Chinese poet Li Bai's poems transcend cultural divide(2)
"I have always been attracted to the philosophy of Taoism, not as a religion, but as a philosophy. I think we are finding out through the state-of-the-art physicists that the nature of reality, in fact, is very close to the way Taoist thinkers like Li Bai, and the masters he learned from, is the way they described the universe and the way nature works," he said.
"His themes are universal. They usually deal with appreciation of nature and nature is eternal. They have to do with things that you and I and everybody deals with -- the joys of reunion, the sorrows of parting, the majesty of mountains and oceans, birth, aging, death, all of the aspects of life."
Joanne Arnott, a mother of six and an author of six poetry books, recited Li Bai's poem "Jade Staircase Lament" after two of her children had earlier read Li Bai's other two poems, "Alone looking at the mountain" and "Clearing at dawn."
The Manitoba native said she was particularly impressed with Li Bai's works where words were captured beautifully for people of many different experiences to share.
"I really enjoyed just the capturing of peaceful moments. A lot of the poems I was re-reading today were farewells, going to see a monk and the monk is not there. Still that feeling of beauty is there even though what he has gone to do was not satisfied, still he was satisfied."
With the various speakers reciting Li Bai's works in Korean, Spanish, English, Mandarin, Tagalog (the Philippine language), Romanian, Greek and Croatian, it was Dr. Hadaa Sendoo, a World Poetry Ambassador, who provided the most memorable performance with his recital in Mongolian.
It was his actions that convinced the poetry group to review and appreciate the works of Li Bai.
"Li Bai and his works represent China's splendid culture and civilization. That's why I choose Li Bai as the poet on the occasion of the Asian Heritage Month," he said.
Lawrence Lim, a Singaporean whose father came from China's Fujian province, said he felt honored that Li Bai's poems are celebrated around the world, adding it reflected an international recognition of Chinese tradition and culture.
He reasoned Li Bai would enjoy British Columbia, a province of great extremes in nature where towering mountains meet the ocean in a dramatic fashion.
"He wrote about people and the surrounding sceneries on creation and nature, it never changes. Thousands of years ago when he wrote those poems, when you look at the mountains today as I say in Howe Sound (the area around Vancouver), it's the same green mountains. It's the ability to express one's self in poetic terms that brings the expression of human feeling and how it is linked with nature that really expounds on Li Bai's incredible literature skills."
