Jintian is the title of a Chinese literary journal. Founded in 1978, it was the first non-official literary journal in the People's Republic of China since the 1950s. It ran for nine issues until it was censored in 1980. It was revived in 1990.
About
Jintian was created in 1978 by Mang Ke, Bei Dao and others, and was first distributed on and around Democracy Wall in Beijing. It was instrumental in bringing the Misty Poets into the open, publishing work by Bei Dao, Duo Duo, Shu Ting, Yang Lian and others. It ran for nine issues and published four books. It also ran two poetry readings, and two exhibitions of The Stars, the first non-official painters. In 1990 Jintian was revived overseas, with Bei Dao as editor, and initially published from Stockholm. It is now an online journal, featuring writing in Chinese.
Translations into English
Some of the poems, short stories and essays first published in Jintian have been translated into English, notably in the series Chinese Writing Today, the first two volumes published by the Wellsweep Press, in the UK, and the third volume published by the Zephyr Press in the USA. The Jintian Series of Contemporary Literature is published by Zephyr Press, in the USA. Chinese Writing Today
Under Sky Under Ground. Chinese Writing Today 1, ed. by Henry Y.H. Zhao and John Cayley, Wellsweep Press, London, 1994 - this contains fiction by Haizi, Janet Tan, Henry Y.H. Zhao, Nan Fang, Ai Yan, Jane Ying Zha, Duo Duo and Du Ma; poetry by Bei Dao, Duo Duo, Yang Lian, Gu Cheng, Zhang Zhen, Meng Lang, Zhang Zao, Bai Hua, Daxian, Li Li, Dean Lü, Hong Ying, Daozi, and Zi An; memoirs of underground literature by Zhang Langlang, A Cheng, Li Tuo, and Zhong Ming; belles lettres by Song Lin, Yan Li, Zhang Chengzhi, and Gu Xiaoyang; and criticism by Henry Y.H. Zhao and You Yi.
Abandoned Wine, Chinese Writing Today 2, ed. by Henry Y.H. Zhao and John Cayley, Wellsweep Press, London, 1996.
Fissures. Chinese Writing Today 3, ed. by Yiheng Zhao, Yanbing Chen and John Rosenwald, Zephyr Press, 2000.
The Jintian Series of Contemporary Literature
Double Shadows. Selected Poetry of Ouyang Jianghe, tr. Austin Woerner
