Ai Qing Poetry Museum

　　Introduction       The Ai Qing Poetry Museum is mainly divided into three exhibition halls. The first hall presents Ai Qing’s life and major works, detailing his birth and upbringing; the second hall covers Ai Qing’s later years and the evaluations of him by global leaders and prominent figures in the arts; the third hall features precious writings, paintings, and calligraphy from many artists expressing their remembrance of Ai Qing.

　　      Ai Qing’s Life: On the 17th day of the second lunar month in 1910, Ai Qing was born in a small village named “Fantianjiang,” located near the border of Jinhua and Yiwu in Zhejiang Province. His original name was Jiang Zhenghan, with the courtesy name Yangyuan and the pseudonym Haicheng. Because a fortune-teller said he would “bring harm to his parents,” he was sent to live with the family of Dayanhe, which inspired his famous lyrical poem “Dayanhe—My Wet Nurse.”

　　       In his youth, Ai Qing had a strong interest in painting and paper-cutting. He went to Paris in 1929 and returned to China in 1932. He was sentenced to six years in prison for joining the “Chinese Left-Wing Artists’ League.” In 1935, Ai Qing was released early from prison and joined the ranks of anti-Japanese activists. He arrived in Zhangjiakou in 1945. During the 1950s, Ai Qing visited many countries including the Soviet Union and Chile, and married Comrade Gao Ying in 1956. However, in 1957, he was wrongly labeled a “rightist,” and in 1958 was sent to Beidahuang. In 1959, he came to Xinjiang, where he remained until being officially rehabilitated in 1978. Ai Qing lived in Shihezi for as long as 15 years.　

　　 Shihezi, Xinjiang