In other words, what truly stands as a trial for those “misty” poets in
exile is both the utter inexperience in inhabiting a posthistorical brave
“new world” and a mounting difficulty to reenact an expiring Chinese
experience in this “new world.” In order to cope with this very real
trial, a transformation, or what I would call a metamorphosis, is
inevitable. This transformation or metamorphosis, involving succes-
sive self-splits and skin-sheddings, asserting not so much an exilic as a
postexilic existence, is precisely what Yang Lian means by “rebirth
after death” (si’er housheng), which had proven equally applicable to
Gu Cheng, the erstwhile “fairytale poet.”
Gu Cheng’s own metamorphosis in terms of negotiating a postexilic
poetry is manifested most noticeably in his last two major poem
sequences, entitled The Ghost Enters the City(Gui jincheng) (1992)
and City(Cheng) (1992–1993). While in his early poetry Gu Cheng
longs to be a willful child in nature, in his late poetry he yearns for a
return to the city—the poet’s native “city.” Eventually, this child is
anything but innocent and nature is anything but natural; and what
is born is neither a poetry of innocence nor of experience, but instead
a “ghost” poetry. This metamorphosis from “willful child” to wan-
dering “ghost” and the return from “nature” to the “city” are what I
explore in this chapter. I also discuss Gu Cheng’s “natural philosophy”
(ziran zhexue), which serves the dual function of possession and
exorcism in relation to the specter of the Cultural Revolution that
dwells in his “ghost” poetry. I conclude with a final tribute to Gu
Cheng and a contemplation upon his native city of Beijing, regarding
their different fates.
From “Child” in “Nature” to “Ghost”
in the “City”: Gu Cheng’s
Metamorphosis
Two crucial images have dominated Gu Cheng’s early poetry: “child”
and “nature.” For Gu Cheng, both “child” and “nature” designate a
prehistorical and precultural state of freedom and spontaneity, and
thus the union of the two becomes the perfect starting point for a
poetic pursuit of innocence and beauty: “When I first wrote poetry, it
was because I had a consonance with nature, and the sounds of nature
became the language in my heart, which was a happy thing” (Gu
1995: 920). Moreover, while Gu Cheng emphasizes that he is a child
not of culture or the city, but of nature, quite often such nature is
Gu Cheng’s Metamorphosis 125