254 chapter seven
and subjectification question the relevance of subject-object distinc-
tions and hierarchies. While I will not explore such distinctions and
hierarchies per se, this effect is worth noting because it resonates in Yu
Jian’s deconstruction of hierarchies of the lofty and the lowly, which
we will encounter below.
To set off the mature Yu Jian against his earliest years, let’s first
have a look at an untitled poem from 1981.^8 Few may know that Yu
Jian started out by writing poetry like this:
1
Winter
sun’s flesh
frozen red2
Moon, her yellow skin peeled off
white ghost
hangs amid the trees
3
There’s a patch of blue sky here
wind blows its cover to the darkest clouds
4
A century struck with cancer
and the law disallowed from curing it...
Those familiar with the Obscure Poetry associated with Today will re-
call famous poems such as Mang Ke’s «Sky» (ぎ, 1973) and Bei
Dao’s «Notes from the City of the Sun» (䰇ජᴁ䆄, 1979?). Like
«Sky» and «Notes», Yu’s poem consists of a series of numbered stan-
zas or mini-poems. In addition to this particular form, it also shows
the influence of early Obscure Poetry in a distinctly metaphorical lan-
guage anchored in a historical frame of reference that brings to mind
the Cultural Revolution. The image of the sick, lawless times, for in-
stance, can be seen to portray the Cultural Revolution as a particularly
painful excess of the pathology of China’s turbulent twentieth century.
Another example of Yu Jian’s initial Obscure leanings, his «Don’t Be-
(^8) Yu Jian 2004a: 16-18.