. I am in a good position to write pure and forceful poetry.
MG: Are you in touch with former colleagues in China? E-mail? Do you export any American poets? Which ones? Which Chinese poets do you promote in the U.S.?
XD: I am still in touch with my literary friends in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, through phone calls, email and regular mail. So far, I have only read American poetry in translation in Chinese, so I don’t feel competent enough to name some poets but not others. I will answer this question when I can read in English, then I won’t be prejudiced by the selected translations. For Chinese poets, I still would rather mention the classical poets, such as Du Fu, Li Po, Tao Yuanming, Qu Yuan, Bai Juyi, Li He, Li Shangyin, etc.