Crazy for Poetry
  • Country/Area of ProductionChina
  • Language of DialogueChinese
  • Runtime7 min
  • DirectorQuan Xiaomin
  • Type of WorkShort Documentary
  • ProducerXu Zhijie, Zheng Long
Introduction:

PAN Dingkun graduated as a math major from Fudan University in the 1950s. Afterwards, he became a math teaching assistant which led him to take on the position of a math lecturer. Pan Dingkun, who was influenced by his talented grandfather as a child, has deep learning and understanding of traditional Chinese culture, with especially good knowledge of vocabularies. When he discovered that modern day people could only recite poems, but not write them, he was a bit saddened. Hence he decided to set up a teaching podium and teach people about Tang and Song poems. By the time Pan Dingkun was over 90, he carried The Encyclopedia Dictionary of the Chinese Language with him on a daily basis, researching information and preparing for class. When he stood on the podium shouting “Long live Tang poems! Long live Song poems!”, his passion touched many hearts, and so this story of traditional Chinese culture spread to the whole of China.

Trailer