17 Facts About Hai Zi

Hai Zi is the pen name of the Chinese poet Zha Haisheng.

Hai Zi was one of the most famous poets in Mainland China after the Cultural Revolution.

Hai Zi died on the evening of March 26,1989 by suicide, lying in front of a train in Shanhaiguan at the age of 25.

Hai Zi spent his childhood in traditional Chinese rural areas when the whole country was involved in the Cultural Revolution.

Hai Zi began to write poems as a student in early 1980s, building a strong friendship with the two poets Xi Chuan and Luo Yihe.

Hai Zi kept sending his own poems written in an extremely dull environment of life to different newspapers and publishers but was hardly accepted.

Hai Zi remained unknown to common readers until his death.

Hai Zi was fascinated with Tibetan culture and Qigong in his last years.

Hai Zi ended his life by lying in front of a train not far from Shanhaiguan near his 25th birthday.

Hai Zi's death is regarded as an important event in modern Chinese literature with some suggesting it symbolizes "the sacrifice of the agricultural civilization".

Hai Zi has become one of the most quoted poets after the New Culture Movement.

Hai Zi's poems have a strong influence on the popular culture in Mainland China.

Hai Zi's poem Facing the Sea, with Spring Blossoms is inferred and mentioned several times in the Hong Kong movie McDull, Prince de la Bun.

Hai Zi wrote several long poems, "choral operas" and countless short poems in his brief life.

The theme of nostalgia for the village life of his childhood, love for nature makes Hai Zi related to the Russian well-known poet Sergei Yesenin.

Hai Zi himself wrote a cycle of poems "Poet Yesenin", in which he directly calls himself "Chinese Yesenin" as the reincarnation-like, which has become a popular cliche in works devoted to the personality of the poet.

Hai Zi was obviously influenced by Western philosophy and arts, especially Nietzsche and Van Gogh.