Biography of Huang Xiang
Born on December 26, 1941, a native of Guidong County of Human Province, China, Mr.
Huang Xiang earned his nation-wide fame in a unique way. His father, Huang Xianming,
studied at the Empire University in Tokyo, Japan, in his early youth. Once a high-ranking
official in the Kuomingdang Army, Huang Xianming was shot to death in jail by secret
order in Mainland China. A graduate of the Chinese Department of Fudan University in
Shanghai, Huang Xiang's mother, Gui Xueshan, lost touch with her dear son, Huang
Xiang for virtually half a country after the liberation of the county. With his family in
straitened circumstances and because of class bias, Huang Xiang lost opportunities to go
to school from early childhood. But relying on self-study, Huang Xiang read widely and
obtained wide knowledge in many fields such as literature, philosophy, politics, and
religion.
Beginning in 1958, Huang Xiang's poems were published in “the Nation-wide Selection
of Poems, 1958”. He was a member of the Guizhou Branch of the Writers Association of
China, the youngest member at that. But not long after, he was persecuted politically and
was expelled from the Writers Association of China. Ever since the 1960s, Huang Xiang
has been engaged in the prolonged secret creation of literary works in Mainland China.
Directed against the acute bondage of the totalitarian ideology, he fought fierce spiritual
fights politically, ideologically, and culturally to safe-guard the conscience of humanity,
freedom of spirit and the independence of humanity, freedom of spirit, and the
independence and development of the individualism of life. From 1959 to 1995, Huang
Xiang was severely persecuted and was imprisoned six times.
On Oct. 10th, 1978, Huang Xiang created the first folk organization “The Enlightenment
Agency” in Beijing in the period of “The Wall of Democracy” of Mainland China. He
also created the first folk periodical “The Enlightenment”, which was distributed freely,
he himself being the Chairman and the General Editor of the Agency and the Periodical.
He advocated democracy and human rights, initiating the earliest movement of New
Modern Poems. He publicly expressed the opinion on big posters and local periodicals
that Mao Tsedong's record should be reassessed as 70 percent achievements and 30
percent mistakes, and that the Cultural Revolution must be re-evaluated. He also raised
the question of Chinese human rights, which were brought to international attention for
the first time. In a letter to President Carter, which he made public in Tiananmen Square,
he made public his opinion that human rights have no boundaries and that while paying
attention to the human rights of the American people the United States should also pay
attention to the human rights of peoples elsewhere in the world, especially to the human
rights of the people in the communist camp. This contributed to President Carter's
changing America's foreign policy, which in turn changed dramatically the diplomatic
policy of America and other countries in the western world and quickened the collapse of
the communist system itself. Like the explosion of nuclear weapons, the tow slogans and
one letter greatly shook the world the both China and abroad. At the same time, Huang
Xiang published a series of poems titled “The Poetic Symphony of the God of Fire”
which fight against wicked totalitarianism, and lash at darkness and the modern
god-making movement and worship of idols and superstition of individuals. Of these
“White Bones”, “Brutes”, “Song of Torches”, “The fallen Idol”, “I Saw a War Going On”,
“Vindication of the Great Wall”, “China, Silent No Longer” etc. were all written and read
in the period of the Red Terror, that is during the height of the Cultural Revolution.
As the writer and reciter, Huang Xiang had a narrow escape. Of his works published at
that time there was also a series of lover poems - “My Sonata”, and the long poems
“Youth, Listen to Me Sing a Song of Desperation”, Eulogy of the Wall of Democracy”,
and political commentaries “To President Carter”, and “On the Actions and Reactions of
Historical Figures to History”.
“The Poetic Symphony of the God of Fire” was published in 1979 with whole pages on
the “Chinese Times”. His poems and political comments written in the period of the
“Wall of Democracy” were published in English and Chinese in regions and countries
such as the United State, France, Taiwan, and Hongkong.
As early as in 1979, plans were made to publish Huang Xiang's works in “Chinese
Poetry”, “Chinese Literature”, “Peoples' Daily”, “Guangming Daily” in Mainland China
but the plans were later cancelled because the authorities secretly issued the order to “No
publication of Huang Xiang's works and no spreading of his influence!” At the same time,
the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party agreed that the “Enlightenment
Agency” would hold a public press conference for Chinese and overseas reporters in
Beijing. But because Huang Xiang would not change his way and insisted on his
ideological standing, and especially because he wrote an article titled, “I Speak Standing
on the Door-way of China”, which greatly angered the Chinese authorities, the
conference was cancelled.
Subsequently “The Enlightenment agency” was banned and “The Enlightenment” was
closed by the authorities. The name of Huang Xiang and Huang Xiang's works were
strictly controlled and were buried in oblivion for almost tow decades. As a result, not
many people know his name. But in spite of this predicament and difficulties he met with
in life, he never gave up the pursuit of truth and his belief in the wisdom and conscience
of humanity. He continued participating in the underground literature movement.
Following “Enlightenment”, Huang Xiang joined with others in creating popular
Mainland journals and periodicals Such as “The Rising Generation,” The Star Circle of
the Celestial Body of Chinese Poetry,” and “Big Disturbance,” with him being one of the
main contributors to these magazines. Although his works were banned and destroyed
time and again over the past half a century, Mr. Huang Xiang has never stopped writing
his poetry. Now he has finished over ten books including a Collection of Poems written
in different times, such as “Turmoil.” “Demon,” “Portrait of the Weak,” ”World, Your
Body and Your Hidden Body,” “Elegy of Human Beings and the World,” “Artery and the
Heavenly-Blue Veins,” a collection of his theories of poems and articles, “Naked
Wounds,” and Philosophy in Poetic Style, “The Meditating Thunderstorm,” and the
several volume novel of semi-biography “Escape,” as well as prose and informal essays
“The Record of Enlightenment of the Dreamy Nest,” political commentary and
reminiscences, etc. which were written over a period of more than ten years.
From 1992, Huang Xiang was listed in “Who is Who” in Britain and the United States. In
1993, he was invited to visit the United States. He was conferred the first class award of
Freedom of Speech for writers by the organization of “International Observation of
Human Rights” ￡¨Hellman-Hammett Grants ￡?in 1994.
In 1995, The writers Publishing House, Beijing, China, signed a formal contract with
Huang Xiang intending to publish a series of his works. But immediately after the
publication of “Huang Xiang, A Brute, Drinking Crazily but Never Drunk” the first big
Selection of Poems, was published, it was ordered not to be distributed. All his other
works were banned subsequently. Thus he was deprived of the right to publish. To
protect his human rights of freedom of creation, _expression, speech, and publication,
and facing the huge state machine, Huang Xiang carried out a legal fight of
anti-dictatorship versus the cultural dictatorship, and was forced to sue the system of
dictatorship in its own court. Because of this, Huang Xiang and his wife, Zhang ling, also
named “Qiuxiao yulan” was taken by surprise and kept in the notorious Camp of
Collection and Examination of Changping, in Beijing, Meant to be crushed and
persecuted both in body and in spirit, even to death, Mr. and Mr. Huang were tortured
brutally there like beasts.
In recent years, the movement to rewrite the history of Chinese literature is growing more
powerful with each passing day. To do a thorough reform, some renowned scholars are
breaking through the blockade of the authoritative ideological system and beginning to
take a just attitude toward Huang Xiang from the viewpoint of history and culture. Never
before has Huang Xiang been able to have any thing published by the Chinese authority,
not even a single poem or a book in Mainland China. But his poems written during the
Cultural Revolution and published in the form of big posters and mimeographed
periodicals have never stopped appearing. On the contrary, his works were universally
recognized by people with good conscience and greatly appreciated by knowledgeable
persons in the world of culture and ideology. Universally recognized as a man wading in
agony alone in the Tide of Modem Poems, Huang Xiang's poems were published for the
first time in 1993 and were put in conspicuous pages on the “Review of Modem Tide of
Poetry,” a series of reference books on writing techniques, which were published by the
Publishing House of the Beijing Teachers' University. “New Poems of the Twentieth
Century,” a treatise even devoted a whole chapter to him. In the mean time his works
were selected for inclusion in a series of books on the twentieth century. “A Series of
One Hundred Year's' Classical Works of Chinese Literature,” “Haitian Publishing
House,” “One Hundred Years' Classics of Chinese literature,” “Publishing House of
Beijing University,' and “One Hundred Years' Chinese Literature.” “Chinese
Contemporary literary historiography (a textbook)”,”100 Contemporary Writings”. etc.
Just recently, the Mainland China's authorities made public a list of ten persons' names
whose works are forbidden to be published in newspapers and magazines, of which that
of Huang Xiang is once again one. His works having been banned for quite a few decades
and now this ban being reaffirmed, Huang Xiang and his wife Qiuxiao Yulan, who have
been persecuted ceaselessly, were forced into exile in the United States. His poetic heart,
however, will be forever firmly fastened to China.
Between 1997 and 2005, many of his works have been published, including collections of
poems, prose, essays, his auto-biography and his long novel including “Huang Xiang: a
Beast Drinking Wildly but Not Drunk” (US), “Huang Xiang: Selection of Forbidden
Poetry” (Hong Kong), “Dream Nest Jotting” (Taiwan), “The Blood of Freedom” (New
York), a series of his collections of poems (6 volumes) and essays (3 volumes)
(Taiwan),“Pittsburgh Dream Nest Jotting” (New York). Huang Xiang's first collection of
poetry translated into Japanese --“Huang Xiang's Poetry And Poetry Thinking”-- came
out in 2003. The first collection of poetry translated into English --“A Bilingual Edition
of Poetry Out Of Communist China By Huang Xiang”-- came out in March 2004.
Since November 2004, Huang Xiang has lived in Pittsburgh as writer in residency, under
North America City of Asylum Network program. Tom Murphy, the Mayor of the City of
Pittsburgh declared Sunday, November 21, 2004, to be “ Huang Xiang Day” in the City
of Pittsburgh. The “House Poem” which was created by Huang Xiang is becoming
recognized as a "must see" Pittsburgh landmark in publications as various as Midwest
Airlines Magazine and CNN's Big City Travel Online.
Based on Huang Xiang’s story , several documentary films were made.“Well-Founded
Fear” produced by CAMERINI·ROBERTDSON INC.won Independent Spirit Award
(1999), nominated Truer Than Fiction Award. “City of Asylum: An OnQ Special
Edition” produced by WQED won Silver Telly Award (2006).
The reference links about Huang Xiang:
English:
House Poem:
http://www.penchinese.net/English/Members/huangxiang/COAPoster1-05.pdf
Selected Works of HUANG Xiang:
http://www.penchinese.net/English/Members/huangxiang/huangxiang.htm
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — “The Right to Write”:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04321/412298.stm
WQED — Document film: City of Asylum : An OnQ Special Edition:
http://www.wqed.org/tv/specials/asylum/index.shtml
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “Pittsburgh Dream Nest Jotting” ( excerpts):
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05296/592946.stm
PBS —Document film : Well-Founded Fear:
http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov1999/wellfoundedfear_mi/
PoetryFoundation.org: Writing on the Wall:
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/features/feature.onpoetry.html?id=178260
Mellon Press: A Bilingual Edition of Poetry out of Communist China by Huang Xiang
http://www.mellenpress.com/mellenpress.cfm?bookid=5735&pc=9
COA/Pittsburgh, about Huang Xiang, about Jazz.Poetry Concert:
http://www.cityofasylumpittsburgh.org/pages/artist-Xiang.htm
http://www.cityofasylumpittsburgh.org/pages/events-060913-jazz-concert.
htm
Writing Himself Home: Chinese Poet Honored in Pittsburgh:
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/arts/2004/12/13/china_huangxiang/
Spirit Unfolding:
http://spiritunfoldingnow.googlepages.com/mission
“Asylum” writers teach Americans a lesson
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06260/721940-74.stm
Second sanctuary on North Side ready for exiled writer
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06254/720784-44.stm
Saxophonist returns for jazz-poetry event
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/living/s_469321.html
Jazz and poetry
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/living/s_470001.html
Chinese:
自由亚洲电台“心灵之旅”广播节目－匹兹堡市的“黄翔日”（文字报道）
http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/zhuanlan/xinlingzhilu/2004/12/08/huangxiang/
自由亚洲电台“心灵之旅”广播节目－匹兹堡市的“黄翔日”
（网上收听）：
http://www.rfa.org/service/audio_popup.html?file=http://www.rfa.org/mand
arin/zhuanlan/xinlingzhilu/2004/11/29/huangxiang.mp3
“黃翔日”命名儀式和黃翔的房子詩歌剪彩活動盛況
http://www.chinaeweekly.com/big5/viewarticle_big5.aspx?vID=534
自由亚洲电台“心灵之旅”广播节目－黄翔专辑（网上收听）：
纽约艺术家聚会：庆祝黄翔英汉对照诗选出版
http://www.rfa.org/service/audio_popup.html?file=http://www.rfa.org/cont
ent/service/man/audio/books-6a.mp3
黄翔作品在日本
http://www.rfa.org/service/audio_popup.html?file=http://www.rfa.org/cont
ent/service/man/audio/books-6b.mp3
东西文化互为辉映 匹兹堡大型爵士乐诗歌会
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/6/9/28/n1469221.htm
萨尔曼•拉什迪 - 悲剧命运的旋风
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/5/10/2/n1072487.htm
中国诗歌与美国爵士乐相遇在匹兹堡
http://www.epochtimes.com/b5/5/9/13/n1050983.htm
中国诗歌与美国爵士乐
http://www.wenxinshe.org/040sp3/ReadNews.asp?NewsID=11761
世界笔者之声 纽约国际文学节
――黄翔应邀朗诵受禁诗歌
http://www.penchinese.net/News/April2005/ampenhuang.htm
黄翔：直面流亡 营造精神的家园
在美国笔会 2006 年“世界笔者之声”国际文学节上的发言
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/6/4/29/n1302215.htm
国际笔会 诗人黄翔吁关注王文怡事件
发起给总统布什及法官公开信声援王文怡 多位名作家支持
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/6/4/28/n1302150.htm