I Choose to Cry and Love You: A Bilingual English/Nepali Poetry

Poetry. Translated by Yuyutsu RD Sharma and Liu Xiaodan. Yang Qingxiang is a leading Chinese poet today. I CHOOSE TO CRY AND LOVE YOU is a celebration of the contemporary China on a grand scale. An advocate of 'new scar' movement in the Chinese literature, Qingxiang deals with 'pangs of isolations against nothingness' and weaves an imposing narrative to cope up with new found Chinese affluence that has stunned the world. Translated for the first time into Nepali by world renowned Himalayan poet, Yuyutsu Sharma, this bilingual edition is a valuable addition to the Asian literature that along with the continent's sudden rise to prominence is eagerly awaiting all the laurels it deserves. Contrary to the expected cliches of an agitated working class struggle and its victory song, writes Yuyutsu Sharma in the Introduction to the book, Qingxiang's poetry goes the other direction; it quietly moves to locate a silent, restful moment in the bustling life of modern China that produces almost everything the world needs today. Qingxiang celebrates quiet moments of silence on an epic level and in the process what emerges is a brilliant but varied face of present-day China looking for its true global identity. I CHOOSE TO CRY AND LOVE is a rare treasures to be preserved by all interested in fresh literature being produced in Asia today.

Qingxiang's appearance makes me see the spiritual depth of the younger generation of the Chinese poets. If the poets of the motherland reappear among the young poets, it is a gospel and a mission.--Yu Jian

Yang has a psychic, agile soul and the most sensitive and sentimental 'heart of the other.' This literature of trauma moved people, eventually turned into a cold and sentimental conscience of the times.--Dai Weina

I CHOOSE contains the concept of 'new scar' advocated by the poet. The writer sticks to his own experience, fights against nothingness with his crying and love, and practices the poetic idea of 'dialogism' from the cultural level.--Lu Zhen

Yang Qingxiang seems to be standing on a cliff, a small area just able to hold his feet, blown by the wind, like some kind of animal that is driven away by the world because of his excessive affection. He calls out to his companions in his loneliest voice&8212;...What matters is shouting itself. It is self-cleaning and self-examination. It is the youth who stabs the sky with a sharp blade again and again.--Zhang Yueran

Contrary to the expected cliches of an agitated working class struggle and its victory song, Yang's poetry goes the other direction; it quietly moves to locate a silent, restful moment in the bustling life of modern China that produces almost everything the world needs today. Yang celebrates quiet moments of silence on an epic scale. What emerges is a brilliant but varied face of present-day China looking for its true global identity.--Yuyutsu Sharma