Reading | Ai Lian and Wu Liyan: Showing a Credible, Respectable and Lovely Chinese Image—— Commenting on "Yan Yang Chu"

Text/Ai Lian, Wu Liyan

From the preparation of the outline in 2005 to the completion of the manuscript in 2008, and then to the publication in 2021, the writer Miao Yong spent more than 10 years and painstakingly created the non-fiction novel "Yanyang Chu". As a native of Bazhong, Sichuan, Miao Yong set his sights on the land under his feet, condensed his brushstrokes on the great man Yan Yangchu who grew up on this land, and in the book "Yanyang Chu", he showed us a three-dimensional and multi-faceted Bazhong celebrity and Chinese celebrity, and also faced the world, telling Chinese stories, spreading Chinese voices, and showing China's image.

First, the discourse of multiple lines intertwined, writing history in the form of literature

Miao Yong learned about YanyangChu since the beginning of middle school, after seven or eight years of relevant data collection work, in the spirit of remembering the original intention of the great man, with full of admiration, finally in 2021, "Yanyang Chu" was published, which is not only a great joy in the Sichuan Pakistani Chinese circles, but also a great blessing for China. This book takes the life trajectory of the great man Yan Yangchu as the main line, takes the background events of the times and the inner emotional activities of the characters as the auxiliary line, and tells the reader the legendary life of a centenarian in chronological order. Several story lines are intertwined and woven into a tight web, making the whole book structure rigorous and logical.

It is not easy to establish a biography for a great man, and a writer needs to have a unique perspective on the selection of materials and a superb and condensed penmanship in order to write the extraordinary life of the master in a limited space and create a vivid character image. Since 1930, the research on Yanyang Chu has gone through more than 90 years of history, the research results are very rich, such as "Yanyang Chu Research Bibliography", "Yanyang Chu Research Data Index", such as "Yanyang Chu Annals", "Yanyang Chu Biography", etc., abound, Miao Yong's creation has a vast sea of data as a basis.

After mastering a large amount of first-hand information, Miao Yong took a different path, believing that the current study of Yan Yangchu was "more than enough historical materials but insufficient literary color", so he focused on the portrayal of the master himself, writing from a third-person omniscient perspective, telling the story that this book is both a biography of a great man and an interesting novel. As the writer himself said: "Many specific details have long been annihilated by time, I still strive to return him to the greatest truth", respecting historical materials and reproducing history are the basic principles of writers' writing, but on this basis, it is not so much that Miao Yong is making a biography of Yan Yang, but it is better to say that he is "telling stories".

The shaping of characters is inseparable from the relationship network of characters and the social and historical environment, this book not only portrays the first person of Yanyang, but also in that turbulent era, many great people centered on Yanyangchu, such as Tao Xingzhi, Liang Shuming, Sun Fuyuan, etc., are also presented in front of the reader's eyes. When selecting materials, the writer is well-detailed, highlighting the rural construction activities of the master, while showing his personal emotional life, and creating a full yanyangchu character image with flesh and blood for the reader from different aspects. Ancient myths and legends and classic historical stories meet in the book, and the characters are born on this "fertile soil", and in the objective narrative, the strong literary nature is highlighted everywhere. In the process of recreating history, the author does not lose the disposition of a literary artist, and depicts a magnificent picture of the interweaving of literature and history in a broad historical picture.

Second, the language is condensed, and the characteristic dialect is used

The book "Yanyang Chu" is more than 500 pages and 450,000 words, which outlines the activity trajectory of the life of a generation of great people Yan Yangchu, and the writer's choice of historical materials and the use of language can be described as handy. Miao Yong is based on historical materials, but does not paraphrase bluntly, but writes from an omniscient perspective, letting the characters "speak" themselves, hiding the writer's personal feelings, even if there is an evaluation of the master, it is also said through the mouth of the people at that time, not violating the principle of historical authenticity. Only when depicting the scene, the author will show his profound literary skills, but more often, the author tends to return the stage to these great characters, so that they can show their sharp edge in their own pen and in the eyes of readers.

Let the characters "speak", the author from many historical materials to seek the truth, the lord Yan Yangchu's many significant speeches have been reproduced by Miao Yong into the book. At the same time, the author is good at grasping the key points, using a large number of pages and ink to write content related to rural construction activities, which is in line with the great concept of "rural revitalization" put forward by General Secretary Xi Jinping in recent years, but when expressing Yan Yangchu's personal emotional life, the writer can also use simple and concise language, a few strokes, fully expressing the strong patriotic feelings and homesickness of a wanderer who has been wandering in a foreign country for more than half a century. "The little boy left home and returned to the old mane, and the township tone did not change the sideburns", "The people are the state, the bengu bangning" "The near homesickness is more timid"... With the pen of today's people, collect the essence of culture and write the history of predecessors.

As a local writer who grew up in Bazhong, Sichuan, Miao Yong has been calling on writers in Sichuan to tell the story of Sichuan and show the great spirit of the red land of Bazhong for China and the world. From the poetry collection "Mountain Rhyme", the prose collection "Mountain People", to the reportage "Monument", "History Will Not Forget", "Zengxikou", etc., he has also been practicing his own concept and creating a spiritual holy place for readers with Bazhong as the core. The book "Yanyang Chu", from the creation legend of the ancient times to the bumpy situation of Li Xian, the prince of Zhanghuai in the Tang Dynasty, when the author stepped out of the long river of history, he saw the unique local group of brothers, accompanied by teenagers from teenagers to old age, and heard a sentence of cordial Sichuan dialect: small baby, one shop, stick old two...

Miao Yong wrote the story of Yan Yangchu, a world great man who came out of Sichuan Bazhong, bazhong people write bazhong people, with a sense of intimacy, folk customs, the author is like a number of family treasures, sayings and sayings, the author uses it freely. A biography, but full of literature and story, this is not only a story about Yan Yangchu, but also a story about Bazhong, a story of Sichuan. The protagonist's smile seems to be in front of his eyes, and the Bazhong landscape that gives birth to the protagonist is also gradually three-dimensional in the author's pen.

Third, the feelings of a great man who are compassionate and compassionate for the people are highly integrated with the feelings of writers who love the country and the hometown

Yan Yangchu devoted his life to the education of the common people, and his "theory of rural construction" also developed on this basis, and in 1943, together with Einstein and others, he was named "the ten greatest people with the most revolutionary contributions in the modern world". Today, when it comes to China's rural construction cause, Yan Yangchu is an unavoidable topic, and his great feelings of compassion for heaven and people and his firm belief in lifelong unrepentance have touched many people on the road to building rural areas and inspired them to move forward.

"For the cause of education for the common people, all his life, without complaint or regret" is Yan Yangchu's firm choice; "I will devote myself to work with my hands and soul until I break the chains that bind our people to poverty, ignorance, disease, and selfishness." This is Yan Yangchu's lifelong belief; "eliminating illiteracy in the world and being a new citizen of the world" is Yan Yangchu's sincere ideal. Under the pen of the writer Miao Yong, it seems that the protagonist slowly walks to the reader from the depths of history, throws a sound, and expresses his lofty ambitions.

In ancient times, there was Du Fu's "Ten Million Rooms in Ande Guangsha, Sheltering the World from the Cold", and then there was Yan Yangchu's "I will dedicate my wisdom and wisdom to the toiling compatriots who need me in the motherland". Sichuan, with its unique geographical environment, has bred a group of optimistic and industrious Pakistani people, and the seeds of Dunhou's humility and people-oriented are also deeply rooted in their hearts. Even though he has unlimited attachment to his hometown, Yan Yangchu still has a firm belief that from China to the world, his heart is filled with people living on the same earth, and this humanitarian spirit is vividly displayed between the writer's words and lines, which makes the reader moved. Yan Yangchu said that the "3cs" (Confucius, Christ and coolies) influenced his life, and when the writer established a biography for the characters, he used the "three feelings" (for the people, patriotism and homesickness) to create a plump character image.

"Shusheng serves the country with nothing else, only a pen like a knife in his hand", Miao Yong is concerned about the country, sends his homeland, and has deep feelings for the land in Bazhong, Sichuan, which has nurtured him. With this real emotion, the author's pen tip focused on Yan Yangchu. From the first time he heard about his people in middle school, to nearly half a hundred years of writing manuscripts, three years of spring and autumn, more than a thousand days and nights of ideas, from teenagers to middle age, Miao Yong has a persistent love for the study of YanyangChu and he also integrates this enthusiasm into the book, the author's love for the motherland and homeland, and the humanitarian spirit of Yanyangchu's sadness and compassion for people, intersect and merge in the book "YanyangChu". The writer's creation is a dialogue with the heart of the great man, and the reader's reading is to feel the patriotic feelings of the fist through the paper.

Miao Yong once said: "This book, it is the result of my long-term admiration for a great man of Sangzi, and I have the most authentic interpretation of him from the perspective of a commoner." It is true that with the pure heart of the Bazhong people, writing stories full of Bashu charm, the writer Miao Yong has always been deeply rooted in the land of Bashu and contributed his strength to the spread of Bashu's voice. The long biographical novel "Yanyang Chu" is the condensation of the author's nearly half a lifetime, is the author's most authentic interpretation of the great man, the spirit of Yan Yangchu makes us admire, the author's painstaking research, the creative spirit of the end is also worth learning!

【About the Author】

Ai Lian is the director and researcher of the Institute of Literature of The Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, and Wu Liyan is a master's student of the Institute of Literature of the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences.