Self-Imprisonment and Freedom: Yu Zhenli in His Eighteen Years of Living in the Mountains

In December 1988, Yu Zhenli wrote a limerick: “Mouth in the mouth, wandering in the wall, one remains a prisoner in the mouth; up and down, left and right, coming and going; a red apricot waiting in a circle, bring people back to prison. ( 口中口，牆中游，人在口中留為囚；上下左右步，來來去去走；一枝紅杏圈中候，引渡人再回到囚。)” This sly poem contains Yu Zhenli’s serious artistic attitude and attitude toward life that explains why he called his eighteen years of living in the mountains self-imprisonment.