Death of a Poet

“Even with these dark eyes， a gift of the dark night， I go to seek the shining light.” This abstract two-line poem， titled A Generation， was published in a Chinese poetry magazine in 1980， bringing overnight recognition for its author Gu Cheng. At 24 years old， Gu quickly rose to become one of China’s most prominent poets and a leading figure in what came to be known as the “misty poetry movement.”

13 years later， Gu committed suicide on Waiheke Island， New Zealand， where he and his wife Xie Ye， also a poet， had lived for 5 years. Xie died several hours later in hospital， from injuries inflicted by her husband before he took his own life.

While the public acknowledged the cultural value of Gu’s vast catalog of groundbreaking poetry， the gruesome details of the murder-suicide were difficult to ignore one rumor had it that Xie’s injuries were inflicted with an axe.

It is widely known that the conflict between Gu and Xie was linked to the involvement of another woman： Ying’er， Gu’s lover. Ying’er had spent two years living with Gu and Xie on Waiheke Island six months before their deaths， Gu and Xie wrote a novel together， titled Ying’er.

Now， twenty years later， a documentary titled Exiled Hometown， the first film about Gu Cheng and his death， was released in December 2013 by the Culture Channel of Phoenix New Media， a major news portal in China.

What exactly happened in the run up to Gu’s death， and who really was this immensely popular yet little understood young writer？ Endeavoring to shed new light on these questions， the film has rekindled the curiosity of readers and the literary scene. Two decades later， the poet’s talent， influence and mystique still linger.

The Misty Movement

China in the 1980s saw an age of literature and poetry which， in the view of critic Tang Xiaodu， an old friend of Gu’s， functioned as a “substitute for religion” following the death of Mao Zedong in 1976， before the arrival of commercialism and popular culture.

Gu Cheng and a dozen other poets includ- ing Shi Zhi， Bei Dao， Shu Ting and Hai Zi， formed the center of the obscure， abstract poetry movement known as “misty poetry.”A school of Chinese modernist poetry， misty poetry first appeared at the end of the Cultural Revolution （19661976）， using “misty”and abstract expression and a strong sense of personal emotion in reaction to the extreme political realism of the Mao era. Its deliberate antagonism to socialist-realist Cultural Revolution literature brought great fame and popularity to its leading figures.

Though misty poetry remained underground in the Mao era， the earliest influential works of the school actually date from as early as 1968， just three years after the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. It was at this time that Shi Zhi， then 19， wrote his most famous poem Believe in the Future widely regarded as a beautiful， stubbornly optimistic work inspired by liberalization in Czechoslovakia. In China， that year saw the end of the destructive Red Guard movement， but it was also the year that twenty million urban youth were sent to remote rural areas to work on farms.

That year Gu Cheng was 12. As the Red Guards had all but destroyed China’s education system， Gu was forced to quit school. That same year， he wrote his first two poems although it is claimed in the documentary that Gu first began composing poems at the age of six， works he dictated to his elder sister Gu Xiang， since he had not yet learned to write.

Gu Cheng’s father， Gu Gong， was a wellknown army poet based in Beijing. The year after Gu junior dropped out of school， his father was sent to carry out rural labor in a village in Shandong Province， and took his family with him.

Gu Cheng didn’t fit well into the education system， not even kindergarten political struggle seemed to be everywhere， and he disliked the zealous revolutionary crowds. He had always been fascinated with nature， especially insects， and was initially delighted about the prospect of moving to the countryside. Yet the depressing reality of the situation soon quashed his enthusiasm. “Gloomy thatch， a mud wall and a barren beach blending with the sky，” he later wrote about the time. In Shandong， the Gu family was designated to raise pigs and collect firewood.

Yet it was there， among the pigs， that Gu’s writing began to take off. In 1971， he wrote A Fantasia of Life and I Praise the World. In both poems， the 15-year-old youth displayed his splendid imagination， borrowing rich imagery from nature bees， flowers， the ocean， mountains， the stars and the universe were among the most common themes.

The innocence and sincerity in Gu’s poems was a breath of fresh air amid the heavy， desperate atmosphere of his time. It was around the same time that other misty poets such as Bei Dao， Mang Ke and Shu Ting began writing poetry.

In December 1978， immediately after the official announcement of the policy of Reform and Opening-up， Today， a privately funded poetry magazine founded by Bei Dao and Mang Ke， released its first issue. It was the first time that misty poetry， an as yet entirely underground movement， made its public debut.

The Town of Gu Cheng

“At 12 midnight， the ghost treads very carefully， fearful of stumbling and becoming human.” In the opening scenes of Exiled Hometown， Gu’s voice can be heard reading his series of poems titled The Ghost Went into Town， written in December 1992， ten months before his death the Chinese character for “town，” cheng， is the same character as Gu’s given name， and gu cheng is a homonym for “hometown.”

“When I moved with my family to the village， I dreamed of owning land， and building a small town out of mud. I would grow potatoes in the town， and keep watch on the wall with a bow and arrow，” Gu once said in an interview.

Some two decades later， he realized his dream. In July 1990， he and his wife Xie Ye bought a large but broken-down house on Waiheke Island. It was beautiful， and far away from modern society. “The island is a place of comfort for me. You don’t feel like you’re living in a country or a society. There were few people， and they didn’t talk very much，” he said in the interview.

Gu had previously lectured in Europe in 1987， and the following year was invited to teach at the University of Auckland， New Zealand. One month before Gu and Xie bought their house， they acquired the right to permanent residency in New Zealand.

Life on the island was beautiful， but not easy living far away from the modern society， the couple needed to make a living with their own hands. Often they had to “struggle for a living.” He had to spend five hours collecting firewood for one hour’s cooking. Gu Cheng knew that his wife was indulging his desire to live in isolation Xie Ye remained silent on the couple’s first night in the house.“She must have hated me so much，” Gu Cheng later recalled.

Gu and Xie first met on a train from Shanghai to Beijing in 1979， three months after Gu wrote his breakout poem A Generation. Immediately， they fell in love， and began to write letters to each other between their respective cities of Beijing and Shanghai. Gu’s writing went into overdrive during this period in 1980 alone， he wrote 417 poems. In 1983， against her family’s wishes， Xie married Gu.

As the misty poets grew in popularity， they became to be seen as heroes of their time. Gu was invited to meetings， recitations and other events， and Xie went everywhere with him. But Gu， who friends say could barely take care of himself， relied heavily on Xie. Occasionally， Gu would “go mad.”

The misty poets received fierce criticism from conservatives. Today， the misty poetry magazine， was shut down after two years. In 1986， Gu Cheng attended a poetry meeting in Beijing， where he came under verbal attack from old-school poets. A young female college student， Li Ying， stood up to defend him Gu Cheng later took to calling her Ying’er.

Initially， Gu didn’t pursue Li Ying， but Li fell deeply in love with him. In 1987， one night before Gu and Xie’s departure for Europe， Li went to their home and told Gu about her feelings for him， in the presence of Xie Ye.

In July 1990， Ying’er flew to Waiheke Island. Xie Ye helped to pay for her visa and air tickets.

Destruction

Subsistence life on the island didn’t suit everyone in the complicated love triangle. In her memoirs and in interviews， Li Ying has said that the scarcity of resources and Gu’s constant nervous breakdowns made life on the island extremely difficult.

But Gu was deeply physically attracted to Li Ying a fact he later explored extensively in Ying’er， despite claiming that the book was a work of fiction. In fact， Ying’er was said to be a book that Xie had Gu write， as a “confession.” Its content was dictated by Gu， and written by Xie.

Gradually feeling stifled on the island， both Xie and Li became increasingly confused. Eventually， in early 1992， Gu received an invitation for a working visit to Berlin both Xie and Li saw this as a welcome opportunity for change.

Xie urged Gu to accept the invitation， and they left the island， without Li Ying. Li Ying later left the island at the end of the year， without informing the couple. When Gu Cheng called back to Waiheke Island， he found that Li Ying had left. Meanwhile， Xie Ye was also having an affair. When Gu and Xie returned to Waiheke Island in 1993， the relationship with Xie became strained， and they decided to divorce.

According to Li Ying， Xie Ye told her that Gu had suffered from suicidal thoughts for as long as he had been married to Xie， and Gu eventually asked Xie to commit suicide with him.

In his suicide note， he wrote that he had been “cheated” by both Xie and Li. According to the memoirs of Gu’s sister Gu Xiang， the last two weeks of the couple’s lives were spent in constant conflict， which reportedly turned violent. Gu Xiang also noted that there was an axe lying beside Xie， although refuted the rumors that it had been involved in her killing according to the documentary， the criminal investigation made no mention of an axe.

But while the documentary has certainly rekindled curiosity about the turbulent life Gu Cheng lived， only he and Xie knew exactly what happened in those final few hours. It seems some aspects of the life of this great poet are set to remain shrouded in the mist.