Revisiting Zheng Yuanjie: What kind of fairy tales do children need now?

Qilu Evening News Qilu one-point reporter Li Jing

Zheng Yuanjie has two labels on her body: one is a "rights defender". On December 19, 2021, Qilu Evening News Qilu Yidian interviewed Zheng Yuanjie: Insomnia after publishing articles to protect rights, and suspension of publication is not stopping writing. Another label of Zheng Yuanjie: it is "fairy tale king".

"Shukshuk... Shuk who drives the plane..."

A nursery rhyme in an animated film instantly pulls people back to their childhood. The author of their creation, "Fairy Tale King" Zheng Yuanjie, in addition to Shuk and Beta, there are also Pipilu, Rusisi and other fairy tale images that everyone is most familiar with in childhood. Zheng Yuanjie's fairy tales are easy to understand, but they have profound connotations. From the earliest "post-70s" to the current "post-10s", "Fairy Tale King" magazine has accompanied five generations of readers, with a total circulation of more than 200 million copies, which has also laid the foundation for Zheng Yuanjie's position in the field of children's literature.

What kind of fairy tales do children need today? What is the story behind the creation of fairy tales? With these questions, the Qilu Evening News Qilu OnePoint reporter interviewed Zheng Yuanjie again.

Zheng Yuanjie (Courtesy of interviewee)

Why write fairy tales?

Accidental creation, the achievement of the future "fairy tale king"

Qilu Evening News Qilu One Point Reporter: Recalling the creative process along the way, why did you choose the field of fairy tales in the first place?

Zheng Yuanjie: I wrote poetry, I wrote reportage, I also wrote science fiction works, but then I felt that I couldn't write about them. I especially like the saying that if you can beat it, you can fight, and if you can't beat it, you can run. Don't take your own shortcomings and compete with the strengths of others, that will be more effective with half the effort, and after a long time, you will lose self-confidence.

I want to try all kinds of literary genres. When I was a child, I liked to read "Journey to the West", "Don Quixote", etc., and in 1978, by chance, I wrote a fairy tale poem called "Gecko and Bat". Then I submitted it to a magazine and they published it. The first time I wrote fairy tale poems, I was published, which gave me a lot of confidence, and then I wrote fairy tales until today.

Qilu Evening News Qilu One Point Reporter: "Fairy Tale King" was written for 36 years, with a total circulation of more than 200 million copies. Where does your ongoing creative inspiration come from?

Zheng Yuanjie: Just kidding, maybe it's because I don't go to school, so I'm curious about everything. If people have curiosity, they will be inspired. Now many parents are anxious to let their children get something, such as acquiring knowledge, forgetting what should keep their children. In fact, curiosity is precious. I feel like I've always had a steady stream of inspiration, and it's not a general curiosity.

The contradiction between the two yuan of the thousand-word manuscript fee and the high circulation

Zheng Yuanjie talked about the original intention of founding "Fairy Tale King"

Qilu Evening News Qilu One-point reporter: Why is the whole magazine "Fairy Tale King" only your own work?

Zheng Yuanjie: At that time, I created literary images such as Pipilu, Rusisi, Shuk, and Beta, and some children's newspapers published them one short story after another, and they were very popular. The editor-in-chief of a newspaper suggested that I could write a serial, and then I started writing a serial. At that time, the serial publication of "Rubik's Cube Mansion" increased the circulation of the newspaper by hundreds of thousands. After the news of the serial came out, 16 different children's newspapers and periodicals came to me to write the serial. Some of them stayed in the hotel downstairs from my house waiting for my manuscript, and there were even tidbits that I had given the manuscript the wrong one.

Later, the editor of "Young Literature" told me that because of my work, the circulation of the journal increased. I went to the editor-in-chief and said that at that time, the state stipulated that a thousand words was a two-dollar manuscript fee, because my work had greatly increased the circulation of the journal, and I should not take the same fee as other authors. The editor-in-chief said, how to prove that your work has affected our circulation? I can't answer. When I got home, I wondered when the magazine's circulation had increased so much that I was the credit of one person and had nothing to do with anyone else? Well, this magazine is the only one that publishes my work. This is the original intention of "Fairy Tale King".

I was an activist, and when I had an idea, I went to the National Library (then the Beijing Library) to inquire, and I got information that no one had ever done. I've always wanted to do things that no one else has done, and I feel like it's a big opportunity in my life. When a person writes a monthly magazine, it is easy for everyone to remember such characteristics, of course, the premise is to write well. In this case, a magazine publishing my own work came out.

Fairy tale characters have archetypes

Let the fairy tale characters grow up, let the reader see themselves from the fairy tales

Qilu Evening News Qilu One Point Reporter: "Fairy Tale King" has so many character images, is there a character archetype among them?

Zheng Yuanjie: I think Pippilu should have the shadow of my childhood. When I was a child, I was also praised by my teachers, but most of the teachers did not like me. So when I was creating, I made Pipilu an image with poor academic performance but a very positive view.

Qilu Evening News Qilu One Point Reporter: In many fairy tales, many characters are frozen in an age stage. Why did you choose pipilu to grow up?

Zheng Yuanjie: I have been writing about Pippilu, and I also want readers to see their own experiences through Pippiru's growth process.

My daughter said that you have so many works, you should pick out more than two dozen or twenty pieces that you think are most satisfied with, and compile a zheng yuanjie fairy tale. I compiled a set of "Zheng Yuanjie's Works Collection Edition", only 615 copies were distributed, each book had a separate number, and it was sold out in an instant. From writing letters to Weibo and Douyin, I have communicated with readers for more than 40 years. A few days ago, I suddenly wondered if I could randomly select 10 readers, and I would give them a call. I've done this for the past two days. Readers say that they read my book when they were young, and Pipilu in the book is a child, and as they get older, Pipilu also grows up.

Qilu Evening News Qilu One Point Reporter: You contact readers by phone, what new stories can you share?

Zheng Yuanjie: Readers are very surprised. Call a reader today and he said he didn't believe it. I said, you can test me. He gave me a question, Zheng Yaqi was taken home by you to educate him in a few grades? After he finished my examination, he said that you are really Zheng Yuanjie. I said, I also want to test whether you are a true reader. It's a very interesting phone call.

Two ways to educate

The role of fairy tales in children's growing up

Qilu Evening News Qilu One-Point Reporter: What kind of role did the fairy tale you created play in the growth process of your son and daughter?

Zheng Yuanjie: When they didn't know the words, they listened to adults read my books before going to bed and read all my books. After they recognized the words, they read these books again. In my son's education, I have confidence in my own heart, and I think he only needs to read all my books, because reading extracurricular books is very important. And I also have some emphasis, for example, this work to tell him how to brush his teeth, that work to tell him how to communicate with people, will be so detailed.

Qilu Evening News Qilu One Point Reporter: After your son Zheng Yaqi finished primary school, you let him drop out of school at home and compiled 10 sets of teaching materials for him. Instead, your daughter can go to ph.D. and get a schooling education. What are your considerations for their approach to education?

Zheng Yuanjie: My son should have met a teacher he didn't like, so after he finished the sixth grade of primary school, I taught him at home. Later I told my daughter that you don't have to go to school because I made up 10 family textbooks for your brother. One of the characteristics of the child is the reverse psychology, the more she does not let her go to school, the more she has to go to school. I said, since you are willing to go to school, you must become a bully. My daughter loved school and loved school. I wrote her an educational diary, starting from the first day of the first grade of primary school, recording in detail her relationship with her teachers and classmates, and her studies, until the day she graduated from her third year of high school. When she graduated from her junior year of high school, she was the first in the school.

Many parents have asked me to tell them about this experience. The way the son is homeschooled cannot be copied, but the daughter is trained to become a school bully at school, which can be copied. Based on my 1.2 million-word education diary, I compiled "Zheng Yuanjie's Family Education Class.". However, children's schooling or my own teaching is based on their own characteristics and needs.

How to choose a fairy tale book?

Don't choose "preaching", choose "good story"

Qilu Evening News Qilu One-Point Reporter: Now many parents will have no way to start when choosing fairy tale books, how do you think parents should choose fairy tale books for their children?

Zheng Yuanjie: I think that this era should be the best choice. For example, parents in the 50s and 60s may not be easy to choose. Today's parents are "post-80s" and "post-90s", they have read a lot of fairy tale books in their growth process, and now they have more choice. Now many of the books on the market are set books to sell, it is recommended that parents can buy a copy for judgment.

Qilu Evening News Qilu One-point reporter: So in different eras and environments, do you need different fairy tales?

Zheng Yuanjie: I think different eras should need the same fairy tale, because the correct values are unchanged. The so-called different eras need different fairy tales, in fact, is the replacement of props. An interesting thing is that when my work was reprinted, the publisher proposed to change the BB machine I wrote before to a mobile phone. I said, no need to change, should let the reader know that there is such a thing as a BB machine, let them know that the communication has gone through a certain process, and has such a convenient way of communication today.

Qilu Evening News Qilu One Point Reporter: What kind of fairy tale do you think children need now?

Zheng Yuanjie: The first is to have a good story, because I am writing for children, and a good story is the most important thing. My judgment of a good book is that the reader is free to turn to any page, and if five minutes does not attract you, you don't have to read it. Because every line of a good book is charming. My work is not included in the textbook, why is it still selling so much? This is the child's choice. On the basis of a good story, tell the correct values to the child, and subtly influence the child in an edutainment way.

Qilu Evening News Qilu One Point Reporter: Do you think you still need fairy tales when you grow up? What can fairy tales bring to people of different ages?

Zheng Yuanjie: I think that if you want to live a valuable life, you should keep a childlike heart. If you have a childlike heart, then it doesn't matter whether you read fairy tales or not; if you lose your childlike heart, it is possible to find a childlike heart through a good fairy tale.