Mid-Autumn Festival gives poetic inspiration for fellowship

To celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival, more than 500 poets from home and abroad attended the inaugural annual Fellowship Activity of Poetry Friends from Home and Abroad in Beijing on Thursday.

Organized by the Chinese Poetry Society, the fellowship was held both online and offline this year.

"Poetry is the common spiritual bloodline of our Chinese nation, and the purpose of organizing this fellowship is to strengthen communication and cooperation among poets in China and the rest of the world," said Zhou Wenzhang, president of the society.

Lin Feng, executive vice-president of the society who presided over the fellowship, said participants included representatives of the society, members of provincial poetry societies and poets from around the globe.

Thirty-four poets from home and abroad recited classic mid-autumn poems spanning the past to the present as well as their own works.

"Chinese poetry captures the essence of the excellent traditional Chinese culture. It contains important content that should be vigorously inherited and developed. It's our responsibility to promote Chinese poetry," Zhou said.

Zhou further said the fact that more than 500 poets from all over the world took part in the inaugural fellowship this year is a testament to the enduring legacy of Chinese poetry, which dates back to more than 3,000 years ago.

The Chinese Poetry Society was founded in 1987. Over the past 36 years, its membership increased progressively to exceed 51,700 by the end of the first half of this year.

Zhang Wei contributed to this story.