Information About Bei Dao

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Background information about Bei Dao Bei Dao is the nom de plume of Zhao Zhenkai, widely considered one of China’s most important contemporary authors. He was born on August 2, 1949, in Beijing, China. His poetry is respected all around the world and his poems have been translated into more than 30 languages. He is a poet who has been embraced by the global literary community—he has taught extensively in Europe and the United States, was elected an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has received awards in Germany, Morocco, and Sweden. Much of his work addresses the topics of freedom and exile. Democracy Movement of 1976 Questions: What is the democracy movement of 1976? How does it relate to Bei Dao? Where did Bei Dao go after his exile? Since 1949 when Mao Zedong took control of the Tiananmen Square, the Communist Party carefully organized all the mass movements and demonstrations in China. In the Tiananmen Square Incident of 1976 the Chinese people were finally the main actors in history. The incident of 1976 took place on April 5th, a day that is traditionally used to honor the dead on the annual Qing Ming festival. The thousands of protestors had originally gathered there to mourn the death of Prime Minister Zhou Enlai, a moderate and fair leader with whom the people could connect. They not only brought funeral wreaths and poems commemorating Zhou, but they also raised a public cry for democracy. The people wished to express dissatisfaction with the “Gang of Four” through speeches and poems. It was a peaceful and spontaneous demonstration that was very harshly repressed by the regime. Bei Dao supported this movement and supported democracy. He used his poetry and extensive amount of knowledge to support the protests. He was involved in pro-democracy movements in 1976 and 1987, and was forced into exile in 1989
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