Ai Qing

Ai Qing's life mirrored the tumultuous history of 20th-century China. Born Jiang Haicheng to a landowning family, he rebelled early, traveling to Paris in 1929 where he was exposed to modernist poetry and developed a deep social conscience. Returning to China, he joined the leftist artistic movements and was imprisoned by the Nationalist government in 1932. It was in his cell that he adopted his pen name and wrote his famous poem 'Dayanhe—My Nurse,' a heartfelt tribute to his childhood caretaker that established his signature style: direct, lyrical, and rooted in the earth and hardships of common folk. For decades, his work was immensely popular, but his independent spirit made him a target. Labeled a 'Rightist' in 1957, he was sent to labor camps and silenced for over two decades during the Cultural Revolution. His rehabilitation in the late 1970s was a cultural event, and he influenced a new generation of poets, including his son, the artist Ai Weiwei. Ai Qing's poetry endured because it spoke of universal human dignity amidst specific suffering.