Gu Cheng

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gu Cheng (顾城，1956-1993) was a famous Chinese modern poet, essayist, and novelist. He was a prominent member of the "Misty Poets", a group of Chinese modernist poets.

[edit] Biography

Gu Cheng began life in privilege as the son of a prominent party member. At the age of twelve, his family was sent down to rural Shandong because of the Cultural Revolution. There, he claimed to have learned poetry directly from nature.

In the late 1970s, Cheng became associated with the journal "Today" which began a movement in poetry known as "menglong" meaning "hazy". He became an international celebrity and travelled around the world accompanied by his wife, Xie Ye. The two settled in Auckland, New Zealand in 1987 where Cheng taught Chinese at the University of Auckland.

In October 1993, Gu Cheng severely beat his wife before hanging himself. She died later in a hospital.

[edit] Trivia

Gu Cheng often wore a leg cut off from a pair of jeans as a hat.

[edit] Quote

"The night gives me black eyes, I use them to search light"