Text/Wu Sijing
January 6, 2022 is the 90th birthday of Mr. Xie Mian, as a critic and researcher who has made important contributions to the development of contemporary Chinese new poetry, his academic life is integrated with the history of Chinese new poetry, and the reason for such achievements is not only the factors of the times, but also inseparable from his unique personality charm.
In the summer of 2010, Xie Mian (left) and Wu Sijing were martyred in Longjiaying, the martyrdom of poet Haizi
At the age of 90, he still insists on jogging and brisk walking every day
I met Mr. Xie Mian in September 1980 at the "Poetry Theory Symposium" held by the Poetry Journal at the Dingfuzhuang Coal Cadre Management Institute in Beijing. Prior to this, I had read Xie Mian's "In the Face of the New Rise" in the Guangming Daily on May 7, 1980, and I was extremely agreed with it and was extremely excited. Immediately after that, I published in the Beijing Daily on August 3 that "We must allow the existence of 'unintelligible' poems", calling for a living space for the creation of young poets. I have long regarded him as my predecessor, fellow believer and confidant.
On the day I reported to Dingfuzhuang, I couldn't wait to visit him in his room. I didn't expect that this famous poetry critic was so approachable and very kind to me, an unknown literary recruit. Xie Mian lived in the guest house of the Coal Cadre Management College, a relatively simple, hardboard bed, the bed was covered with a sheet, and it was half-cut down, and it could be seen that there was a pair of sneakers under the bed. Curious, I asked Xie Mian if he was still wearing sneakers for the meeting. Xie Mian said that this was his habit for many years. Every morning after getting up, the first thing he did was to go for a run, about 10,000 meters or so, and when he came back, he took a cold shower, every day, never stopping. Another way xie mian exercises is cycling. From Peking University to Dingfuzhuang, about 40 kilometers, Xie Mian came by bicycle. Another time, Xie Mian had dinner at my house, and when he was interested, he deliberately wanted to go from the vegetable factory alley to the south entrance of Wangfujing, and then along Chang'an Avenue, all the way to the west, and rode back to Peking University.
In his later years, Xie Mian also had two amazing feats: once, in April 2008, the editorial board of the "General Department of Chinese New Poetry" presided over by Xie Mian held a final draft meeting in Hangzhou's West Lake, and on the day of the meeting, Xie Mian wanted to fulfill his dream of running around the West Lake. In the afternoon of the same day, he set off from the Liulang Wenying Warbler where we lived, along the West Lake north through the Broken Bridge to the Bai Causeway, then to the Su Causeway, and finally from the Leifeng Pagoda to the east, back to the Liulang Wenying Warbler, when Xie Mian was 76 years old. Another time was that he climbed Mount Taishan after the age of 80, at this time Mount Tai was equipped with a ropeway, but Xie Mian refused to take the ropeway, but with Lan Ye and several other young people, hiked from Daizongfang at the foot of the mountain, through the Zhongtian Gate, Eighteen Pans, South Tianmen, and finally arrived at Riguan Peak, and then hiked down the mountain. I did not have the opportunity to climb Mount Tai with Xie Mian, but I climbed Mount Hua with Xie Mian. I was tired of climbing the mountain, and I always had to find a rock on the side of the road, catch my breath, and rest for a while. Xie Mian climbed the mountain in one breath, not necessarily walking fast, but it was solid, taking a step is a step, really tired, just stand in the middle of the road, slow down, and then walk, without finding a place to sit down and rest. He said that as soon as he sat down to rest, he would make people lazy and lose the courage to drum up.
From the habits of running, cycling, mountaineering, etc., we can see Xie Mian's emphasis on physical exercise, and you can also see the effect - Xie Mian is now 90 years old, he can still insist on jogging and brisk walking every day, take care of his own life, wash his own clothes, especially still maintain a keen perception ability and full enthusiasm for life, and let his deep and poetic words continue to flow out of his pen. From Xie Mian's lifelong adherence to physical exercise, we can also see a background of Xie Mian's personality, that is, strong, perseverance, and insist on going on when a goal is determined, in Xie Mian's own words, that is, "only one thing in a lifetime."
Contribute to the development and prosperity of new poetry
On October 16, 2018, at the launch of Xie Mian's new book "History of New Chinese Poetry" held in Zhongguan New Garden of Peking University, Mr. Yan Jiayan, a professor at Peking University, said: "Mr. Xie Mian said that he only did one thing in his life, and I want to say that he has done many things in his life." Mr. Yan Jiayan is also telling the truth, Xie Mian is a contemporary Chinese literary circle, a new poem for China, a young poet, and Peking University... There are too many practical things to do, and his "chronology" is certainly incomplete. But I still agree more with Xie Mian's "only one thing in a lifetime" statement. Regarding what Xie Mian did, I made the following summary in my 2012 article "The Significance of Xie Mian in The Contemporary Chinese Poetry Circle" -
First, Xie Mian, with the foresight of a critic, published "In the Face of a New Rise", an epoch-making classic document in the history of contemporary poetry, when the new thing of "obscure poetry" had just appeared on the horizon and when China's young art explorers needed the most support. Its theoretical value lies in: First, it embodies the call for "human liberation". Xie Mian directly connected the "obscure poetry" with the "May Fourth" new poetry movement, and regarded the rise of "obscure poetry" as a return to the "May Fourth" poetry tradition. The second is a call for creative freedom. Xie Mian grew up in the politicized poetics of the Great Unification, but what is valuable is his reflective spirit and critical consciousness of this poetics. The third is sincere and full support for art innovators, and strives for a relatively wide living space for young art explorers.
Second, the study of a hundred years of Chinese literature and a hundred years of Chinese new poetry. After entering the 1990s, Xie Mian led a group of young scholars to conduct research on Chinese literature over the past century by hosting the "Critics Weekend". He first proposed the concept of "one hundred years of Chinese literature", at the same time, he put the new poems under the framework of "a hundred years of Chinese literature" for research, he edited the "General Series of Chinese New Poetry", he launched the "Sun in the New Century" and other monographs, with the "May Fourth" Movement as the main time node, dating back to around 1895, to the end of the century, thus showing the trend of Chinese literary modernization as a whole.
Third, the contribution to the construction of the new poetry commentary style. Xie Mian broke the great critical language and eight strands of literary style that had long filled the poetry criticism circle, and his commentaries vigorously refuted official, clichés, big words, and empty words, highlighting the critic's sense of subjectivity. It is precisely out of a deep understanding of the poetic criticism style that Xie Mian's articles are unique in the poetry criticism circle. He writes poetry reviews with the passion of a poet, often with emotion, and his comments are poetic comments, which not only convince the reader with a strong logical force, but also infect the reader with poetic language.
Fourth, it has cultivated a large number of talents for the field of poetry criticism and the field of contemporary literary studies. He not only cultivated a group of master's and doctoral students in the field of contemporary literature by setting up a chair at Peking University, following the rules and inducements, and teaching by example, but also united and cultivated a group of poetry critics through the establishment of "Poetry Exploration".
The contributions of Xie Mian mentioned above can be summed up in the matter of "dedicating all his strength to the development and prosperity of Chinese new poetry". The reason why Xie Mian was able to make such a great achievement was inseparable from his personality strength.
"I don't even read critical articles"
Xie Mian is an idealist who pursues truth, or he is a dream seeker. He wrote an introduction to the "General Department of Chinese New Poetry (1949-1959)", entitled "For a Dream", and at the Third Poetics Forum of the Four Regions of the Taiwan Straits in 2010, he also said: "Poetry is the cause of dreams, and our work is dreaming." Presiding over major projects such as "A Hundred Years of Chinese Literature" and "Chinese New Poetry Department", founding "Poetry Exploration", establishing the Institute of New Poetry and New Poetry Research Institute of Peking University, etc., are Xie Mian's dreams one after another.
In order to abide by his aesthetic ideals, Xie Mian sometimes had to endure strong mental pressure. After the publication of "In the Face of the New Rise", although it was warmly praised by young poets and artistic innovators, it was also criticized by some people. In 1983, the "Three Rises" were criticized by some newspapers and periodicals, and even directly named Xie Mian. On November 26 of that year, I rode my bike for 75 minutes to Xie Mian's home in Peking University's Weixiu Garden. When he arrived at his home, a graduate student from Xie Mian and a young man who wanted to apply for xie mian's graduate school came to visit, and after a while, a young teacher from Xiamen University who came to Peking University for further study came to visit. It seems that the more Xie Mian is criticized, the more guests there are.
On the afternoon of January 4, 1984, I invited Xie Mian and his wife, Zhang Jiong, and Yang Kuanghan to come to my house for a party and eat shabu lamb with the hot pot I had newly bought. Xie Mian seemed to be in good mood and seemed to be depressed. However, he was disappointed by the performance of some poets and critics at the Chongqing Poetry Conference. "Poetry Exploration" was asked to do "inspection", and Yang Kuanghan wrote a copy. Zhang Jiong asked Xie Mian to look at the inspection, but Xie Mian resolutely refused to read it, saying: "I don't even read the articles that criticize me!" ”
On February 27, 1984, I received a letter of thanksgiving, which began: "A turbid tide is coming, and a lot of foam and grass clippings are floating on it and spinning. Unfortunately, the tide passed quickly. Those who are not afraid of the trend of action such as Yan Xiang deserve our deep memories. ”
In his dealings with Xie Mian over the years, he often talked about anecdotes about some professors at Peking University. The deepest impression is that Mr. Lin Geng has a strong sense of responsibility. After Mr. Yan Jiayan became the head of the department, he organized a lecture once a week and lin geng was arranged once. For this lecture, Mr. Lin Geng successively found relevant personnel to meet, arranged the outline, and went to find some modifications. Lin Geng studied classical poetry, but he wrote his own poems, never writing the old style, but writing new poems, writing his nine and eleven words. He also said many times: "We must have some cloth on us." ”
The sense of responsibility and "cloth qi" of Mr. Lin Geng, which Xie Mian praised, together with Xie Mian's "only one thing in his life", is also a true portrayal of Xie Mian's own academic personality.
【Presence】
Turn your days into poetry
——The 90th birthday of Xie Mian and the launch of the new book
Text/Xu Qingquan
On the afternoon of January 10, 2022, the 90th birthday of Mr. Xie Mian and the launch of the new book "Foraging" were held. Mr. Hong Zicheng sat down, and Mr. Xie's disciples and colleagues gathered together. I am in a grand event, and I am very proud!
My husband and I met later, but we started from college, that is, the flag is in the direction. Later, inheriting the memories of the "literary and artistic youth" of the 1980s, I turned to the study of contemporary literary history and intellectual history, and Mr. Xie was even more of a huge presence. I remember that after meeting Mr. Xiangshan at a meeting in Xiangshan in 2012, I went forward to ask for advice. Mr. Meng did not give up and was able to perform the disciple ceremony.
On December 16, 2017, accompanied by Liu Fuchun, Gao Xiuqin and Li Zhe, Mr. Xie came to Hanshe and brought Huanghuang's 12-volume "Xie Mian Chronicle Collection".
In particular, the first thing Mr. Xie said to me after he sat down was: "I have long wanted to come and see you." "I was moved. Sir has a famous saying: "Live your life into poetry", which has also become a maxim for me to live lightly.
The theme of the conference on January 10 was very poetic: "Only poetry and food can not be missed - the post-90s 'Great Guide' "Foraging" book launch". This is the idea of Mr. Xie's gaozu Gao Xiuqin. The book was published by her Peking University Press, and the press conference was run by her.
Mr. Xie's "Foraging For food", taking eating as the scripture, taking the emotion as the weft, melting in the love, melting the meaning, the light and shallow text, but there is the artistic conception of "everything in the Changxia River Village".
Mr. Hong Zicheng, who sat in the meeting hall, was Mr. Xie's third-level disciple. Compared with Mr. Xie, Mr. Hong is thin and seems to always be a smiling and squinting image. Whenever I saw him, the verse "Wrapped in a coarse cloth wrapped in a big cloth, with a poetic and bookish atmosphere in my belly" floated in my head.
Some people say that "cold humor" means that the speaker does not laugh and the listener laughs, so that there is a "quiet" effect of "silence". However, Mr. Hong Zicheng's humor is more "cold", because his smile and squint are like the "cold" he says, the contrast is huge, and the humor is even colder. Sure enough, his keynote speech recalled his interaction with Mr. Xie, which was also solemn and harmonious, and the fun was even more exciting, which caused a burst of laughter from time to time.
The scene of the press conference. In the middle are Mr. xie Mian and his wife, on the right is Mr. Hong Zicheng, and on the left is Mr. Wu Sijing
Mr. Hong Zicheng specifically mentioned Mr. Sun Shaozhen's comments on "Foraging" in Fujian.
Mr. Xie and Mr. Sun are classmates of Peking University. From the late 1970s to the early 1980s, in the controversy over "obscure poetry", Mr. Xie opened the atmosphere with "In the Face of a New Rise", Mr. Sun followed with "The Rise of New Aesthetic Principles", and Mr. Xu Jingya echoed with "Rising Poetry Group", forming the famous "three rises" debate on "obscure poetry" in literary history. In this controversy, Mr. Xie and Sun echoed from north to south, thus establishing their position in the field of poetry criticism.
In 2007, when I interviewed Mr. Sun Shaozhen, he talked about his relationship with Mr. Xie, and particularly emphasized that the "three rises" were the first to open up the atmosphere, and without his first "rise", the last two could not be talked about. Mr. Sun also said that the word "rise" is not entirely xie mian's invention. I remember that at that time, there was an article in the press praising Li Siguang called "The New Rise of the Asian Continent." Mr. Xie Mian probably borrowed it, and with his literary style and sentimental style, he made the "rise" of geology become a historical keyword in literary history and ideological emancipation.
The original article was published on January 16, 2022 in the A6th edition of Yangcheng Evening News
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Editor-in-charge | Wu Xiaopan