In an age of information explosion, why do we reread the classics? How has writing changed the fate of writers, and what does reading bring to life?
Recently, the People's Literature Publishing House for the first time to open the literary New Year's Eve live broadcast, eighteen writers and scholars gathered in the name of literature, through 18 mainstream network platforms for the national readers to present a 5-hour long "Literature China - People's Literature Publishing House 2022 Literary New Year's Eve Festival" live broadcast, the total number of views of the whole network exceeded 10 million times, known by netizens as "Literary Spring Festival Gala".
The literary festival held dialogues with the four themes of "the power of literature", "the charm of classics", "the feast of reading" and "the hope of youth", and nearly 50 people, such as Mo Yan, Feng Jicai, Yan Jingming, Alai, Ge Fei, Su Tong, Dong Dong, Dong Qing, Ma Weidu, ge Liang, etc., sent New Year wishes in the form of videos.
For those who read, literature is the starting point for a wider life, allowing us to travel through time and space, beyond our own horizons, and to recognize the wider world. The first topics to start were Zhu Yongxin, member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the national image spokesperson for reading for all, Li Jingze, vice chairman of the China Writers Association and critic, Liang Xiaosheng, writer, and Cao Wenxuan, winner of the International Hans Christian Andersen Award. Li Jingze shared the importance of literature from the unique perspective of the Chinese character "wen": "'Wen' means that we have imagination and the ability to create a world for ourselves and build a world of meaning. In this sense, literature is indeed important, and in this 'literature' literature is particularly basic. ”
"Social sciences, like history and philosophy, rely more on the power of reason to impress people, literature also has reason, but reason is presented in a perceptual way... Writers present the scenes of our lives in a literary way, so that everyone can find themselves in it or find the people around them... So it's particularly emotional, and its power is unique throughout the humanities. Zhu Yongxin viewed the power of literature this way.
Liang Xiaosheng shared how he began to embark on the road of literature by being a "truant ghost" under pressure at home, because of an accidentally published essay, "Composition gave me the dignity of my first child, in order to keep this confidence and dignity, I prefer to write essays, and I ask myself to write better... So I read a lot of books, which became a nutrient for later embarking on the path of literature, or the original literary vitamin. ”
Cao Wenxuan talked about one of the forces of literature is to cultivate compassion: "Ideological education, knowledge education, aesthetic education, and emotional education are all education. In the face of this situation, the best way or the only way is to read literary works, because literature is the product of feelings, and literature has always been about the spirit of compassion and compassion. ”
The Humanities Society also specially invited young writers Di An, Jiangnan, Sun Pin and cartoonist Bai Cha to record a short video of "Blind Box of Questions" and participate in the ceremony by asking questions from outside the venue.
From the ever-changing Tang and Song poems to the four famous works with their own charms, from Shakespeare in the Renaissance to Kafka in the 20th century, classics always make us calm down and listen to our inner voices. When asked about the significance of people reading classics today, Kang Zhen, a professor at the College of Literature of Beijing Normal University, used Li Bai's poem as an example to answer: "Since there is a natural phenomenon of waterfalls in the world, there will be literary artists who will continue to write about it, but only Li Bai's "Wanglushan Waterfall" refreshes our impression of waterfalls... The most eminent classical writers will refresh your perception of it, so that you will have new emotions about it. ”
In the view of Dong Qiang, director of the French Department of Peking University and chairman of the Fu Lei Translation and Publication Award, literature that can be called classics has such characteristics: "I think it must be the first time in human history to take a unique vision, use unique words, and open up a unique world for you. Such people, such works, are classics for me. ”
Chen Geng, the winner of the fourth season of the "Chinese Poetry Conference", shared the significance of classic literature for her: "We often say that reading history makes people wise, and classics are the warmest, most fascinating, and most humane history... We must make friends with the best people in the whole long river of history, and by reading the classics, we can look at them across the paper, have a spiritual dialogue with them, and let these classics shine in our hearts... Get yourself out of the tacky and mediocre. ”
Li Er, winner of the Tenth Mao Dun Literature Award and deputy director of the Museum of Modern Literature, shared the "Notes of the Southern Court" written by Li Boyuan in the Qing Dynasty: "It said that when the Qianlong Emperor conducted the palace examination, only one candidate answered correctly. We can't understand the heart of the Sacred One, but you can see Qianlong's understanding of human feelings and sophistication, and he has his perspective on problems. ”
Zhao Baisheng, a professor at Peking University and director of the World Biography Research Center, was the first professor at Peking University to offer a special research course on African literature for graduate students, and when talking about the phenomenon of the "African Year of World Literature" in 2021, he said: "Why do you want to open up the north and the south? Because the biggest cross-cultural model of the twentieth century is actually the Chinese and Western model, what new things do we contribute in the twenty-first century? Open up the north and south. This is what it means to study African literature and culture. When we talk about Africa, the stereotype is particularly high... But I would like to say that South Africa, a country with a population of 52 million, has produced a total of 11 Nobel Laureates, such an Africa, do you know? ”
Wen Zheng, a professor at the School of European Languages and Cultures at the University of Foreign Studies and Chinese in Beijing, recalled Dante's relationship with Chinese readers: "Dante's Divine Comedy first entered the vision of Chinese, and Mr. Qian Daosun of Peking University was the first to translate the Divine Comedy... But he translated it in The Chu script and published it in the Novel Monthly newspaper that year, a full hundred years. This year, in addition to commemorating the 700th anniversary of Dante's death, it is also commemorative of the centenary of Chinese reading the Divine Comedy. ”
Shi Yifeng, a writer and deputy editor-in-chief of Contemporary, shared the reason for becoming a writer: "When I was a child, I didn't have any career design, I was really confused at that time, my life was confused, and I didn't think about what to do. Being a writer is because I am an editor in a magazine, watching people write, sometimes discussing with others how to change, discussing for a long time, I said that I can do it, I became a writer. ”
Netizens actively participate in literary dialogues, interactive guessing, and the bullet screen "did not hear enough" and "must continue to do it next year" and so on. "How vast life is, life is the ocean... To ignite the fire of others with one's own fire, to discover the heart with the heart... Wherever there is life, there is happiness and treasure. Zang Yongqing, president of the People's Literature Publishing House, and others sent New Year greetings for 2022 with He Qifang's poem "How Vast Life Is".
Author: Xu Yang
Image source: Publisher
Edited by: Shang Hui
Editor-in-Charge: Li Ting
*Wenhui exclusive manuscript, please indicate the source when reprinting.