As a classic American writer that represented America's literary legacy and its values, Walt Whitman and his poetry have spread and been influential in China since over a century and half ago. English newspapers published in Shanghai in the 1870s first introduced the American poet and his poems to Chinese readers; then, in 1919, Tian Han published a ten-thousand-word essay in which he gave a comprehensive introduction to and criticism of Whitman and his poetry's themes and style. Since then, more than thirty Chinese poets, scholars, and critics — among them Tian Han, Guo Moruo, Wen Yiduo, Xu Zhimo, Chu Tunan, Zhou Erfu, Lu Xun, Dai Wangshu, Ai Qing, Mu Mutian, Shao Xunmei, Tu An, Gong Mu, Xu Chi, Yuan Shuipai, He Qifang, Zhou Libo, Chen Huangmei, Sun Dayu — have either translated Whitman's poems into Chinese or published critical pieces on the poet's works, thereby pointing a direction for the publication of Whitman’s works and laying a solid foundation for the acceptance of Whitman among Chinese readers.
After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the introduction and translation of Whitman's works expanded further, a development to which more than 20 renowned poets and scholars — including Chu Tunan, Ba Jin, Xu Chi, Cai Qijiao, Yang Xianyi, Yuan Shuipai, Shi Pu, Huang Shaoxiang, Zou Jiang, Tang Yongkuan, Huang Jiade — contributed significantly. In 1955, China's Ministry of Culture held a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the publication of Leaves of Grass, in Beijing.
Since the start of the reform and opening-up, Whitman studies have continuously prospered in China. Large numbers of accomplished translators, poets and scholars have devoted themselves to studying Whitman — Zhao Luorui, Wang Zuoliang, Li Yeguang, Shao Yanxiang, Huang Wu, Huang Yaomian, Niu Han, Zhou Jueliang, Liu Zhongde, Jiang Feng, Ruan Shen, Gu Cheng, Zhang Yugong, Wang Yugong, Qu Hong — and have published critical essays as well as Chinese translations of Whitman’s poetry and proses. The poetry of Gu Cheng, Shu Ting, Bei Dao and many other Chinese poets has also been influenced by Whitman. Peking University held the “Whitman and the World” international conference in 2000.
Against this background, the workshop revolved around the theme "How to interpret Walt Whitman and His Leaves of Grass in the 21st Century." Scholars on Whitman from home and abroad as well as Chinese poets were invited to discuss how to appreciate the value and meaning of Walt Whitman and his poetic creations in the contemporary world, specifically focusing on the understanding and interpretation of the US literary and art legacy, its cultural traditions and its thoughts and values that Whitman represents, as well as their relation to contemporary US society, politics and international relations.
