280 chapter seven
That the poet is conscious of the effect of both the blanks and their
sudden removal is evident in this passage:^28
deficiencies: does not like physical education sometimes whispers in class does
not regularly brush his teeth
note: report to teacher he picked up a penny on the street did not give it to uncle
people’s policeman
comment: this student’s thinking is fine but he’s no talker who knows what’s
on his mind
it is hoped that his parents will examine his diary report to us as necessary to
coordinate the upbringing
self-criticism: on 2 november 1968 did a bad thing
i drew a tank on a wall on a clean white wall on a public wall on everybody’s wall on
a collective
wall was drawn a great big tank by me i perpetrated the crime of individualism must
make a determined effort to mend my waysThe final two lines are the first of a mere handful in over 300 that con-
tain no blanks. Notably, they are also the only two in the entire poem
that contain the first-person singular pronoun ៥ ‘I.’ And whereas the
second half of the second line—i perpetrated the crime of individualism must
make a determined effort to mend my ways—is especially ironic in its employ-
ment of politically correct, formulaic language, the preceding descrip-
tion of the “bad thing” works differently. Many of the modifiers in i
drew a tank on a wall on a clean white wall on a public wall on everybody’s wall on
a collective wall was drawn a great big tank by me do occur in the official dis-
course that Yu Jian is in the habit of parodying. But at the same time,
in their exasperated, breathless succession, these phrases come across
as a non-reflective burst of deeply involved, individual excitement or
anger that has no time for blanks.
*The typical Yu Jian form is an icon of objectification on the content
level, and the effectiveness of the mechanism of objectification hinges
on this iconicity. These things are essential to a poetic oeuvre that is
of striking originality, within the framework of Chinese literature and
beyond—and worth a Collected Works while the poet is alive and con-
tinues to write.
(^28) Yu Jian 2004b: 31-32.