XI CHUAN 西川
(650) 656-9132
qca_info@qualiagallery.com www.qualiagallery.com
BIOGRAPHY XI CHUAN 西川
b. 1963 in Jiangsu, China; Lives and works in Beijing, China
Xi Chuan (“West Stream,” pen name of Liu Jun 刘军) is a prominent poet, essayist, translator, and editor whose career traces—and helps shape—the evolution of Chinese poetry after the “Misty” generation.
Raised in Beijing, he studied English at Beijing University. In 1988 he co‑founded the unofficial poetry journal Qingxiang (Tendency), shut down after three issues, and from 1990 to 1995 served as an editor at the underground publication Xiandai Hanshi (Modern Chinese Poetry). He is currently a co‑editor of Dangdai Guoji Shitan (Contemporary World Poetry).
Parallel to his poetic production, Xi Chuan has published essay collections, criticism, a play, and translations of (among others) Pound, Borges, and Miłosz, extending his exploration of how ideas travel across linguistic and cultural systems. His distinctions include the Modern Chinese Poetry Award (1994), the Lu Xun Prize for Literature (2001), the Zhuang Zhongwen Prize for Literature (2003), Sweden’s Cikada Prize (2018), and the Tokyo Poetry Prize (2018).
Xi Chuan teaches classical and modern Chinese literature at the Central Academy of Fine Arts and lives in Beijing. Previously, he taught Western literature in Chinese translation and introductory English. He has held appointments at universities such as New York University and the University of Victoria.
峨峨高山首 悠悠萬里道
Towering, towering stand the mountain peaks. Winding, winding stretches the road of ten thousand li., 2021
Ink on xuan paper
35.5 x 151.1 cm | 14 x 59.5 in
Framed: 49.5 x 165.1 cm | 19.5 x 65 in
WRITTEN:
“峨峨高山首 悠悠萬里道
The towering peaks stand tall, endless stretches the road ahead”
Crow烏鴉, 2021
Ink on xuan paper
WRITTEN:
“烏鴉解決烏鴉的問題，我解決我的問題；烏鴉解決烏鴉的問題，我解決我的
Crows solve crows’ problems, I solve mine; Crows solve crows’ problems, I solve mine.
烏鴉解決烏鴉的問題，我解決我的問題；烏鴉解決烏鴉的問題，我解決我的问题
Crows solve crows’ problems, I solve mine; Crows solve crows’ problems, I solve mine.”
分界洲島讀蘇東坡新韻成篇
New Verses Upon Reading Su Shi on Boundary Island, 2021
Ink on xuan paper
分界洲島讀蘇東坡新韻成篇
New Verses Upon Reading Su Shi on Boundary Island, 2021
WRITTEN:
“雲連過嶺急，霞赤知時滅。
浪舉必荒原，雨狂復昨夜。
半生南北詩， 攬空在分界。
贏海喻蒼茫，坡翁誡我也。
- 分界洲島讀東坡詩新韻成篇.
Clouds rush across ridges in fierce procession, the rosy sky fades—it knows its time. Waves rise, and wasteland follow; The storm returns, just like last night.
Half my life, I’ve written poems, Wandering north and south with no end. To win the sea is to name the vast unknown, Old Donpo once warned me, in a solemn tone.
–A New Rhyme Reading Su Dongpo’s Poetry at Fenjiezhou Island”
處淵流芳 Abiding in the depths, virtues flowing afar, 2022
Ink on xuan paper
72.4 x 73 cm | 28.5 x 28.75 in
Framed: 85 x 85.75 cm | 33.5 x 33.75 in