User:TheEastEscape/Shu Ting

Shu Ting (born 1952 in Jinjiang, Fujian) is the pen name of Gong Peiyu, a modern Chinese poet associated with the Misty Poets.

Life
Shu Ting grew up in Jinjiang, Fujian. However, as a teenager her father was accused of ideological aberrance and moved her to the countryside. Upon her return to Fujian, she took up job positions at a cement factory, a textile mill, and a lightbulb factory.

She began to write poetry and, in 1979, published her first poem and was one of the first people to have her work published in the underground journal Jīntiān (Today). She became part of the group known as the Misty Poets. Other Misty Poets include Bei Dao, Gu Cheng, Fei Ye, and Duo Duo. The journal, Jīntiān ran from 1978 to 1980 until Deng Xiaoping, a new Chinese statesman halted the publication due to suspicions of ideological nonconformity.

In the early 1980s, she achieved prominence as the leading female representative of the Misty Poets. She was the only Misty Poet given official government support. Because of this she worked clandestinely with other poets such as Gu Cheng and Bei Dao. Her first collection, Shuangwei Chuan appeared in 1982, as did a joint-collection with Gu Cheng.

She was asked to join the official Chinese Writers' Association, and won the National Outstanding Poetry Award in 1981 and 1983.

During the "anti-spiritual pollution" movement that was launched in 1983, she, like other writers that were thought to be subversive by the state, was heavily criticised. Following this she published two collections with poetry: Hui changge de yiweihua and Shizuniao.

Works

 * The mist of my heart: selected poems of Shu Ting, Translator William O'Donnell, Panda Books, 1995, ISBN 978-0-8351-3148-3
 * Shu Ting: Selected Poems (ed. by Eva Hung). Hong Kong: Renditions Paperbacks, 1994.
 * "Shu Ting", Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, Vol. 16, 1984

Writing style
Shu Ting's writing style is known to be very straightforward. Andrea Lingenfelter's describes Shu Ting in her review of ''Selected Poems. An Authorized Collection by Eva Hung:'' "her attitude [as] idealistic, patriotic, and yet apolitical. In terms of form, the poet takes few, if any, risks."