Can you hear the rhythmic heartbeat of the waves?
Look, Sunlight Rock is waving hello
Beneath the sun, waves are whispering softly
Poet Zhuang Weijie, hailing from southern Fujian, China, resides in Australia
Zhuang Weijie, a native of southern Fujian, resides s in Australia. He is a poet, writer, literary critic, Doctor of Literature, and postdoctoral fellow at Fudan University. He serves as the president and chief editor of the international academic magazine Journal of Chinese Studies, a distinguished researcher at the Advanced Research Center for Poetics of Shandong University, and a distinguished professor at the College of Liberal Arts, Zhejiang University of Media and Communications.
After returning to China, he has successively held positions as a professor, graduate supervisor, and academic leader at Huaqiao University, and a part-time researcher at Jinan University. He is also the president of the Australian Chinese Poets’ Pen Club and vice chairman of the China Foreign Prose Poetry Society.
He has been awarded many literary and artistic prizes, including the 13th “Bingxin Award” for Theoretical Contribution, the 3rd China Contemporary Poetry Criticism Award, and the Gold Award for Outstanding Contribution by Contemporary Chinese Poets. His poems, essays, academic papers, and calligraphy works have been included in over 300 important anthologies or annual selections, with some poems incorporated into various university textbooks such as Appreciation of Classic Works in World Chinese Literature.
To date, he has published 20 monographs, including poetry collections, prose collections, criticism collections, and calligraphy collections, and has edited more than 70 works. He has also published over 400 academic papers and literary reviews. Special interviews, entries, and dedicated reviews about him can be found in various media at home and abroad, celebrity dictionaries, as well as in works like History of Overseas Chinese Literature and A New History of International Chinese Literature.
Translated by Ma Yongbo
庄伟杰，闽南人，旅居澳洲，诗人作家、评论家，文学博士，复旦大学博士后，国际交流期刊《中文学刊》社长总编，山东大学诗学高等研究中心特聘研究员，浙江传媒学院文学院特聘教授。海归后历任华侨大学教授、研究生导师和学科带头人，暨南大学兼职研究员，系澳洲华文诗人笔会会长，中外散文诗学会副主席。曾获第十三届“冰心奖”理论贡献奖、第三届中国当代诗歌批评奖、中国当代诗人杰出贡献金奖等多项文艺奖，诗文、论文及书法等作品入选三百余种重要版本或年度选本，有诗作编入《世界华文文学经典欣赏》等多种大学教材。至今出版诗集、散文集、评论集、书法集等专著20部，主编各种著作70多种，发表400余篇学术论文和文艺评论。海内外多种媒体、名人辞典及《海外华文文学史》《国际汉语新文学史》等有专题采访、词条和专门评介。
Gulangyu in Early Spring
Can you hear the rhythmic heartbeat of the waves?
Look, Sunlight Rock is waving hello
Beneath the sun, waves are whispering softly
Early spring, just slightly wilting
Deep in the alley, a newlywed couple
Bathed in the sound of piano,
Amidst the crackle of firecrackers
Is holding a grand wedding
The flame tree sways quietly
No one could be so moved
Suddenly turning around, the scenery on your face
Suspends, a bright red smile
***
初春鼓浪屿
听得见鼓浪律动的心声吗
瞧，日光岩在打招呼
阳光下，波浪在窃窃私语
初春刚刚发蔫
小巷深处，一对新人
沐浴琴声, 在爆竹声中
正在举行隆重婚礼
凤凰木安静地摇晃
没有谁会如此感动
蓦然回首，你脸上的风景
悬浮着嫣红的微笑
***
Backbone
Casually writing down the word “backbone,” it happens to be noon
I sit upright alone, a little serious
Or constrained, even loneliness sits with a proper posture
I know, it’s not easy to write these two characters well
So, upper body and thighs, thighs and calves
Knees and feet almost together, trying hard
To make the calves perpendicular to the ground, sitting at a right angle
Walking through the corridor of memories, opening the gate of time
Those people, events, and things that once moved me
Those familiar and unfamiliar people with lofty ideals
Fill me with solemnity and full of awe
People and affairs undergo changes. Looking back, I realize
What stands behind the years is the backbone — the great person
Some have long entered history, some live elsewhere
Some still walk firmly on the earth
The wind blows through the fleeting world, the flesh is either heavy or tired
What matters is the spinal beam that supports the body in the middle
Then, what is the backbone that supports the soul?
***
脊梁
信手挥写“脊梁”这个词，恰好正午时分
一个人端端正正坐着，有点严肃
或者拘谨，连孤独也跟着正襟危坐
我知道，这两个字要写好不易
于是，上身与大腿，大腿与小腿
双膝双脚几乎并拢，尽力
让小腿垂直于地面，坐成直角
穿行于记忆长廊，拉开时光的闸门
那些曾经为之撼动过的人事风物
那些熟悉和不熟悉的仁人志士
令我肃然，且满怀敬畏
人事有代谢。回首之际发觉
岁月背后耸立的是脊梁——大写的人
有的早已进入历史，有的生活在别处
有的依然坚定行走在大地之上
风吹浮世，肉身或沉重或疲惫
重要的是中间支撑起身子的那根脊骨梁
那么，支撑起灵魂的脊梁又是什么？
***
Chapters of Spring
Standing at the crossroads of the seasons,
I casually open the chapters of spring
The previous page hasn’t yet turned yellow,
Just like a memory laid aside for years
Once touched, it’s as if a showers,
Dampening the stories in the palm of my hand
Opening the next page, there seems to be a hint of
Heavenly secret or Zen meaning flickering within
Words are exuding misty vapors,
Making one indulge in the curling spring sentiment
The season is amorous, filled with green thoughts
In fact, I only want to open this middle page,
Like sitting in command on this shore
On one side, quietly observing the world
That changes every day, and all living beings
On the other side, playing a game with time,
Having a dialogue with myself, competing with wisdom
Intentionally propping up a corner of the sky,
Expanding my own rivers and mountains
***
春天的章节
站在季节的路口，顺手打开春天的章节
前一页尚未泛黄，俨如搁置多年的记忆
一旦触摸，仿佛阵雨降临，溅湿掌心里的故事
打开后一页，似有天机或禅意闪烁其中
语词正冒着烟岚，令人沉迷于袅袅的春意
发现季节多情，满怀绿色心事
其实，我只想打开中间这一页，像坐镇此岸
一边静观每天都在变化的世界，和芸芸众生
一边与时间博弈、与自己对话、与智力较量
着意撑起一角天空，辽阔自己的江山
______________
Read: Empty Mountain – Poetry from China
