The Great Wall is a representative of Chinese civilization. It stretches for thousands of miles and winds through the mountains of northern China; it has spanned thousands of years, almost accompanying the rise and development of Chinese civilization throughout the entire process. Different from the miraculous work of nature, the Great Wall is the crystallization of human wisdom and will, the witness of the integration of Chinese civilization in the era of inheritance, it embodies the spirit of struggle of the Chinese nation and the feelings of home and country, and is a vivid historical material for young people to carry out emotional edification and knowledge education, and to inspire and temper the spiritual quality of young people in the new era.
However, at present, most of the books with the theme of "Great Wall" are books for adults, and there are not many people who tell the culture of the Great Wall to young people. Among these small numbers of children's books and juvenile books, picture books and general knowledge books based on cultural relics introduction account for the majority. This may not reflect the multiple connotations of the civilization symbol of the "Great Wall".
Recently, the China Encyclopedia Publishing House and the Knowledge Publishing House launched the children's archaeological series of novels "The Great Wall Youth's "Civilization Decoding"" trilogy - "The Phantom of the Fingerprint Tile", "The Divine Beast Opens the Eyes", and "The Legend of the General Building", which opens up the writing path of children's literature on the theme of the Great Wall with a new exploration, and fills this gap in the book market.
The story of the Great Wall is brewing and born
Mr. Wu Xusheng, the author of the trilogy "The Great Wall Youth's "Civilization Decoding"", graduated from Peking University majoring in historical geography and studied under the famous historical geographer Mr. Hou Renzhi, who has professional interpretation ability and unique way of telling the history of the Great Wall. He had the idea of creating a series of works on the theme of the Great Wall very early on, and has always paid attention to archaeological achievements such as the Ming Great Wall and the Northern Qi Great Wall. In 2013, when he wrote the book "Great Courage China - A Declaration of the Rise of a New Nation and a New Civilization", he also had a deeper understanding of the Chinese national spirit, the history of national integration, and the great rejuvenation of the nation represented by the Great Wall.
At the same time, Mr. Wu Xusheng has been engaged in literary creation for many years, publishing works such as the short story collection "Dink Club" and the long novel "Tianchai". His short story "The Meaning of toys" was selected by the "Selected Novels", won the "October" Literary Short Story Award, and was adapted into the film "Love Spicy Hot"; the short story "Business Trip" was selected by "Novel Monthly" and promoted to Japan. It can be said that the author's literary skills and accumulation are very deep.
In the process of accumulating writing materials, Mr. Wu Xusheng not only studied the "Geographical Investigation Report on the Ruins of the Ancient Great Wall in the Northern Mountains of Beijing", "Examination of the Ming Great Wall", "The Great Wall of Ming Ji Town - Archaeological Report from 1981 to 1987" and other materials, but also inspected the Mutianyu Great Wall, Jiayuguan, Yumenguan and other places. He clarified the archaeology of the Northern Qi Great Wall in beijing and the inheritance relationship with the Ming Great Wall as a clue to unveil the essential significance of the Great Wall: the Great Wall is not only a great project of the Han nationality to defend the ethnic minorities in the north, but also a fortification of many ethnic minority regimes in history, such as the Northern Wei, Northern Qi, Liao, Jin, etc., and it is also a symbol of the Chinese nation's mutual integration and common creation of civilization. The Great Wall is also a witness to border trade activities, commerce and transportation, culture and diplomacy, and also has profound enlightenment for promoting today's "Belt and Road" initiative and international exchanges.
How to "tell" the story of the Great Wall teenagers
To convey the knowledge of the Great Wall and the spirit of the Great Wall to the youth group, the way of narration should be suitable for the acceptance of young people. The children's archaeological series of novels "The Great Wall Boy's "Civilization Decoding"" trilogy is unique in this regard.
In order to tell the story of the Great Wall well, the author takes the discovery of the Ancient Qi Ancient Wall in Gubeikou, Beijing as the background, and creates the image of several young protagonists who love adventure and love "Great Wall study". Bai Xiucai, a fifth-grade student, was originally weak, had poor academic performance, divorced parents, and was discriminated against by his classmates, but through the investigation and excavation of the Ancient Great Wall of Northern Qi, it not only highlighted his "special function" of archaeology, but also honed his will, exercised his physique, and improved his academic performance, he finally won the respect of his classmates, grew into an excellent "Great Wall Teenager", and led to the growth of Pi Dun, Du Wei, Qian Xiaohui and others. The inspirational and interesting stories of these Great Wall teenagers reflect the theme of the times of "young people are strong, China is strong", and also reflect the indomitable, perseverance and upward spiritual qualities represented by the Great Wall. I believe that after reading this book, young readers can not only understand the Great Wall, but also get the enlightenment of wisdom and growth.
The story of the archaeological expedition is fascinating and is only the first step. The book also integrates various folk cultures, the history of the Great Wall, the Gubeikou War of Resistance and the birth of the national anthem, and other related stories, showing the deep national spirit and profound civilization genes carried by the Great Wall in the grand time and space scene, guiding young people to be sensible and ambitious in the rise and fall of history. Qiu Huadong, secretary of the Secretariat of the China Writers Association and a famous writer, said: "The author has created a group of plump images of 'Great Wall Teenagers' with flexible and vivid brushstrokes. The curious, humorous, optimistic and frank nature of the teenager is skillfully fused with the spiritual symbols, war history, civilization decoding, and national integration of the Great Wall, breaking through the trap of children's literature writing, which can be described as a new masterpiece of children's literature on the theme of the Great Wall. ”
Illustration of "The "Civilization Decoding" of the Great Wall Boy"
In addition, the color illustrations in the book not only fit the overall atmosphere of the story, but also cooperate with the text, creating an immersive dynamic beauty for the reader, coupled with the author's funny and flexible language style, making this plot twisting Great Wall story wonderful and fascinating, and the teenagers will also identify themselves with the vivid group portraits of teenagers in the book in an interesting atmosphere, which will undoubtedly help young readers cultivate the spiritual qualities of persistence, upward and unity.
The spiritual core of the Great Wall series of stories
"Children's literature with the Great Wall as the theme is rare, and the series of works of "Great Wall Youth" is more pioneering and refreshing. Xu Dexia, vice president of the China Children's Literature Research Association and former editor-in-chief of Children's Literature, said so.
Indeed, in the text of the trilogy of "Civilization Decoding" of the Great Wall Boy, the author consciously injects multiple spiritual meanings. In the first book", "The Phantom of the Fingerprint Tile", Bai Xiucai's father sacrificed to save the cave and the French boy Andrea Jr., which of course brought children pain and sadness, but also let them taste the spirit of "persistence and sacrifice". When reviewing the history of the Great Wall, the second book, "Divine Beast Opening Eyes", fully and comprehensively shows the love and inclusive friendship between General Huluxian of Northern Qi and the Turks as enemies, deepening the core theme of the Chinese nation's pluralism and integration and joint creation of Chinese civilization. In the third book, "Legend of the General Building", the great wall teenagers led the readers to unveil the four major puzzles of "how the Great Wall of Northern Qi and Ming was built", "what are the famous wars in the history of Gubeikou", "why the Mongol cavalry can repeatedly break the Great Wall to besiege the Beijing Division", "What is the relationship between the General Building and the national anthem", reproduce the wonders of "ancient and modern famous generals fighting together" on the General Building, and reproduce the historical lens of "building our flesh and blood into our new Great Wall", thus revealing the true meaning of war and peace.
It can be said that the author does not abstractly "preach", but displays the spirit of the Great Wall as the core with moving stories, plump and lovely character portraits, interesting and vivid and intriguing literary language, and rich spiritual implications. The impact on the reader is subtle, but it's also enormous. Mr. Xu Lu, a famous children's literature writer and vice chairman of the Bingxin Prize Jury, commented on this work: "The Great Wall, archaeology, war, folklore, exploration, study, friendship, conscience, these fun, interesting and beneficial elements, coupled with the author's professional background in historical geography and vivid and tortuous storyline, make this series of children's literature works extraordinary." I especially appreciate its rich knowledge, exploration, and the uplifting spirit of the 'Great Wall Boy', so that the students can immerse themselves in wonderful stories and have a deeper value touch." "I believe that readers will have the same and more feelings in addition to the exhibition.
Nandu reporter Huang Qian