Chinese Literature

Sg etch ret ee nt

and vigorously express their detestation of ageressive war. In his epic poem of nearly five hundred lines, The “Strongest Note for Peace, the

young poet Shih Fang-yu says, 1m praise of the power of peace:

We are the common people but not

to be bullied because our nane

happens to be “the people’ ;

we are of all those in our world

the great majority; and in all the world

our voice strikes the strongest note; we do not

have to beg them: Give us peace, we cai command them not to start their wars.

Tien Chien’s J Am a Singer of Peace has this to say about the people’s fervent hope:

On land and sea, our law and faith are: Peace. The doves of peace, carved into rocks and cliffs, Turn mountains into galleries. of art.

Because China is a state with-many nationalities within her borders, and because each nationality has its own traditions and culture, a magazine like People’s Literature has a duty not only to introduce its readers to the best in the literature of each and every one of the nationalities, but also to encourage their development and growth.

During the years of reactionary rule, national minorities in China were discriminated against and oppressed in many ways—politically, economically and culturally. Only when the new China came into being did the national minorities win complete emancipation, did their rich treasures of literature begin to be discovered.

People’s Literature has published two outstanding narrative poems from two of the national minorities. Gada Mirin, which has been popular for generations, tells the story of a national hero of the Mongolian people. Ashma is sung by the Shani people of Yunnan Province about the heroic exploits of two brave and resourceful young people in their unyielding fight against feudal forces. Like many other products of folk art, these works are the collective creation of the people.

People’s Literature also fosters literary creation by individual writers belonging to the national minorities who are trying to picture the new life of their people. On the Kholchin Grasslands* is a short novel by the young Mongolian writer Malchinhu about the life and struggle of his people against Kuomintang saboteurs. The appearance of writers like Malchinhu is a milestone in the literary development of the Chinese national minorities. The publication of stories and poems like these does much to foster the study and development of the literature of China’s brother nationalities.

* See Registration and Other Stories.