On Current TV | May 19, 2008 | Comment on this video (22)

Exiled for Poems

Josetxu
City of Refuge/Pittsburgh provides sanctuary to writers exiled under threat of death, imprisonment, or persecution in their native countries.
Writer/painter Huang Xiang is considered to be a pre-eminent post cultural revolution poet of China. His unceasing bravery, in the face of sure re-imprisonment, and further torture, forced him to leave his homeland.
Huang Xiang was born in Hunan Province, China.
Huang began writing poems in the 1950s and has been imprisoned repeatedly for his work. In 1978, he founded "Enlightenment", the first underground writers' society, and started a literary magazine with the same title. In exile in the United States since 1997, he was resident poet in Pittsburgh under the Cities of Refuge program.
TODAY, YOUNG WRITERS IN CHINA FACE THE SAME DESTINY.
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22 comments // Exiled for Poems // Video

  • mistarmookie
  • kneecola
  • homerless
    • 0
      homerless  

    • Regarding Western misconceptions about modern china and it's people, I find it amusing that many people think of China as the cultural revolution China depicted in so many "art films" that make it over here to the U.S. . What a lot of people fail to realize is that even in China they feel the Cultural Revolution was a big mistake... after all, where do they think the movies were made and what government did they think allowed directors like Zhang Yimou to make such political movies in the first place?

    • 3 years ago
  • pinkuumi
  • absentbree
    • 0
      absentbree  

    • I lived in China for 2 years, and it was a beautiful and strong country. But who China was, and who it is now are 2 completely different places.
      Never underestimate the people of China, they are stronger than any of us think they are.
      I'd saw watch China for the next couple of years, change is coming, and the people of China are bringing it.

    • 3 years ago
  • Buxi
    • 0
      Buxi  

    • I'm not sure how to respond to the response posted by "coap" above, but he/she specifically said this:

      "Huang Xiang still cannot publish in China. Indeed, he is still an "untouchable" to even write about. As recently as 2007, a scholarly article on his work (as poetry, not politics) was scheduled for publication in a Chinese university journal by a well-known academic, but two weeks before publication the journal was compelled to remove the article."

      This is exactly the sort of uninformed claim that perpetuates widespread ignorance towards China amongst the West.

      A simple search on the Chinese search engine Baidu gives us a basic biography on Huang Xiang, as well as a collection of his works:
      http://baike.baidu.com/view/305864.htm

      A different popular Chinese website hosts Huang Xiang's poems:
      http://www.tianyabook.com/shici/200611/huangxiang.htm

      More:
      http://bj3.netsh.com/bbs/126168/21/58587.html

      A collection of different reviews of Huang Xiang's poems:
      http://cozygraphics.com/cozy_rev/huangxiang_yulan/0_hx_review_index.htm

      This is a detailed biography of Huang Xiang, including the allegation that provincial officials in JIangxi insisted he couldn't settle in Jiangxi as being the immediate reason for him going into exile.

      I didn't mean to suggest that I doubt Huang Xiang's personal story. I am only seeking to correct and nuance Western understanding of modern China.

    • 3 years ago
  • Buxi
    • 0
      Buxi  

    • I was invited to comment on this particular issue by Ada @ Current.

      I have no personal gripes with Huang Xiang's works. I've never heard of him before, but he certainly seems like a talented performance artist and poet. I'm glad he's found a country in which he can express his opinions freely.

      That said, I think it's very unfortunate that he has used his personal background to perpetuate common misunderstandings about China.

      The periods during which he was imprisoned are a dark stain on the memory of *all* Chinese... including the current Chinese government leadership. He fails to mention that, for example, the President of China at the time (Liu Shaoqi) served a far longer prison time than he did... and was eventually persecuted to death. You can't find any family in China today that didn't suffer during the time periods that he refers to here.

      But modern China must really be divided between pre-1978 and post-1978. Post-1978 saw the return to power of a moderate government (led by Deng Xiaoping, who was also imprisoned during the same time period Huang Xiang was imprisoned).

      And while political activity remains "sensitive" in China, there's no doubt in my mind that Huang Xiang's writings would be completely legal in China today. For that matter, I fail to find any convincing proof (in Chinese) that he was in any danger when he "fled" to the United States in 1997.

      We have an entry on our China-centric blog talking about Western misperception about political dissidence in China today. The glass is only half-full, but it is absolutely not empty.

      http://blog.speak4china.com/?p=152

    • 3 years ago
  • coap
    • 0
      coap  
    • Buxi:

      I am not qualified to comment on the history of Chinese repression. I can add a few pieces of information relevant to Buxi's remarks.

      Huang Xiang still cannot publish in China. Indeed, he is still an "untouchable" to even write about. As recently as 2007, a scholarly article on his work (as poetry, not politics) was scheduled for publication in a Chinese university journal by a well-known academic, but two weeks before publication the journal was compelled to remove the article. The academic has published frequently and over a long period of time in China, without ever having a similar problem.

      In respect to Mr. Huang's personal story, a long biography "as told to" Andrew Emerson is available on the web. It is also published in a much longer form in Chinese in both fictional and autogiographical form in Taiwan. I have no personal knowledge of any the facts as recounted. I can personally verify that Mr. Huang does bears mark of torture, so intense that consulting doctors could not repair only palliate certain conditions. Mr. Huang has twice been the recipient of Hellman-Hammet Human Rights Watch grants that recognize "courage in face of political persecution." Contrary to Buxi's statement about changes after 1978, Huang Xiang's problems with the authorities and periods of imprisonment continued until his exile in the 90's. (PEN America reports that the number of Chinese writers now in prison is greater than it was a year ago, and that China has more writers in prison than any country in the world. PEN does not seem to believe that the situation in China is less dangerous to writers.)

      I defer to Buxi in respect to the widespread repression in China and its history. To my mind, this suggests that Mr. Huang--powerless and without a cadre of defenders-- exercised particular courage in refusing to censor his literary writing, knowing the likely consequence. I

      f this was a common occurence, I agree that "the West" is uninformed and it would be helpful to revise this understanding. On the other hand, I doubt that it is useful to compare the sentences, imprisonments, and tortures to compare or rate them for their relative horror.

      In respect to Buxi's not knowing the literary work of Mr. Huang, I can only offer second-hand information by way of possible explanation. Highly-reputed Chinese writers and academics speak of his work with genuine regard-- they cite it as influential among poets; the lack of knowledge among readers is said by them to be a result of his work's being repressed and not its quality.

    • 3 years ago
  • coap
    • 0
      coap  
    • Buxi:

      I can only confirm that the scholar told me that the article was repressed. I have omitted the scholar's name out of concern for the scholar's career, which requires frequent entry into China for professional and family reasons.

      Are the Chinese sites listed actually hosted in China? It would be great if Huang Xiang were now readable in China and allowed to return.

      I thought the extension for China was "cn". The "cozy" site is the Chinese-language publisher of Huang Xiang, I believe in NYC. Buxi is correct that Huang Xiang did not follow work permit rules at various times and worked without permits in coal mines, etc; but I don't believe that this is related to his exile. Details are in the article listed by Buxi. Human Rights Watch also has details.

    • 3 years ago
  • Buxi
    • 0
      Buxi  
    • Buxi:

      Again, not clear on how to reply to coap's second reply up above.

      But to answer coap's question, the three sites I listed above (tianyabooks, baidu, netsh) are all hosted in China, and licensed by the authorities. At least two of them are hugely popular (I'm not familiar with netsh).

      As far as a specific scholarly article being suppressed, I can believe that. Publication in print remains one of those areas where censorship remains. I would not be surprised if you had told me Huang Xiang would not be able to get one of *his* books published in China.

      But the idea that he's persona non grata, the idea that spreading his poems around (especially online), the idea that the researcher you spoke to is in danger for talking to you... that's all myth, often perpetuated by people who have a financial interest in this.

    • 3 years ago
  • WillRock
    • 0
      WillRock  

    • I know and work with Huang Xiang and Jose Muniain's film captures an essence of his personality and his art.
      Huang Xiang is an inexhaustible creative force and today utilizes his work to build a connective bridge between East and West. I have seen many people moved by Jose's film and feel it is a powerful tool not only for the story it tells but for the inspiration it provides from its viewing.

      William Rock

    • 3 years ago
  • coap
    • 0
      coap  

    • Huang Xiang is a legal resident of the U.S., having been granted political asylum by (what is now) the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, because he had a "well-founded fear" of persecution. Huang Xiang did not engage in vitriolic attacks or hide in anonymity behind an email alias. Much of the poetry, like what he read in the film, is not anything that would be considered "political" in the U.S., but it was deemed a "crime" in China. In voicing romantic longings or reverence for nature, for example, he was expressing a subjective point of view rather than parroting "objective" truth as embodied by the Party.

      City of Asylum/Pittsburgh

    • 3 years ago
  • bryanfroud
    • 0
      bryanfroud  

    • Jose, your work continues to enlighten and inform while feeding the most primal levels of entertainment. Please keep making films that inspire and affect us all.

    • 3 years ago
  • larryaustin
  • CicatrizJCP
    • 0
      CicatrizJCP  

    • wow, tigpoppa. immigrants destroying the fabric of America? That is a bit dramatic. Ignorance, apathy, and intolerance are destroying the fabric of America and the values that this country is based on. It seems you embrace these values more than the freedoms that this country allows you. We wouldn't have the country we enjoy today if we didn't have opinions from a variety of perspectives.

      Historically, I suppose you have a point. The natives that lived here when European immigrants arrived had their communities and livelihoods shredded. I would like to think that we have learned from history's mistakes. Perhaps we can use compassion to come with a viable solution to the dilemma of illegal immigrants rather than cold-hearted intolerance.

      As a side note, our health care system was already a joke before illegal immigrants began putting a serious strain on it.

    • 4 years ago
  • tigpoppa
    • 0
      tigpoppa  

    • allowing immigrants into our communities is destroying the fabric of America. In hazleton PA we passed laws making it a crime to rent or lease housing to immigrants. Pittsburgh will feel the holy wrath of ICE and keep these criminals from getting a free ride! Any real american believes in truth and liberty not illegals crossing over with excuses bringing their families to abuse our health system.

    • 4 years ago
  • Ziur
    • 0
      Ziur  

    • Great piece. Freedom of the soul is true freedom. Even though he was jailed waves of his words still crashed on the shores of his oppressors.

      Freedom is being content with life around you which is a branch from the trunk of self contentment.

      Humane rights have to be safe guarded by all of us as one.

    • 4 years ago
  • twit83
  • CicatrizJCP
  • Fenlon
    • 0
      Fenlon  

    • Never take the freedoms we have for granted!

      Its been great watching this piece change, Jose. Congrats on CurrentTV!

    • 4 years ago
  • Bulletyme
  • EbahDyke
    • 0
      EbahDyke  

    • This saddens me. I knew that China was not really the Human Rights nation, but to hear that people like me are subject to this treatment, upsets me and even frightens me. Our country is changing everyday and it's hard to tell whether it will end up good or bad, I hope I don't have this to look forward to.

    • 4 years ago
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