Personal life
Gibran was born in 1883 in Bousheli, a mountainous town in northern Lebanon. When he was 12 years old, he went to Boston, USA with his mother. Two years later, he returned to his motherland and studied Arabic, French and painting at the "Hikma (Wisdom)" school in Beirut. During his studies, he founded the magazine "Truth" with a radical attitude. In 1908, he published the novel "The Rebellious Soul", which angered the authorities. The following year, he moved to New York to engage in literary and artistic creation activities until his death. He is the author of prose poetry collections such as "Tears and Laughter", "Prophet", "Sand and Foam", etc.
Gibran is a proud figure in the literary world of Lebanon. As a philosophical poet and an outstanding painter, he, like Rabindranath Tagore, is a pioneer of modern oriental literature to the world, "a giant standing on the bridge between Eastern and Western cultures." And some commented that "the prophet of God was resurrected in his body." At the same time, the first Arab literary school with him as the backbone, the Syme School (i.e. "Arab Diaspora Literature"), was world-famous.
Since the 1920s, Gibran's creation has shifted from novels to prose and prose poetry. Later, Lu published prose poetry collections "Pioneer" (1920), "Prophet" (1923), and "Sand and Foam" (1926), "Jesus the Son of Man" (1928), "The Garden of the Prophets" (1931), "The Wanderer", etc., as well as the poetic dramas "Gods of the Earth", "Lazarus and His Lover", etc. "The Prophet" is a masterpiece, written in the form of a wise man's farewell words, full of oriental colors of metaphor and philosophy. Gibran also drew his own illustrations with romantic sentiments and profound meanings.
Kahlil Gibran believed in singing "the song of a mother's heart". Most of his works took "love" and "beauty" as themes, expressing deep feelings and lofty ideals through bold imagination and symbolic techniques. His thoughts are greatly influenced by Nietzsche's philosophy. The works often reveal a cynical attitude or express some mysterious power. He was the first writer to use prose and poetry in the history of modern Arab literature, and he led the famous Arab overseas literary group "PEN". The first book introduced to China was "The Prophet" (translated by Bing Xin, 1931). Since the 1950s, it has gradually become known to Chinese readers. His "Song Suite": "Song of Waves" and "Song of Rain" were included in the tenth lesson of the second volume of the eighth grade of People's Education.
On January 6, 1883, Gibran was born in the village of Beshri near the famous "Sacred Valley" in the mountains of northern Lebanon.
In his short but glorious life journey, Gibran suffered from displacement, loss of loved ones, love twists and turns, debt and illness.
He was born in a farming family in the mountains of northern Lebanon. The strange mountains and beautiful scenery of his hometown gave him artistic inspiration.
When he was 12 years old, Gibran could not bear the brutal rule of the Ottoman Empire, so he went to the United States with his mother and lived a poor life in Boston's Chinatown. In 1898, the 15-year-old Gibran returned to his motherland alone to study national history and culture and understand Arab society. Just over a year after returning to the United States in 1902, the disease took away his mother and three other relatives. His 14-year-old sister died of lung disease. Before her death, her sister cried, "I hope to see my brother, I hope to see my father," but she did not realize this wish.
Gibran loved his half-brother very much. Before he could mourn his brother, his mother also fell ill after losing two children one after another. In June 1903, his mother also left him. go. Kahlil Gibran once used a painting to depict his mother's moments before her death, titled "Towards Eternity". The mother's face in the painting did not show any pain and looked very calm and calm. When Gibran later recalled his mother's inspiration for his literary creation, he emphasized that "my mother was and still belongs to me in soul. I can still feel my mother's care for me, influence and help on me. This feeling It was stronger than when his mother was still alive, and it was so strong that it was hard to measure."
He made a living by writing and selling paintings, and struggled at the bottom of the Jinyuan Empire with his sister who was a tailor and sewist. In 1908, he was fortunate enough to receive funding from a friend to study painting in Paris, where he received personal instruction from Rodin and other art masters. After returning to the United States in 1911, he stayed in New York for a long time, engaged in literary and painting creation, and led the cultural trend of the Arab diaspora. When he felt that death was coming, he was determined to make his life's fire burn brighter, so he ignored his illness and stayed at his desk all day until his untimely death at the age of 48.
In May 1904, with the arrangement of Mr. Day and the help of many friends, Gibran held his first solo exhibition in Mr. Day's gallery. The art exhibition was a success, and it also opened the door to Gibran's literary creation. Gibran met the founder of the Arab "Expatriate" newspaper, and he promised the "Expatriate" to publish two articles from "Tears and Laughter" every week. From 1903 to 1908, Gibran published more than 50 essays in the "Expatriate", with the general title "Tears and Laughter".
Writing Style
Gibran's painting style and poetic style are both influenced by the British poet William Blake (1757-1827). Therefore, the literary world calls him "the Blake of the 20th century" ". While studying painting at the Paris Academy of Fine Arts from 1908 to 1910, Rodin once positively and confidently evaluated Gibran: "This Arab young man will become a great artist." Gibran's paintings are rich in romanticism and symbolism and are collected in the Memorial Hall. In the history of Eastern literature, Gibran's artistic style is unique.
Reveal profound philosophy in beautiful metaphors. On the other hand, Gibran's style can also be seen in his highly personal language. He is a bilingual writer who can write in Arabic and English, and he uses each language clearly and fluently. The language style of his works has conquered generations of Eastern and Western readers. Americans once praised Gibran as "like a storm blowing from the East and sweeping across the West", and his works with a strong Eastern consciousness are regarded as "the best gift from the East to the West."
Main works
Short story collection "Prairie Bride" and "Rebellious Soul"
Novel "Broken Wings"
Prose "Musical Short Chapters" "Song of Flowers" "My Soul Warns Me"
Prose poetry collection "Prophet" (considered to be his masterpiece) "Tears and Laughter" "Storm?" "Pioneer" "Sand and Foam", "Jesus the Son of Man", "Prophet's Garden", "Wanderer" and "Suite" (including "Song of Beauty", "Song of Waves", "Song of Rain", "Song of Flowers" and "Song of Happiness")
Collection of poems "Songs of Procession", "Tires and Interesting Talks" and "Whispers to the Soul"
Collection of essays "Madman"
Poem and Drama "Gods of the Earth" "Lazarus and His Lover"