Ten Thousand Waves

Wang Ping's collection looks at a wide swathe of Chinese history and literature, and examines various issues stemming from immigration to America. She conveys the voices of centuries of farmers and factory laborers, revolutionaries, writers, artists and craftsmen. She has a unique gift for telling small stories with powerful emotional effects.

The title poem, "Ten Thousand Waves," was inspired by a tragedy that occurred on February 5, 2004. More than twenty Chinese laborers were drowned in Morecambe Bay, England, when they were caught by an incoming tide. They were collecting cockles late in the evening, having been misinformed about the tidal times. The victims were undocumented immigrants, mainly from Fujian Province, China. In 2006, English filmmaker Nick Broomfield directed and produced Ghosts, a dramatic film based on the tragedy at Morecambe Bay.

Not long after that, filmmaker Isaac Julien commissioned Ping to write a narrative script for his film on global immigration (“Small Boats”). When he saw Ping’s finished poem, Julien decided to make a film installation specifically on Chinese immigration, which he entitled Ten Thousand Waves, after Ping’s poem. Julien invited Ping to China for the filming, which prompted Ping to write a second piece, “The Great Summons.” Isaac recorded Ping reading the poems in London, and used both as the voice-over for his film. Ten Thousand Waves has been featured at the Pace Foundation galleries in San Antonio, Texas, and at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.