Sing“New Yan'an”, write a new chapter——An impromptu speech at the launching ceremony of “100 Chinese Poets Visiting Yan'an”by Liang Xiangyang

Liang Xiangyang, the vice Chairman of Shaanxi Writers Association, Chairman of Yan'an Writers Association

Dear poets

In the tender month of May, trees go green, all things are full of vitality, you form groups of hundreds of poets to visit Yan'an, Here, on behalf of Yan'an literary friends, I warmly welcome you!

Your arrival reminds me of a group of most outstanding poets of modern China who were active in Yan'an and Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia border areas in the 1930s and 1940s. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, in the blazing war years, everyone was struggling for the country. These poets came from places thousands of miles away, overcoming many difficulties, gathering under the Baota Mountain, beside the Yanhe River. Using their passion and ideals with their responsibilities and actions, they wrote the spirit of the times with magnificent poems and issued the strongest voice of the nation. Till today, their names are still shining. Let us always remember the great names:Guang Weiran, Xiao San, Ke Zhongping, He Qifang, Ai Qing, Gong Mu, He Jingzhi, Li Ji, etc. They are the beacons of our lives.

Dear poets at that time, the famous poet He Jingzhi uttered a verse with warmth, “Several times in dreams I returned to Yan'an and held Baota Mountain tightly with both hands”Today, you come from all over the country. I hope that you can also use your witty eyes to capture the rhythm of poetry in the mountains, the waters, the grass and the trees in Yan'an. Use your beautiful poems to eulogize“new Yan'an”and write new chapters, this will make a special contribution for the historical inheritance of Yan'an and the cultural construction of Yan'an.

Sincerely welcome and thank you again!

Thank you all.

May 26, 2018