''Jintian'' () is the title of a Chinese literary journal. Founded in 1978, it was the first non-official literary journal in the People's Republic of China since the 1950s. It ran for nine issues until it was censored in 1980. It was revived in 1990.

About

''Jintian'' was created in 1978 by

Mang Ke Mang Ke (芒克, original name ''Jiang Shiwei''), born in 1951, is a prominent Chinese poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be th ...

Bei Dao Bei Dao (, born August 2, 1949) is the pen name of the Chinese-American writer Zhao Zhenkai (). Among the most acclaimed Chinese-language poets of his generation, he is often regarded as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. In addition ...

and others, and was first distributed on and around

Democracy Wall From November 1978 to December 1979, thousands of people put up " big character posters" on a long brick wall of Xidan Street, Xicheng District of Beijing, to protest about the political and social issues of China; the wall became known as the ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. It was instrumental in bringing the

Misty Poets The Misty Poets () are a group of 20th-century Chinese poets who reacted against the restrictions on art during the Cultural Revolution. They are so named because their work has been officially denounced as "obscure", "misty", or "hazy" poetry (' ...

into the open, publishing work by

Duo Duo Duo Duo or Duoduo (, born 1951) is the pen name of contemporary Chinese poet, Li Shizheng (栗世征), a prominent exponent of the Chinese Misty Poets (朦胧诗). Duo Duo was awarded the 2010 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. Biog ...

, Shu Ting, Yang Lian and others. It ran for nine issues and published four books (poetry by Mang Ke, Bei Dao, and Jiang He, and a novella by Ai Shan en-name of Bei Dao. It also ran two poetry readings (on 8 April and 21 October 1979), and two exhibitions of The Stars, the first non-official painters. In 1990 ''Jintian'' was revived overseas, with Bei Dao as editor, and initially published from ''Stockholm''. It is now an online journal, featuring writing in Chinese.

Translations into English

Some of the poems, short stories and essays first published in ''Jintian'' have been translated into English, notably in the series Chinese Writing Today, the first two volumes published by the

Wellsweep Press The Wellsweep Press was a UK-based independent publishing house, specialising in the publication of literary translation from Chinese. It was founded by poet and literary translator John Cayley in the 1980s, and published books from 1988 through t ...

, in the UK, and the third volume published by the Zephyr Press in the USA. The Jintian Series of Contemporary Literature is published by Zephyr Press, in the USA. Chinese Writing Today * ''Under Sky Under Ground. Chinese Writing Today 1'', ed. by Henry Y.H. Zhao and

John Cayley John Howland Cayley (born 1956) is a Canadian pioneer of writing in digital media as well as a theorist of the practice, a poet, and a Professor of Literary Arts at Brown University (from 2007). Education After moving to the United Kingdom in ...

, Wellsweep Press, London, 1994 (with foreword by Jonathan D. Spence) - this contains fiction by Haizi, Janet Tan, Henry Y.H. Zhao, Nan Fang, Ai Yan, Jane Ying Zha, Duo Duo and Du Ma; poetry by Bei Dao, Duo Duo, Yang Lian, Gu Cheng, Zhang Zhen, Meng Lang, Zhang Zao, Bai Hua, Daxian, Li Li, Dean Lü, Hong Ying, Daozi, and Zi An; memoirs of underground literature by Zhang Langlang, A Cheng, Li Tuo, and Zhong Ming; belles lettres by Song Lin, Yan Li, Zhang Chengzhi, and Gu Xiaoyang; and criticism by Henry Y.H. Zhao and You Yi. * ''Abandoned Wine, Chinese Writing Today 2'', ed. by Henry Y.H. Zhao and

, Wellsweep Press, London, 1996 (with foreword by Gary Snyder). * ''Fissures. Chinese Writing Today 3'', ed. by Yiheng Zhao (Henry Y.H. Zhao), Yanbing Chen and John Rosenwald, Zephyr Press, 2000. The Jintian Series of Contemporary Literature (published by Zephyr Press) * ''Mirror'' by

Zhang Zao Zhang Zao (; December 29, 1962March 8, 2010) was one of the most important Chinese poets of the 20th century. He was considered one of the "Five Masters from Sichuan" () in the 80s' Chinese poetry scene, along with other famous poets Bai Hua (), O ...

, tr.

Fiona Sze-Lorrain Fiona Sze-Lorrain (born 1980) is a writer, poet, literary translator, editor, and musician. She writes in English and translates from Chinese and French. Her fiction, poetry, and translations have received recognition, shortlisted and longliste ...

(forthcoming 2025) * ''Floral Mutter'' by Ya Shi, tr. Nick Admussen (2020) * ''Sunday Sparrows'' by Song Ling, tr. Jami Proctor Xu (2019) * ''October Dedications'' by

, tr. Lucas Klein, with Huang Yibing and Jonathan Stalling (2017) * ''Something Crosses My Mind'' by

Wang Xiaoni Wang Xiaoni (; born 1955) is a Chinese poet. Xiaoni graduated from Jilin University in 1982 where she was a literary editor and worked for a film studio. In 1985, she settled in Shenzhen and became a professor at Hainan University. She has publis ...

, tr. Eleanor Goodman (2014) * ''I Can Almost See Clouds of Dust'' by Yu Xiang, tr.

(2014) * ''Canyon in the Body'' by Lan Lan, tr.

(2014) * ''Double Shadows'' by Ouyang Jianghe, tr. Austin Woerner (2012) * ''A Phone Call From Dalian'' by Han Dong, ed. by

Nicky Harman Nicky Harman is a UK-based literary translator, working from Chinese to English and focussing on contemporary fiction, literary non-fiction, and occasionally poetry, by a wide variety of authors. When not translating, she spends time promoting ...

(2012) * ''Wind Says'' by

Bai Hua Bai Hua ( zh, s=白桦, t=白樺, p=Bái Huà; 20 November 1930 – 15 January 2019) was a Chinese novelist, playwright and poet. He gained national fame for his plays based on uncompromising historical criticism. Early life Bai was born Chen ...

, tr.

(2012) * ''The Changing Room'' by

Zhai Yongming Zhai Yongming (born 1955) is a Chinese List of Chinese language poets, poet, essayist and screenwriter from Chengdu, in the southwest Sichuan Province. Born during the Maoist era, Zhai was forcibly sent away for two years to do manual labor in t ...

, tr. Andrea Lingenfelter (2011) * ''Flash Cards'' by Yu Jian, tr. Wang Ping and

Ron Padgett Ron Padgett (born June 17, 1942) is an American poet, essayist, fiction writer, translator, and a member of the New York School (art), New York School. ''Great Balls of Fire'', Padgett's first full-length collection of poems, was published in 1969 ...

(2010)

References

External links

''Jintian''''Today'' (''Jintian'') on worldcat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jintian 1978 establishments in China Chinese-language magazines Defunct magazines published in China Literary magazines published in China Magazines established in 1978 Magazines disestablished in 1990 Magazines published in Beijing Magazines published in Stockholm Online literary magazines Online magazines with defunct print editions