I received a text message from Zhu Xiuhai on the third day of the Kamikawa-Tibet Line. At that time, the car had just arrived at the mouth of the Folding Mountain, at an altitude of 4380 meters, and when I got off the car and walked a few steps, I would be breathing heavily, and my lips were also a little purple. In that case, I really couldn't reply to the letter, until I went down the mountain to Xinduqiao to re-read his information, it turned out to be the notice of the Beijing October Literature and Art Publishing House to hold a symposium on Zhu Xiuhai's novel "The Distant White Horse", because it was impossible to determine the time of return to Beijing at that time, I only sent Zhu Xiuhai a letter about the itinerary.
Since then, "The White Horse Gone" seems to have been with me. Cars galloping on the rugged and winding mountain roads of the plateau, and from time to time groups of black yaks passing in front of the window, but I always hallucinate in front of my eyes that there is a white horse driving side by side with my car, and reality and history are constantly intertwined in time and space. When Zhu Xiuhai's characters met me again, what impressed me the most was the legendary heroine of Xiuying's eldest sister, who had flesh and blood, dared to love and dare to hate, was rigid and soft, did not fall into the conceptual clichés, had a distinct personality, thoughtful thinking, and a strong heart, and her life was a gripping story. When I first read it, I burst into tears, but now I am still moved in retrospect, this is indeed a very unique and very plump character, even in the "red theme" works are emerging in large numbers today, it is not easy to see.
How many years have passed, and there have been countless literature expressing the revolutionary war, but how many "big sisters" can be seen that the image of several "big sisters" can be called artistic typical and unforgettable? Or which huge film can run through the vicissitudes of a "big sister" and write the character's sorrow and joy into the intestines. It is a pity that the characters I have read like "Big Sister", even if there are green leaves lined with red flowers, do not have much ink, do not have deep connotations, and are light in weight, and cannot be branded. Obscurity is indeed a valuable quality and distinctive feature of the "big sisters", but for these "unsung heroes" of the Chinese revolution to remain "unknown" in our works, it cannot but be said that they are insufficient or missing in the creation of revolutionary war literature. Maybe my reading angle is different from others, most of them see that a traditional combat hero is written, and I appreciate this work more for the character of "Big Sister". In my opinion, "Big Sister" is a seemingly ordinary but different person. This is the typical image of a very special group of heroes created by the revolutionary war. Most of them have suffered hardships and crimes, and most of them have a low level of education, but they have wisdom, stubbornness and resilience, and they can do things neatly and neatly, and they can quickly cut through the mess. Their age, military age, or party age are relatively long, longer than company platoon cadres or even battalion leaders, and they do not have prominent positions, but they are highly conscious and grounded, and everyone loves to hear what they say. They come from different families, all have traditional virtues, and some are rebellious, belonging to the kind of women who are not bound by the old rituals. They are kind to others, especially to their comrades and comrades-in-arms, showing women's delicacy and motherly feelings. They are not selfish, they can think of others, they have bitter fruits to swallow themselves, tears flow into their stomachs, and they dare to stand up when they encounter things. With almost these "hardware", people can't help but call her big sister, and those seemingly great official positions, titles and other things will be quietly put away. With a kind title, the person who is called the eldest sister invisibly has the appeal and cohesion, becoming a pivotal figure in this team.
Literary history has repeatedly proved that the literary image that is not necessarily a hero will not be passed down to the world, and the classic images in Chinese and foreign literary masterpieces are of any kind, what is important is that they are given a fresh life by writers from life, and a noble heart can also touch the reader's nerves. The most amazing thing is that the author gives the "big sister" a very appropriate language system - Jiaodong women speak in this way, cheerful, funny, sharp, good words are crooked, all kinds of descriptive metaphors, the life of the language, the local style is permeated with rich cultural heritage. Or that the countryside is not only reflected in Xiuying's big sister, but also in other characters, including the entire narrative process of the story, that is, the integration of language and content. Zhu Xiuhai said that "truth is the most powerful weapon for creators", which is not wrong, but I think that with the understanding of real history, there will not necessarily be real touching and creative enthusiasm, and even with this kind of touching and enthusiasm, it is not necessarily possible to write works with true feelings and touching hearts. It's like the old saying that having good ingredients doesn't make a good meal. "Big Sister" is originally a fictional character, although there are also archetypes, but the author did not stick to a certain historical figure, but based on his in-depth understanding and understanding of many revolutionary big sisters, and then after more than ten years of precipitation and refinement, they finally became the typical characters of Xiuying Big Sister, and wrote her so truly and vividly. This is really valuable for writers who did not have the experience of war in that era. The reason why I have this feeling is because I have seen a lot of works, which are obviously a good subject, but they have not told a good story, so that readers can taste the same as chewing wax. Obviously, it is based on real events, but there are many traces of fabrication, which makes the reader psychologically rebellious. Obviously a sublime figure, but dryly conceptualized, leaving the reader indifferent. "The White Horse Gone" is completely different, the boring, well-known famous and nameless many real battles, from point to surface, from things to people, whether it is a cannon, a bag of grain, a carriage, a switch, or a position, a trench, a mission, a battle, from the plot to the details, the complexity is simplified and appropriate, there are exquisite carvings, there are rough and bold, it seems to be layered and undulating, true and false reality is connected without a trace, many scenes have an immersive feeling, many characters can make the reader look at the heartbeat, I, a very picky reader, have to admit that "The Distant White Horse" is a rare good book in recent years.
Writing this, I am reminded of the scene of crossing the Queer Mountain on the Sichuan-Tibet Line. Since the morning, it has been snowing heavily, and the Queer Mountain, known as "the first danger in Sichuan and Tibet, the highest in Sichuan and Tibet", has long been covered with snow, and the memorial square of the Eighteenth Army on the Sichuan-Tibet Highway located at the mouth of the tunnel is also wrapped in silver, and our group came to the statue of the martyr Zhang Fulin, the "hero of road construction", to pay homage to Hada. This peasant boy from Fugou County, Henan Province, was awarded the first class merit twice, the second class merit twice, and the third class merit three times, and was only 26 years old when he died. His mother also died 4 years before his death to cover the transfer of our party's underground organization. Suddenly, a sense of tragedy and sublimity struck me, and such a heroic mother and son was not uncommon in the revolutionary ranks of that era. Originally peasants born in poor rural areas, with a simple and sincere understanding of the revolution, they threw themselves into the great battle to overthrow the old society and build a new China, and became the heroes of the Chinese nation who "sacrificed their lives to go to the country in difficulty and regarded death as a sudden return." Standing in the snow and wind, suddenly a sentence poured out of his heart: "Their deeds and spirit are worthy of our repeated review and solemn memorization." This sentence was said to me by Zhu Xiuhai after he was transferred from an infantry division to a missile unit, and I have never forgotten how many years have passed. At that time, when we met, I wanted to hear Zhu Xiuhai talk about how I felt when I first arrived, but he said that his old troops and teachers were excited. Listening to it, I was touched by Zhu Xiuhai's fiery emotions, and made me feel that the red gene of this glorious journey had flowed in his veins. Zhu Xiuhai and I also had an in-depth exchange on the legendary life of his teacher, and he finally said that I want to write down their stories, not only because their bloody struggle and heroic sacrifice in exchange for our happy life today, but also because of their ideals, their beliefs, the value of their resolute adherence and struggle for life, and the flesh and blood connection with our time today.
Thinking about it now, Zhu Xiuhai's inseparable complex with the old troops and the teachers has entered a kind of reverence for revolutionary history, fighting spirit, integrity and integrity, and glorious traditions, and this change from perceptual to rational thinking shows that at that time he had begun to contemplate how to use literature to depict this period of revolutionary history and this heroic group, although it was still preliminary, superficial, let alone systematic and typical, but at least it was a step forward towards his commitment to "look back and remember solemnly again." Later, Zhu Xiuhai was named to write a biography for the teacher commander of the old army. When the two of us talked about this, he said that it was difficult, and I said that it was easier than writing a novel! He said it takes more time and energy than writing a novel, and I will definitely gain more than you write a novel. The reason is very simple, the life of the teacher itself is a rich mine with a high gold content, not everyone can have the opportunity to approach him, and not everyone can be qualified to open this rich mine, as long as you go with feelings and are willing to sit on the cold bench, your furnace will definitely be able to refine gold. Fast forward more than ten years, when "The Distant White Horse" came out, Zhu Xiuhai said with deep feelings how long these characters and their stories were buried in his heart, how long they were suppressed, and when it came to writing, how strong their momentum and strength were like a team and rushing like rivers, and finally let him write "The White Horse That Went Away" in the year of Hua Jia, almost using the accumulation of his nearly half a century of military life. Its value, of course, is not just this one work, but also to make the song of heroes, the song of morality and the ideal song of revolutionaries reverberate for a long time in contemporary military literature and even revolutionary war literature.
I said to Zhu Xiuhai that you should be grateful to the "teacher chief", because "The Distant White Horse" originated from him, that is, the character of "Qianqiu", and finally became a book. Zhu Xiuhai replied: "I am just writing a history and a poem for the old hero who is gradually withering away." But in the eyes of some people, "Qianqiu" is only a "supporting role", Zhu Xiuhai said, "Qianqiu" is "a pair of eyes" in the whole story. Some friends also believe that the character of "Qianqiu" is relatively flat, or even a shadow. What I know is that because Zhu Xiuhai has written a biography of "Qianqiu", his perspective cannot be avoided, and after all, it is really not appropriate for people to use their imagination too much. But more readers who don't know Zhu Xiuhai will feel that as soon as the story is about "Qianqiu", it owes some fire. Some friends feel that the work arrangement "Qianqiu" and Xiuying's big sister have never abandoned, but there is no real entanglement of fate, even if he also has a white horse in the heart of a big sister, it is only platonic. But I don't see it that way, but on the contrary, I think that Zhu Xiuhai's use of the main brush and ink to depict the image of "big sister" is the author's most remarkable place, and it is also the greatest success of "The White Horse Gone". On the one hand, because the author has a deeper understanding of the relationship between "big sister" and "Qianqiu", it shows the penetrating power of historical vision and thought; on the other hand, because the author uses a splash of color similar to modern Chinese painting, so that the painting frame has both a divine shape and an extraordinary charm, and it is precisely the complementarity of thought and art that makes the broad and open character of "big sister" so vivid. The extraordinary character and artistic tension shown in the two characters of "Big Sister" and "Qianqiu" have important enlightening significance for the entire literary creation of the revolutionary war. Specifically, it is to change the traditional pattern of "big sister" attached to "Qianqiu" in the literature of the previous revolutionary war, or to change the formula that "big sister" can only give "Qianqiu" a supporting role, so that we can see that on the battlefield filled with gun smoke, "big sister" has always been the source of strength of "Qianqiu"; it also allows us to see that in the life of returning home, "big sister" is even more a moral teacher who inspires and spurs "Qianqiu" not to forget his original heart, and it is from the inseparable mental journey of these two characters. It reveals the profound connotation that strength is among the people and heroes are also among the people.
In this sense, the people's nature of literature and art is not conceptual preaching, nor is it an abstract symbol, but a collection of concrete people, and everyone has flesh and blood, emotions, love and hate, dreams, and inner conflicts and sorrows. My family has a very solid evaluation after reading "The Distant White Horse", the first half of the fight is born into death, love and hate are intertwined, sad and happy, good-looking; the second half of the peacetime is inseparable, the hero is short,more seeing the hearts of the people, profound. These few big vernacular words may represent the true feelings of many people reading "The White Horse Gone", and also reflect the prominence of this work on the individual value of human beings from another angle, the deepening of the understanding of the concept of "the people", and the artistic presentation of the inherent requirements of writing the emotions, values and demands of "revolutionaries". I heard that Zhu Xiuhai is considering adapting the novel into a TV series, and I have a hypothesis, if the battle process in the first half is properly compressed, and the contradiction between good and evil in the second half of the people's hearts is moderately unfolded, will it make the stories of "Big Sister" and "Qianqiu" thicker and more dramatic? Or to reinforce the story of the second half of the TV series? This should not be a problem for Zhu Xiuhai, a gold medal screenwriter who has won countless screenwriting awards, and I have full confidence and expectations for this.
Related books
The White Horse Gone
Zhu Xiuhai/
Beijing October Literature and Art Publishing House
Published in February 2021
"The Distant White Horse" is a weighty and thoughtful military literature. After interviewing many survivors of the Liberation War, Zhu Xiuhai, a famous military writer, collected a wealth of creative materials and opened the curtain on the long novel "The White Horse Gone" with a white horse galloping on the battlefield as the introduction.
The protagonist of the novel, Zhao Xiuying, organized the villagers' support many times during the War of Resistance Against Japan, and led the whole village workers' team to cooperate with the Eighth Route Army. Due to a misunderstanding in the chaos, Zhao Xiuying and her detachment came to the battlefield of the Northeast Liberation War. The pain of leaving her hometown and missing her children did not shake the heart of this Communist Party member, and she gave full play to her organizational ability and experience in doing mass work, organized a grain brigade to help the Thirty-seventh Regiment survive the arduous years of lack of clothing and food, and saved the whole regiment from hunger and hardship several times. On the battlefield, she braved the rain of bullets and bullets to snatch wounded soldiers from the front line, and used her flesh and blood to build the life and death line of battlefield communication in the bombardment of the enemy army. After the victory of the Liberation War, she continued to adhere to the mission of the Communists and dedicated her life to the water and soil on one side and the people on the other.
This book is rooted in real historical stories, with the help of rich historical facts, with the decisive battle related to China's future and destiny - the Liberation War as the background, with a sober and objective literary standpoint to examine and write the complexity and truth of history, the goodness and loftiness of human nature, the writing of war scenes, battlefield plots and details, and the depiction of the emotions and fates of many characters, all of which are controlled and accurate. In the two time and space of history and reality, with poetic tones and aria passion, he successfully shaped the image of a group of selfless and fearless communists, firm in conviction, vivid and full of character, which shocked people's hearts and touched people's hearts.
★
★ ★ ★
The image comes from the Internet
Editor: Xu VV