Chai Ling
Citing Bei Dao's influence via his advocacy and writing, the Chinese government banned him from returning to China. His wife and daughter remained in Beijing and were prevented from joining him. Several other Misty Poets were also exiled: Gu Cheng, Duo Duo, and Yang Lian. Speaking to foreign television outlets upon her escape from China, the student protest leader Chai Ling demonstrated the influence of Bei Dao's work when she quoted from his poem, "Declaration": "I will not kneel on the ground / allowing the executioners to look tall / the better to obscure the wind of freedom".