第72章 Literature Awards:Behind the Trust Crisis(1)

An official panel has controversially awarded a prestigious poetry prize to a so-called amateur poet and full-time government official.

By Zeng Shuai

A seemingly nondescript 54-year-old member of the Wuhan municipal committee and secretary of the city’s Discipline and Inspection Committee has sparked controversy after a collection of his poems were awarded the highest officially-recognized Chinese literary prize

Amateur poet Che Yan’gao, who began writing poetry in his spare time in 2005, was awarded the prestigious Lu Xun Literature Prize for his collection Yearning for Warmth.

However, the prize, announced October 19 by the Chinese Writers Association (CWA), immediately drew criticism from irate internet users after a mircoblog quoted lines from Che’s poems. The extracts have since attracted much derision for their “empty content,” with one poem entitled Xu Fan, an apparent tribute to a famous Chinese actress of the same name, drawing particular scorn.

The colloquial style of Che’s poem has been widely mocked and circulated online, leading many to question the judge’s choice. The opening lines read, “Xu Fan’s beauty is purely the beauty of a woman / I hoped to see her but never got the chance / We had actually lived close when we were children/ With her home next to mine.”

Che has since responded to critics, by issuing a statement explaining that Xu Fan was not from his award winning book Yearning for Warmth but from a series of recent experimental works written for a local magazine in Wuhan. “I tend to try different styles when writing poems,” said Che. “I hope internet users read some pieces from my award winning poetry book to gain a more comprehensive understanding of my composition.”

Yet, condemnation continues to surround Che, as well as the prize itself. Yin Lichuan, a female poet, writer and filmmaker famous for her “lower body writing,” commented on Che’s works by saying, “I’ve read his works. They are not the worst. But they are by no means excellent, which is in line with the characteristics of our age.” Ye Kuangzheng, a poet and cultural critic and recipient of several poetry awards, queried Che’s identity as both a government official and a writer. “If Che has ever written anything even remotely good, then he must be schizophrenic.” Poet and author Han Dong was more scathing, targeting the prize itself, “Truly excellent Chinese literature has never been entered for the Lu Xun Literature Prize.”

Meanwhile, online rumors have sought to link the prize with Che’s role as a comparatively high-ranking government official, further discrediting the already unpopular award.

Recent years have seen a growing distrust of government-sponsored artistic awards in China. In 2009, the CWA announced the expulsion of six of its members, who also happened to be government bureaucrats, after they were found to be in breach of official law. Among them, one government official and so-called poet – described by the CWA as a “premier-level national writer,” was found guilty of soliciting bribes of 13 million yuan (US1.96m).

Responsible for governing two of the most influential literature awards in China, the Lu Xun Literature Prize (LXLP) and the Mao Dun Literature Prize (MDLP), the CWA is considered the most important literary body in the country.

Yet, the exposure of the corruption has led the public to question the CWA. This has been further exacerbated by the decision to award Che Yan’gao, himself a government official, with this year’s prize for poetry. Although the CWA has since responded by explaining that the majority of the panel had no clue as to Che’s profession when they made the decision to award the prize, public doubts have yet to dissipate.

Good Relationship

Rather than a coup de grace, the decision to award Che with the prize has in fact provided the LXLP with much needed media exposure. The award, much like other government-sponsored prizes, had largely been forgotten by the public. Literature in China had its “golden age” in the 1980s, as a new generation of writers took advantage of liberalization. Yet recent decades have witnessed a decline in its influence.