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Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) — Surrounded by orchards of ripening peaches, Lyu Yuxia captures her rural life in poetic language and short videos that have earned her nearly 1.7 million followers on short-video platform Douyin, China's equivalent of TikTok.
"Poetry gives me spiritual food and I hope to help more people see the real and beautiful countryside through it," said the 53-year-old farmer from eastern China's Shandong province.
Lü Yuxia is not alone in her poetic journey. As China pushes ahead with agricultural modernization, more and more farmers are freed from heavy physical labor, and now have more time to read and write.
As China’s first poetry organization founded by farmers, the Chunni Poetry Society in Shandong has expanded its activities to include more than 2,000 members in seven provinces. Over the years, it has held a variety of events, including village poetry competitions, forums, and festivals. However, the society is not the only one of its kind in China, with rural poets’ organizations springing up in different parts of the country.
In northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the number of farmer-poets has grown to more than 150, covering many counties in Kashgar and Aksu prefectures. In 2023, these farmers released their second poetry collection, "Love in the Heart," which includes more than 200 poems.
"They capture the beauty of Xinjiang's villages in simple but sincere language," said Xiong Hongju, secretary general of the Xinjiang Literary and Art Workers Association.
For many farmer-poets, inspiration comes from everyday life – an improving environment, rising living standards and hard-working neighbours are vividly depicted in their works, he noted.
Between 2013 and 2020, China's poverty alleviation strategy lifted nearly 99 million rural residents out of poverty. All Chinese now have stable access to food, clothing, compulsory education, basic healthcare, safe housing, and clean drinking water.
Lei Wen, a farmer-poet from southwest China's Sichuan Province, has witnessed these rural changes.
Born in the 1960s in the mountainous city of Bazhong in Sichuan, Lei Wen remembers how poor his homeland was. “Because of the poor transportation, people didn’t even have enough food and clothes,” he recalls.
But now the city has become a regional transport hub, and local residents can drive right up to their homes.
“Green hills, crystal streams, chirping birds and fragrant flowers – with such an abundance of inspiration, how could we not write poetry?” asks Lei Wen, adding that as material life improves, the thirst for knowledge and cultural enrichment among locals becomes stronger.
To consolidate the achievements in poverty alleviation and satisfy the people's aspirations for a better life, China has adopted a rural revitalization strategy in which cultural revitalization plays an important role.
Chinese authorities are making efforts to revitalize the cultural ecosystem in rural areas. They are encouraging better rural cultural services, partnerships between urban and rural cultures, and folk cultural activities.
As part of this work, Nankai University in Tianjin, northern China, launched a poetry training program in villages in 2021, sending teachers and students to give poetry lectures in rural areas across China.
“By guiding rural children to interpret poems through paintings or their own words, we hope to plant the seed of poetry in their hearts,” said Chen Xiaoyun, a literature professor at the university. -0-
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