The "key" symbolizes the youth and all the beautiful things that the young generation lost in the "Cultural Revolution".
"China, My Key is Lost" is selected from the 10th issue of "Poetry Magazine" in 1980, written by Liang Xiaobin. This poem uses "searching" and "thinking" about the "key" lost in China. Such a series of symbolic images artistically summarizes the spiritual situation and psychological state of the young generation during the "Cultural Revolution": they were confused and lost, but they did not lose their confidence in life, and learned to pursue and think after experiencing disasters.
The original text of the poem is as follows:
It was more than ten years ago. I ran wildly along the red street.
I ran to the wilderness in the suburbs for joy. Called, later, my key was lost.
The soul, the suffering soul, does not want to wander anymore,
I want to go home, open the drawer and look through the pictures of my childhood,
Also take a look at the green clover tucked into the pages of the book.
Moreover, I wanted to open the bookcase and take out a copy of "The Ballads of Heine",
I was going on a date, and I raised this book to her,
< p>As a signal of love that I send to the blue sky.None of these, all these beautiful things can be done,
China, my key is lost.
It started to rain again. My key, where are you lying?
I think the wind and rain have corroded you and you have become rusty.
No, I don’t think so,
I will search tenaciously, hoping to find you again.
Sun, have you seen my key?
May your light shine warmly for it.
I am walking in this vast field, and I am searching along the footsteps of my soul.
I am thinking seriously about all the lost things. ?
Extended information
Creative background: This poem was written shortly after the end of the "Cultural Revolution", when China was in a period of rapid social transformation in which the mind was emancipated and the old was abandoned in favor of the new. A generation of young people have come through ten years of turmoil, covered with scars and confused mentally. This poem describes a special thought process of a generation of young people from a unique perspective, showing their confusion and thinking in the face of the new era.
Poetry mainly uses symbolic artistic techniques to express the theme. The acquisition of this symbolic meaning is first achieved by juxtaposing and confronting the ordinary and concrete things in daily life such as "keys" with the abstract and huge concept of "China". The title of the poem is "China, my key is lost." This juxtaposition is bound to inspire readers to consider the deep symbolic implications of the image of "key", and it also contains the broad poetic space of the work.
Then, the poem uses the image of "key" to describe related images such as "drawers", "pictures", "clovers" and "The Ballad of Heine". These things are all The lyrical protagonist must obtain it through the intermediary of the "key", thus combining these images into a complete series, and contrasting them with images such as "blue sky" and "sun" to recall his childhood memories. Mistakes give deep regret and reflection, and give "finding the key" a rich symbolic meaning.
The use of symbolic techniques not only avoids explicit political comments in the work's denial and accusation of the "Cultural Revolution", thereby showing a strong personality, but also greatly enhances the poetic flavor. Coverage and space for interpretation.