Bei Dao

thumb|I am no heroIn an age without heroesI just want to be a man 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. Quotes The August Sleepwalker (1990) The August Sleepwalker, trans. Bonnie S. McDougall (New York: New Directions, 1990), 978-0811211314 thumb|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. thumb|Freedom is nothing but the distancebetween the hunter and the hunted. 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 Answer", p. 33 I am no heroIn an age without heroesI just want to be a man "Declaration", p. 62 I will not kneel on the groundAllowing the executioners to look tallThe better to obstruct the wind of freedom "Declaration", p. 62 Freedom is nothing but the distancebetween the hunter and the hunted "Accomplices", p. 89 we are not guiltlesslong ago we became accomplicesof the history in the mirror "Accomplices", p. 89 a perpetual strangeram I to the worldI don't understand its languagemy silence it can't comprehend "A perpetual stranger...", p. 110 Variant translation: In the world I amAlways a strangerI do not understand its languageIt does not understand my silence External links Bei Dao at the Poetry Foundation Category:1949 births Category:Living people Category:Educators from China Category:Misty poets Category:People from Beijing