In this Book

Flash Cards: Chinese and English Bilingual Version

Book
Yu Jian, Translated from Chinese by Wang Ping and Ron Padgett
2011
Published by: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press
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summary
Flash Cards is a primer of modern Chinese life—constructing a complex philosophical vision from swatches of daily events and observations. As Yu Jian has written about his own work: "It is possible to see eternity—to see everything—in a teacup or a candy wrapper. Everything in the world is poetry." The JINTIAN [今天] series of contemporary literature features new and innovative writing from mainland China and abroad. Titles in the series are edited by Bei Dao, Lydia H. Liu, and Christopher Mattison. A collaborative venture between Zephyr Press, the Jintian Literary Foundation, and The Chinese University Press, each bilingual title highlights the ever-changing literary culture of China while simultaneously expanding the English language with a wave of new voices in translation.

Table of Contents

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Title Page, Copyright

Contents

pp. v-vii

A Note on Translating Yu Jian

pp. xii-xvi

Firm, Steadfast, Staunch, Resolute: Yu Jian’s Flash Cards

pp. 12-17

1. I arrive at his living room with a poem

pp. 2-3

2. In the beginning is the rabbit

pp. 4-5

3. I see a rose

pp. 6-7

4. When I work

pp. 8-9

5. The property where the palm tree lives

pp. 10-11

6. With a shaved head

pp. 12-13

7. A tree

pp. 14-15

8. Morning time to brush my teeth

pp. 16-17

9. If I compare spring to a temple

pp. 18-19

10. A letter

pp. 20-21

11. The road that goes there

pp. 22-23

12. You’re about to become

pp. 24-25

13. I write in autumn

pp. 26-27

14. The washing machine on Saturday

pp. 26-29

15. The poet is hosting a meeting

pp. 30-31

16. It’s used for holding carp

pp. 32-33

17. In the Nu River forest

pp. 34-35

18. The lone white eucalyptus

pp. 36-37

19. Originally this poem was written

pp. 38-39

20. The salesman who sells

pp. 40-41

21. Autumn is coming

pp. 42-43

22. Outside my window

pp. 44-45

23. A member of the proletariat

pp. 46-47

24. Finishing Poem #54

pp. 48-49

25. The alarm clock doesn’t ring

pp. 50-51

26. Someone discovered Xi Shuang Ban Na

pp. 52-53

27. According to both theory and practice

pp. 54-55

28. Autumn is deep

pp. 56-57

29. If you want to make every word

pp. 58-59

30. If you want to make every word

pp. 60-61

31. The supermarket’s concrete foundation

pp. 62-63

32. Oh this is the merry-go-round

pp. 64-65

33. In the zoo where dark is falling

pp. 66-67

34. Night along the Nu River is strange

pp. 68-69

35. In the middle of the horse going

pp. 70-71

36. The poet walks on the road

pp. 72-73

37. The architect for the madhouse

pp. 74-77

38. Certain things are placed

pp. 78-79

39. There’s a pleasure

pp. 80-81

40. Under the moon

pp. 82-83

41. Red lights

pp. 84-85

42. Another autumn

pp. 86-87

43. The road to death

pp. 88-89

44. A black leopard

pp. 90-91

45. Ancient lungs screech

pp. 92-93

46. (Poetry Recipe)

pp. 94-95

47. A wolf passes through the valley

pp. 96-97

48. A cold front is attacking the city

pp. 98-99

49. Along the River Dimaluo

pp. 100-101

50. The afternoon sun

pp. 102-103

51. An eighteen-year-old college girl

pp. 104-105

52. On the garden’s eyelashes

pp. 106-107

53. The car zooms across the high plateau

pp. 108-109

54. In 1998

pp. 110-111

55. You’re too vulgar

pp. 112-113

56. I always try to reach

pp. 114-115

57. You must confess honestly

pp. 116-117

58. He’s walking others are walking too

pp. 118-119

59. Inscrutable thoughts

pp. 120-121

60. Peeling an apple at dusk

pp. 122-123

61. In springtime girls run

pp. 124-125

62. On the stage

pp. 126-127

63. The golden age is coming soon

pp. 128-129

64. The eggshell breaks in the afternoon

pp. 130-131

65. A clean sanitized square

pp. 132-133

66. Afternoon in a remote mountain

pp. 134-135

67. The injury didn’t come from

pp. 136-139

68. The well at the old house

pp. 140-141

69. Poet Chen Ping is a policeman

pp. 142-143

70. The red land rolls on beneath the sky

pp. 144-145

71. The driver pointed to a village

pp. 146-147

72. That day I passed by

pp. 148-149

73. Morning in the park

pp. 150-152
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