Shu Ting’s Love and Pain for China | Generated by AI
I’d be happy to introduce you to “Motherland, Oh My Dear Motherland” (《祖国啊，我亲爱的祖国》), one of modern China’s most celebrated poems.
This powerful work was written by Shu Ting (舒婷) in 1979, during a pivotal moment in Chinese history as the country was emerging from the Cultural Revolution and entering the Reform and Opening era. Shu Ting was a leading voice of the “Misty Poetry” (朦胧诗) movement, which brought new emotional depth and personal expression to Chinese poetry after decades of more propagandistic writing.
The poem is structured around a deeply personal relationship between the speaker and China, using the intimate “I-you” address. Through vivid, sometimes painful imagery—a broken water wheel, a blackened miner’s lamp, a worn-out song—Shu Ting confronts China’s struggles and suffering while affirming an unbreakable bond of love and hope. The poem moves from acknowledging hardship to expressing determination for renewal.
What makes it so moving is its balance: it’s patriotic without being jingoistic, critical without being cynical. The repeated refrain “祖国啊” (Motherland, oh) creates a tone that’s both intimate and epic. The poem resonated profoundly with a generation of Chinese people processing collective trauma while looking toward the future.
It remains one of the most widely read and memorized poems in contemporary Chinese literature, often taught in schools and considered a landmark of post-Mao literary expression.
Would you like to discuss any particular aspect of the poem, or are you looking for a translation?