Tony Hsu, the grandson of Chinese poet Xu Zhimo, is passionate about reading his grandfather's famous poems and promoting Chinese modern poetry.
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00:00Seven Stone Tiger Lane. There are ripples when our little courtyard ripples with infinite tenderness.
00:09Winsome wisteria, bosom-bared, invites the caress of persimmon leaves.
00:16Xu Shanzeng is the grandson of Chinese modern poet Xu Zhimo and his first wife Zhang Youyi.
00:22Although Mr. Xu Shanzeng doesn't have a career in literature, he's passionate about reading the
00:28famous poems of his grandfather and promoted Chinese modern poetry around the world.
00:34He has had multiple visits to Beijing and other cities
00:37and has witnessed the fascinating historical and cultural evolution of China.
00:44Mr. Xu, it's a great pleasure to talk with you. I'm from Xinhua News Agency.
00:49How many times have you visited Beijing and how long has it been since your last visit to Beijing?
00:54Yeah, I've been to Beijing at least four or five times and my last visit was back in 2018.
01:02What changes have you found here that impress you very much?
01:07Well, there's some things that I've seen and there's some things that I've learned,
01:11but I think probably the most significant change, you know, has been how much the government has
01:17improved the life and hutongs and that's true for the residents as well as for tourists who
01:24visit the hutongs to make it more welcoming and safer for people visiting. Xu Zhimo is a famous
01:32Chinese modern poet and writer. Profoundly rooted in traditional Chinese culture, he pioneered in
01:39integrating the Western modern poetic spirit into his literary composition, serving as the
01:45Crescent Moon Society's representative. Recently in Beijing, Mr. Xu Shanzhen told us how his
01:52grandfather's poetry resonates with the timeless vitality in the modern era, fostering cultural
01:59exchange between East and West. Thank you, Mr. Xu, for having our interview. So your grandfather,
02:05Mr. Xu Zhimo, is a famous poet and writer in modern China. Yes. And you are also a fan of
02:13Chinese poetry. So in what ways does Mr. Xu influence you and your family members spiritually?
02:21I think the influence is, you know, when you're a descendant of a very famous person,
02:28regardless of whether he's a poet or whether he's a politician or he's in any kind of walk of life,
02:34you feel a sense of wanting to live up to his legacy so that, you know, they don't tarnish
02:43the legacy in any way. The unusual circumstance that I face and my three sisters face is that
02:51we have a really strong legacy on both my grandmother and my grandfather. So we have
02:58much to live, you know, that life that would make them very proud. And, you know, it's inevitable
03:06that so many people in China and now around the world understand him a little bit better.
03:13And so it's living up to that known expectation of people. So what kind of impact
03:22does Mr. Xu Jinmo's poetry bring to people today? I think when I meet young people,
03:29they have a certain, you know, perspective. When I reach maybe middle-aged people, it's different.
03:37And the older people, you know, they remember him from some of the poetry they read, you know,
03:43maybe in their midlife. So what's fascinating about him is that his poetry speaks to a very
03:50broad range of age. In other words, you know, you have three people reading his poetry at
03:57different ages, and each person from a different age reads something very different. And I think
04:05his poetry can reach and send maybe slightly different messages to each age range.
04:14How does China's traditional culture influence Mr. Xu's writing?
04:18And I know you have visited some scenic spots in Beijing. They are rich in traditional culture.
04:24Right. Do you get some new inspiration from those traditional cultures?
04:30I think based upon my grandfather's writing, he really appreciated some of the modern
04:38perspective of poetry and culture, what he learned abroad. But he also, I think,
04:45tried to protect many of the traditional cultures that he was educated on before he left abroad.
04:53So I don't think he was an individual who abandoned the traditional culture. I think
04:59he tried to find the good qualities of tradition combined with the modern viewpoint.
05:06Well, fine temple, I think it's easy for almost anybody to appreciate because it's such a reverent
05:13location. And given historical perspective, you have to have a lot of respect for what this place
05:22symbolizes. In 1997, I made a trip to China, which was my first return trip to China with my father,
05:32and that would be his last trip back to China. I did not come to Beijing with my father
05:40because he stayed behind in Hangzhou, and I came here with some other people.
05:46And we had an opportunity to visit with the No. 7 Stone Tiger Lane. And at the time,
05:55I did know that that's where my grandfather had written poetry, lived and worked there. It also
06:02happened to be a place where the Crescent Moon Society had met and congregated and dined there
06:10as well. So it turns out that he may have done his most productive poetry writing at that location.
06:19I took the photograph from, let's say, something like nearly 30 years ago.
06:26And I asked my wife if she would like to do a painting, and she was very motivated to do it.
06:32And so the painting will be shown at the Poetry Fair. And she created the poem using the old
06:41photograph as a basic layout, but then added elements to the painting based upon the written
06:49verses. You know, I think what's happened naturally is that more people abroad from
06:57different cultures have begun to learn about Xu Feng's poetry. And so in recent years, you see
07:04many more writers or translators trying to tackle the translation of his poetry to make it
07:12a broader. So I think it's sometimes hard to get translators to take that problem on because it's
07:20not the easiest thing to translate Chinese into English. We find that more and more people
07:26begin to appreciate it and begin to recite the poem in many different languages like Russian,
07:32German, French, Japanese. And that's really enriched other people's lives that they can read in their
07:39own language now. In poetry, depending on who writes the poem, the poems can contain quite a bit of
07:45language and stories embedded in the poem, where people now, if they can read in their own native
07:51language, can understand a little bit more about things beyond their own border. I'm wondering,
07:58what's your impression and what's your feelings about visiting such a historical site here in
08:04Beijing? Well, you know, even though I'm a technically trained person, I still find the
08:12study of history very inspiring. Then you know what countries and what people have gone through
08:21to get to where they are. So much of my travel is about learning about history of my grandfather.