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Bei Dao Quotes

born 1949 China

Bei Dao (simplified Chinese: 北岛; traditional Chinese: 北島; pinyin: Běidǎo; literally: "Northern Island", August 2, 1949 - ) is the pen name of Chinese poet Zhao Zhenkai (S: 赵振开, T: 趙振開, P: Zhào Zhènkāi). Bei Dao is the most notable representative of the Misty Poets, a group of Chinese poets who reacted against the restrictions of the Cultural Revolution.

China
Educators

Random Bei Dao quote

7 quotes

Freedom is nothing but the distance
between the hunter and the hunted

The August Sleepwalker (1990)

I am no hero
In an age without heroes
I just want to be a man

The August Sleepwalker (1990)

Many languages fly around the world
producing sparks when they collide
sometimes of hate
sometimes of love

I will not kneel on the ground
Allowing the executioners to look tall
The better to obstruct the wind of freedom

The August Sleepwalker (1990)

Let me tell you, world,
I—do—not—believe!
If a thousand challengers lie beneath your feet,
Count me as number one thousand and one. I don't believe the sky is blue:
I don't believe in thunder's echoes;
I don't believe that dreams are false:
I don't believe that death has no revenge.

The August Sleepwalker (1990)

a perpetual stranger
am I to the world
I don't understand its language
my silence it can't comprehend

The August Sleepwalker (1990)

we are not guiltless
long ago we became accomplices
of the history in the mirror

The August Sleepwalker (1990)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Bei Dao (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.