Reading | while completing himself, he arrives at the purity of literature - reading Lu Ping's prose collection "There is a Tree on the Bed" Liu Xunda

"There's a Tree in the Bed"

By Lu Ping

Published by Wenhui Publishing House

For an "old writer" who has a writing career of 50 years and can be regarded as a book, it does not matter if the order is not in order. Poets publish collections of prose other than poetry collections, which have a different meaning, so I have the right to be the "first reader".

I read through the whole passage of "There is a Tree on the Bed", and I was constantly pulled by the joys and sorrows expressed in the words, and gradually entered a better state, sometimes moving, sometimes laughing, sometimes sighing, sometimes regretting. These long or short dictionaries, one by one, are quite like sketches, outlining Lu Ping's colorful life.

Prose is one of the most liberal genres, and it is almost all-encompassing, whether it is miscellaneous essays or travel essays, or even letter diaries or historical notes. Lu Ping's collection of essays is also mottled with a wide variety of lu li, or wandering and wandering, or looking back at the past, or remembering feelings... As for the people and things involved, they are even more famous celebrities, down to the death row prisoners before their execution... Although their identities are very different, in Lu Ping's pen, they are all real and full, so reading them together does not violate the sense of harmony, but can glimpse the subtlety and complexity of the depths of human nature.

She writes about her interactions with celebrities, simple and sincere, without the slightest hint of pity. Her literary colleagues such as Xu Chi, Niu Han, Wang Xindi, Yan Yi, Zhao Changtian, Kazunori Imagji, Cheng Naishan, Li Xiaoyu, Rongzi or Zhang Shitian, as well as teachers and friends, fireworks in the world, jumped on the paper.

Here are just a few examples to share with the readers. Lu Ping wrote about Xu Chi, and that day Lu Ping accompanied Xu Chi to visit the Baosheng Temple in Luzhi, and found Ye Shengtao's cemetery in a place where flowers and grass were luxuriant. At this time, but seeing Xu Chi's serious expression and light in his eyes, he strode over to the meteor and said in his mouth: "Hey, Saint Tao! My old friend, you are here! What an unexpected bonus today! When the companions took pictures one after another, Xu Chi said: "Lu Ping, I want to be alone, go in and take a break (Shanghainese: stand for a while). Only to see him slowly ascend the stone steps, stand still, take a step forward, pat the tombstone affectionately, and then slowly put down his hands, clasp them in front of him, staring into the distance... This old man, who had been in contact with Ye Shengtao, instantly became a sculpture. Seeing this scene written by Lu Ping, I once again solemnly respected this great writer.

When writing the literary teacher Xie Quanming, there is a detail that is very textured. In the 1970s, Lu Ping submitted to the Liberation Daily and asked Xie Quanming, the editor of the supplement, for the rest time of the textile factory, lu Ping had to go to the newspaper office at night. She wrote that she remembered one time I looked at my watch and said I had to leave immediately to catch the bus to catch the night shift. When saying goodbye, Teacher Xie said to me in a muffled voice, Lu Ping, you should not come to the newspaper office to find me at night. I thought it was strange at the time, and I said that I only had time at night when I was on night shift. The teacher turned around and said nothing. I didn't know, and then I went as usual. It wasn't until many years later that I didn't know that I had "gone at night" and caused gossip about Xie Quanming to fly all over the building, and great humiliation had been spilled on him. The injustices of this world, to this day, have become our respect...

Among the writers in Shanghai and even the whole country, there are many writers who have been "enze" by Xie Quanming, and I have read their articles about Xie Quanming, but Lu Ping's description is particularly impactful, and the harm caused to the teacher by the holy and flawless girl at that time was "unclear and unclear" was heart-wrenching to read. This kind of memory has irreplaceable preciousness.

Reading Lu Ping's prose, I learned that Lu Ping in real life has some "low-energy symptoms", such as she is completely roadblind, and even almost lost herself at an airport in India, and one day she will be stuck in the throat by a jujube core, and so on. But many artists have this common disease, they focus on their own good, in the beloved career, not only not "low energy", but very "high energy". Lu Ping may be precisely because she is obsessed with literature that she has no time to take care of him, and she is bent on going straight to the highland in her mind, just as the old poet Xie Qigui said: "Among the female poets in Shanghai, she is currently the oldest poet." Indeed, she became more and more courageous and reborn. Not only did the poetry gush out in the new era, winning a large number of readers and many fans, but also the successive publications of poetry and prose collections were funded by the Shanghai Cultural Development Foundation; it was also the publication of Chen Shenghui, a researcher of Strange Road Poetry, on the publication of a 250,000-word monograph "Appreciation of Lu Ping's Poetry". Her surging passion seemed to be incompatible with her age.

There is a magical power in Lu Ping's body, and the dusty worries never seem to be in her consideration, and she is always unusually staring, observing, listening and thinking, just like these lines in her chapter:

I chose to write poetry because poetry considers the soul. The delicacy and sharpness of the poem can touch on the mysteries of the design of creation on an endless level... Can sharply understand the daily life, sneak away from human nature, feel between life and death and even outside of time and space. ("Why I Write Poetry")

This worldly custom, rough and gentle, rough and tight; it can really be said to be unrestrained, loyal but not sincere; broken but not broken, broken but not broken. This is the moral texture and moral field of a nation... ("The Naked Run of Human Nature")

The poignant dead trees are a great sight in Yellowstone... Under the strong sunlight, it is a poignant beauty. It may curl up in a circle, deliberately lonely in the world, or stand firm, angrily pointing at the sky... It doesn't talk and it has nothing to say. Thousands of thrilling, wives and children, grief and despair stories, it has all been experienced, endured, and digested. We who are on the scene have no reason, but we will be so distressed. ("The Rite of Passage to the World as a Man")

In addition to being realistic, there are many, many things that are pervading and staining the surroundings, making you want to see it again and again, making you reluctant to leave. What is it that sucks your soul? Can't touch it, can't see it, but really feel it. I think that is that the painter has quietly given all this to the divinity. (Shorthand reading)

These reflections in the cultural landscape make the philosophical thoughts rational in the scenery, and it is the spirit of literature that nourishes her. In this book, "small moods" and "big feelings" resonate harmoniously. "Small mood" is just a description, referring to Lu Ping's ubiquitous surprises and discoveries: once there is a touch in life, Lu Ping will let the words dance with thinking, touch the dust but can wash the dust with water, generate philosophical feelings, and also make readers empathize. The reference to "great feelings" is also a reference, which is related to life and death or the deep complexity of human nature, and this part of the work is the most touching to me.

For example, she wrote beautifully about the "misunderstanding" of Indian poets due to cultural differences - in the face of the Chinese female poet's poem "Ice", Indian poets' eyes are full of tears and affection, but their "I love you" is only a kind of giving, not taking. Lu Ping sighed: "If I have lost anything in my life, then on this day, the reward I received in Tagore's homeland was doubled; if poetry creation is happy, then this night I experienced it most profoundly." "Art is the highest holy place in the world, and all the loss and sinking in life will surely be found and found in literature." This may be the source of her half-century of unswerving obsession with literature.

In addition, she wrote about a female death row prisoner with a suspended death sentence, although it is a "crime", but the love and hatred that lurk in the case also reflects the lives of ordinary people. She also witnessed the scene of a female felon released from prison, because of the long years of imprisonment, has been out of touch with society, the young female police officer took out a few bills, and said to her with a pleasant face, this is a 10 yuan money, a "0", and 100 yuan of money, two "0" followed by "1". The female police officer deliberately dropped something with a "bang" and said that this "steel hammer" is one dollar, which is equal to the previous 100 penny small horns... Lu Ping wrote: "I was very touched by the role change of female police officers in an instant, the moment before was the prisoner who could not cross the thunder pool in their eyes, and this moment was a lonely old lady in society. ”

The depictions in these "rare" themes are difficult for other writers to reach, and sometimes even the writer's "unique secret book" - Xiao Qian's unique "war correspondent" identity, which makes him write masterpieces that are different from others; Ji Xianlin's true record of being in the era allows him to write a sincere memory of a life... The "iron window text" about Lu Ping in this book is very vivid and touching, and it is also a feature of this book.

I am particularly touched that in the face of Lu Ping, a "young old writer", I think she is almost a vivid annotation of "keeping pace with the times". There is a detail in this book that enlightens people: the poets of Taiwan and Lu Ping met at the "Asian Poetry Seminar" held in South Korea, they talked about everything, they were very committed, and they knew that the Asian poetry scene appreciated her poems, the host country gave her a wholly-funded invitation, and gave her "five-star treatment" everywhere, and even changed her ticket for a few days. Poets in Taiwan frankly say that they are surprised that Lu Ping lived in the 1990s, but the poems they wrote were like the feelings of the 1930s.

Lu Ping said: I value people's understanding of life, and I am in awe of nature and look directly at nature. Because the most essential feelings of human beings are all connected, all words from the claustrophobic depths of human nature can mostly travel through ancient and modern through time and space, and become eternal.

Just like those articles of Lu Ping in this collection of essays: "Celebrating Past Life", "Hanging Temple", "Why I Write Poems", "Emptying and Returning to Zero", "God is here", "The Outline of Knowing Life"... These words, which come from the essence of existence and the depths of the soul, have deep connotations, mysterious intuitions, full of emotions and philosophies, and can naturally communicate with readers in any cultural background.

I have also read many of her previous works, especially her iron-clad literature full of great compassion in the world, as she said, it is "touching the eternal dark alleys of humanity, life and death love and hate", and the real flesh and blood are all inside, approaching human nature and unique. While completing herself, she arrived at the purity of literature.

Looking back, Lu Ping was very honored to be successfully selected in a special era, and the ten revolutionary songs broadcast nationwide were well known to women and children, and one of the lyricists was her. At that time, this was already a great "literary achievement", but she did not immerse herself in the success of her youth, but followed the development of the times, the improvement and deepening of life experience, listened to the inner call of life, to find the essence of existence and the meaning of life, and to reach the boundless world with her own thinking and vision. What is particularly valuable is that her writing has abandoned the worldly utilitarian interests, only for the peace and tranquility of the soul, this low-to-dust writing posture is precisely the secret and wonderful truth of the success of literary creation, and has also achieved Lu Ping who "lives in the present".

Now that she has achieved fame, she is still trekking on the road of literature. Literature for her has entered her flesh and blood life, and is almost one with her pulse, heartbeat, essence and breath. I believe that she will definitely bring surprises to readers. When the enlightenment of life is transformed into a poem, anything is possible.

Author: Liu Xunda

Editor: Jiang Chuting