From "Song of the Open Road" by Walt Whitman (Favorite Poem Project)

Introduction to Xu Xing

Background and Occupation

• Xu Xing introduces himself as a free artist, filmmaker, and writer from Beijing, China.

• He mentions that his fiction writing covers a wide range of subjects, while his documentary films focus specifically on modern Chinese history.

Connection to Poetry

• Xu shares his admiration for a particular poem he fell in love with during his teenage years, drawing parallels to a Tang poem by Wang Bo.

• He notes that although the two poems differ in content, they share a similar spirit.

Personal Experience During the Cultural Revolution

Isolation and Political Awakening

• Xu recounts being left alone at home during the Cultural Revolution while his parents were reeducated in the countryside and siblings sent away.

• This isolation led him to question propaganda, which was considered dangerous at that time.

Consequences of Independent Thinking

• At age fifteen, after falling in love for the first time, he wrote a letter expressing his political thoughts instead of romantic feelings.

• The letter was turned into a teacher (who had been a policeman), leading to Xu's arrest due to its counter-revolutionary content.