Kahlil Gibran (1883～1931), Lebanese poet, essayist, and painter. Known as an artistic genius. Born 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 "Rebellious Soul", which angered the authorities. His works were banned and burned, and he was expelled and went to the United States again. Later he went to France to study painting and sculpture at the Paris Academy of Fine Arts, and was awarded by the art master Rodin. He returned to Boston in 1911 and moved to New York the following year to live permanently and 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. Kahlil Gibran is a literary hero of Lebanon. As a philosophical poet and an outstanding painter, he, like Rabindranath Tagore, is a pioneer of modern oriental literature to the world. At the same time, he is the main founder of modern Arab novels and artistic prose. The first Arab literary school with him as its backbone and representative, the Syme School (i.e. Arab diaspora literature), was once world-famous.
Gibran mainly wrote novels in his youth. After settling in the United States, he gradually turned to writing prose poems. Almost all of his novels are written in Arabic, including the short story collection "The Prairie Bride" (1905), "The Rebellious Soul" and the novel "Broken Wings" (1911). "Broken Wings" describes the tragic fate of oriental women and their hard struggle with fate, denounces greed, fraud and submission, and praises self-esteem, will and strength. His novels win with the philosophical monologues, dialogues and narrations of the protagonists, especially the passionate outpourings of the oppressed and harmed. His published works in Arabic include the prose "Musical Short Chapters" (1905), the prose poetry collections "Tears and Laughter" (1913), "The Tempest" (1920), the poetry collection "Hymns of Processions" (1918), and "Tips" "Talk with Fun" (1923), "Whispering with the Soul" (1927), etc. His first work in English was a collection of essays, The Madman (1918). After that, Lu Ji published prose poetry collections "Pioneer" (1920), "Prophet" (1923), "Sand and Foam" (1926), "Jesus, Son of Man" (1928), "Prophet's Garden" (1931), "Wanderer" etc., as well as the poetic dramas "Gods of the Earth", "Lazarus and His Lover", etc. "The Prophet" is considered to be his masterpiece. The author uses the farewell words of a wise man to discuss a series of topics such as love and beauty, life and death, marriage and family, work and happiness, law and freedom, reason and passion, good and evil and religion. Life and social issues are full of metaphors and philosophy, with an oriental flavor. Gibran also drew his own illustrations full of romantic sentiment and profound meaning.
Gibran believed that the poet's duty is to sing "the song of the mother's heart". Most of his works take "love" and "beauty" as themes, expressing deep emotions and lofty ideals through bold imagination and symbolic techniques. His thoughts were greatly influenced by Nietzsche's philosophy. His works often reveal a cynical attitude or express some mysterious power. He was the first writer to use prose poetry in the history of modern Arab literature. He organized and led the famous Arab overseas literary group "PEN" and made significant contributions to the development of new Arabic literature. His works have been translated into many languages ????around the world and are welcomed by readers from all over the world. The first work of his to be introduced to China was "The Prophet" (translated by Bing Xin, 1931). Since the 1950s, his other works have gradually become known to Chinese readers.
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 into 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, because he could not bear the brutal rule of the Ottoman Empire, 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. He made a living by writing articles 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.
Gibran was an artist who loved his motherland and all mankind. In the last years of his life, he wrote the poem "Motherland in the Hazy" which spread throughout the Arab world. He eulogized the motherland that he had loved all his life: "You are in our souls - fire and light; you are in my heart." In my chest is my beating heart. "Love and beauty are the main themes of Gibran's works. He once said: “The entire earth is my motherland, and all human beings are my fellow villagers.
"He opposed ignorance and obsolescence. He loved freedom, advocated justice, and dared to declare war on tyrannical power and hypocritical saints. He was not afraid of being called a "madman" and called for the burial of all "living corpses" that did not advance with the times. He opposed He moans and talks without any reason; he advocates writing the voice of the people with "blood".
Literature and painting are the two wings of Gibran's artistic life. His early creations were mainly novels, and his later creations were mainly prose poems. In addition, there are poems, poetic dramas, literary reviews, letters, etc. "The Prophet" is the pinnacle of Gibran's entry into the world of literature. It has been translated into more than 20 languages ????and published around the world.
His painting style and poetic style were all influenced by the British poet William Blake (1757-1827), so the literary world called him the "Blake of the 20th century". From 1908 to 1910, Rodin studied painting at the Paris Academy of Art. He evaluated Gibran with certainty and confidence: “This Arab youth will become a great artist. "Gibran's paintings have strong romanticism and symbolism and are collected in the memorial hall.
In the history of Eastern literature, Gibran's artistic style is unique. His works are both serious and cold in rational thinking, and The romance and lyricism of arias. He is good at discovering meaning in simple words and revealing profound philosophy in beautiful metaphors. On the other hand, Gibran's style is also reflected in his unique language. He is a bilingual writer who writes in English, and uses each language elegantly 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." Works with a strong Eastern consciousness are regarded as "the best gift from the East to the West". As early as 1923, Gibran's five prose poems were first introduced to China by Mr. Mao Dun in 1931. Ms. Gibran's translation of "The Prophet" has opened up the literary window for Chinese readers to learn more about Kahlil Gibran. In the past ten years, our country has successively published some of Gibran's works and he has become more and more close friends in China.