Bei Dao

Chinese · 1949–

Preeminent poet of China's Misty Poetry movement and longtime Nobel Prize nominee, whose defiant verse became a voice for an entire generation seeking freedom.

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“一切都是命运,一切都是烟云,一切都是没有结局的开始,一切都是稍纵即逝的追寻,一切欢乐都没有微笑,一切苦难都没有泪痕,一切语言都是重复,一切交往都是初逢。”

Chinese

“All is fate, all is cloud, all is a beginning without an end, all is a fleeting search, all joy is without smiles, all suffering is without tears, all language is repetition, all encounters are first meetings.”

Everything

“我不相信天是蓝的,我不相信雷的回声,我不相信梦是假的,我不相信死无报应。”

Chinese

“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 Answer

“卑鄙是卑鄙者的通行证,高尚是高尚者的墓志铭。”

Chinese

“Baseness is the password of the base; honor is the epitaph of the honorable.”

The Answer

“生活,网。”

Chinese

“Life. A net.”

Life

One of the shortest poems in modern Chinese poetry: a single Chinese character after the title.