What else could red take shape in? Red could also depict silent protests of working-class people. For instance, blood appears as a major symbol in the migrant worker poetry in 21st century China. Mao Zedong distinguished three classes of people in China in his 1942 speech: the enemy, the allies, and the mass of the general populace. Among them, the working class and the peasants constituted the majority of the mass (Mao). The Chinese Communist Party had always aligned itself with the rights of the workers and the peasants, claiming that it represented the interests of the Chinese proletariat against the bourgeois and the gentry class. However, sixty years after Mao's speech, in the 2010s, tens or even thousands of millions of Chinese migrant workers could not have their voices heard by society or the Party bureaucrats, let alone to protect their labor rights.
We will take a closer look at the poem I Speak of Blood, which is one of the few examples that offers a striking retelling of the cruel reality that had been hidden from the public. The author of the poem, Xu Lizhi, was not the first migrant worker who committed suicide at the site of work. Beginning in 2010, there were more than a dozen migrant workers who jumped off the building of Foxconn, the company where Xu worked for. The individuals committed suicides one after another, unplanned. However, most news reports were washed off by censorship after the first few deaths. Only until Xu Lizhi’s suicide did society finally paid attention to their quiet protests. On the next morning after Xu’s jump, his social media account was scheduled to post a greeting message, saying “a new day.” Xu and his predecessors might never see the new day. Yet, they used their last breath to voice the unjust labor exploitation. As a poet, Xu left the world with heavy literary remarks, something that the world could revisit and ponder on when the “new day” would arrive, and what changes society could bring forth to welcome the “new day.”
We will take a closer look at the poem I Speak of Blood, which is one of the few examples that offers a striking retelling of the cruel reality that had been hidden from the public. The author of the poem, Xu Lizhi, was not the first migrant worker who committed suicide at the site of work. Beginning in 2010, there were more than a dozen migrant workers who jumped off the building of Foxconn, the company where Xu worked for. The individuals committed suicides one after another, unplanned. However, most news reports were washed off by censorship after the first few deaths. Only until Xu Lizhi’s suicide did society finally paid attention to their quiet protests. On the next morning after Xu’s jump, his social media account was scheduled to post a greeting message, saying “a new day.” Xu and his predecessors might never see the new day. Yet, they used their last breath to voice the unjust labor exploitation. As a poet, Xu left the world with heavy literary remarks, something that the world could revisit and ponder on when the “new day” would arrive, and what changes society could bring forth to welcome the “new day.”
In this poem, blood is repeated seven times. Here, we analyze what exactly is represented by each repetition of blood.
In the first verse, blood is the antithesis of the beautiful nature. It sets the stage for the rest of the poem by stating directly that the poet could not afford to indulge himself in philosophical fantasy. Instead, he has to emphasize on the unfortunate reality as the subject of his poem
In the first verse, blood is the antithesis of the beautiful nature. It sets the stage for the rest of the poem by stating directly that the poet could not afford to indulge himself in philosophical fantasy. Instead, he has to emphasize on the unfortunate reality as the subject of his poem
The following verse expands on the meaning of the blood. It symbolizes the overwhelming amount of frustration, struggles, and hopelessness shared by the vulnerable workers of different gender, from different age groups, living in matchbox-like, highly packed rooms. By saying “opening my eyes at night to write poems,” the author implies that he, along with other hawkers, lived their lives rather mechanically. For the author, writing poems should be an outlet of his repressed emotions. It allows the author to live true to himself, have his voice remembered, and leave his legacy to the world. However, we may never know how the other tens of thousands of migrant workers relieved their stress.
The third and fourth appearance of blood is equivalent to “ants” trying to survive in the “swamp of life.” In this verse, they denounce police violence, workplace injury, and other work-related physical and mental health issues. This iteration of blood is the most explicit resemblance of the original meaning of blood. Xu dares to point out the bloody image of labor exploitation in big factories. According to Maghiel van Crevel, a Chinese language and literature professor at Leiden University, this poem laments “a life force exploited for national pride and corporate profit even as [the blood] flows from the wounds of the workers, literally and metaphorically.” In a scene in the Iron Moon documentary, which was also known as The Verse of Our Own, a group of migrant workers were kneeling down while holding a piece of cardboard ripped off from some commercial packages. The wiggly words on the cardboard read “return our hard-earned money (huan wo men xue han qian).” The hard-earned money could be literally translated into the money they earned by draining every bit of sweat and blood. The phrase reiterates the connection between blood and labor mistreatment.
The final two repetition of “blood” concerns the deprivation of voice. The author is not only desperate because of the vulnerable status of the migrant worker community that he is a part of, he also has a loss of faith in the nonchalance of the society. The smashing open of the sky and his mouth turning red seem like the die-hard determination of his will to speak up for his community. It is a loud proclamation against the world though in a quiet corner. The author demonstrates that he will stand as the last fighter to the unfair treatment to he and his coworkers, rebelling till the last drop of his blood.
The thought-provoking use of language by these grassroot millennials proves that writing poetry does not have to be so exclusive as a privilege enjoyed only by the elite. In contrast, poetry speaks the loudest to the cruel reality, to raise awareness regarding social issues, and to reveal prevalent yet overlooked injustices.
The thought-provoking use of language by these grassroot millennials proves that writing poetry does not have to be so exclusive as a privilege enjoyed only by the elite. In contrast, poetry speaks the loudest to the cruel reality, to raise awareness regarding social issues, and to reveal prevalent yet overlooked injustices.