The 2024 Hunan Huaihua's Qu Yuan patriotic and nostagic poetry festival in Simeng Town, Xupu County (Photo/Yang Zhiwei)
On the evening of June 21st, the 2024 Hunan Huaihua’s Qu Yuan patriotic and nostagic poetry festival, titled “Qu Zi the Bard—Source of Poetry”, kicked off in Simeng Town, Xupu County. Chen Fei, member of the Party Group and deputy director of the Standing Committee of Hunan Provincial People’s Congress, announced the opening. Gidimaga, former vice chairman and secretary of the secretariat of the Chinese Writers Association, and director of the Poetry Committee of the Chinese Writers Association, delivered a speech. Another speech was given by Xu Zhongjian, secretary of Huaihua Municipal Party Committee.
Chen Fei announced the opening ceremony.(Photo/Yang Zhiwei)
Li Shaojun (editor in chief of the Poetry Journal), Zhao Chengxin (deputy director of the Publicity Department of Hunan Provincial Party Committee and director of the Provincial Civilization Office), Hu Daisong (secretary of the Party Leadership Group and vice chairman of the Provincial Federation of Social Sciences), Ni Wenhua (member of the Party Leadership Group and vice chairman of the Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles), Hu Geping (secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Provincial Writers’ Association), Wang Yuewen (a famous writer and member of the Presidium of the Chinese Writers’ Association), Chen Renjie (member of the Party Leadership Group, vice chairman of the Xizang Autonomous Region Federation of Literary and Art Circles and winner of the Lu Xun Literature Prize), Yang Ke (president of the Chinese Poetry Society), Ye Yanbin (former editor in chief of the Poetry Journal and former director of the Poetry Committee of the Chinese Writers’ Association), Li Wanqian (chairman of the Standing Committee of Huaihua Municipal People’s Congress), Li Bo, Li Weilin, Hu Chen, and other city leaders attended the meeting.
Speech by Jidimaga (Photo/Yang Zhiwei)
Jidimaga said in his speech that 2,300 years ago, Qu Yuan, the greatest Romantic poet in the history of Chinese poetry, wrote classic poems such as “Crossing the River”, “Li Sao”, “Nine Songs”, “Tianwen”, and “Ode to Oranges” in Xupu County. Today, Huaihua holds the Qu Yuan patriotic and nostagic poetry festival, which not only pays deep respect to Qu Yuan, the pioneer of Chinese poetry, but also represents the inheritance and development of classical Chinese poetry. In recent years, while accelerating economic development, the Huaihua Municipal Party Committee and Government have also focused on promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of excellent traditional Chinese culture, allowing poetry to enter people’s lives and doing a lot of work to promote the prosperity and development of Chinese poetry. It is hoped that more poets can step into Huaihua and Xupu, understand the rich land that has nurtured literary masters such as Qu Yuan, and write excellent poetry for the new era.
Speech by Xu Zhongjian (Photo/Yang Zhiwei)
On behalf of Huaihua Municipal Party Committee and Government, Xu extends a sincere welcome to the leaders and guests who attended the poetry festival, and expresses sincere gratitude to people from all walks of life who have long cared about and supported the development of Huaihua. He used Qu Yuan’s three lines of poetry to promote Huaihua. He said, “Yuan has Zhi, Li has Lan...Watching the water flowing and rippling”, which is the best description of the picturesque embrace of a blessed land. Huaihua is a place full of landscapes, nostalgia and taste. On the land of Huaihua, everyone is sure to be inspired to write beautiful poems amidst the beautiful scenery. Huaihua has a long history, a profound revolutionary culture, and a vigorous modern civilization. Once stepped into Huaihua, everyone will definitely be engaged in rich cultural nourishment and unique cultural charm. The best footnote to Huaihua’s pursuit of upward momentum is brave the wind forward. Today in Huaihua, the development strategy is clear and firm, and the opportunities for development are god-given. It is on the hope to win the support of leaders and relevant departments at all levels to polish the “Source of Poetry” brand in Huaihua, and help accelerate the promotion of cultural inheritance and innovation, as well as the high-quality development of the cultural and tourism industry. It is sincerely hoped that poetry enthusiasts and literary workers can write skillfully to promote the image of Huaihua and disserminate its voice. It requires to invite friends from all walks of life to pay more attention to Huaihua, step into Huaihua, appreciate the charm of Chu Ci, visit the mountains and rivers of the Five Streams, and inherit Qu Yuan’s poetry and prospect.
At the opening ceremony, Li Shaojun and Yang Ke awarded the “Research Center for Exploring the Source of Chinese Poetry” to Xupu, and promoted the theme-based tourism in the county. The five champions of the “Chinese Poetry Conference”—Lei Haiwei, Chen Geng, Peng Min, Chen Xijun, and Jiang Zhen, conveyed impromptu poems about Xupu”, and the landscape live performance was brilliant.
(Translated by Tian Xia)