"A straight man like me doesn't know enough about women, and the more he feels that there is a problem in this regard, the more he strives to do this." On October 17, at the "Let the Angels Dance on the Tip of the Needle - Xu Zechen's Short Story Sharing Meeting", Xu Zechen, winner of the Mao Dun Literature Prize and writer, expressed his views in this way. This event was one of the activities of the sixth "Beijing October Literature Month", and Xu Zechen and critics Qiu Huadong, Zhang Li and Cong Zhichen began to talk together.
Qingcheng is Xu Zechen's latest collection of short and medium stories, including two novellas he wrote, "Xixia" and "Juyan", and the short story of the same name, "Qingcheng". Xu Zechen said that "Western Xia" was written in 2003, and after marriage, with a deeper and broader understanding of family women, he wrote "Juyan" in 2008, and "Qingcheng" was completed two years ago.
The three works of "Qingcheng" are independent of each other and intrinsically connected, and the protagonists are all modern women - Xixia, Juyan, Qingcheng; the naming of the "Three Sisters" is related to a certain place name, Western Xia is a mysterious dynasty that has existed in Chinese history for nearly two hundred years, Juyan is a military town in the ancient northwest region, and Qingcheng is a Taoist mountain located in the southwest. This kind of naming is a cultural and historical sentiment of the author, but more of an indescribable divine thought. "Xixia, Juyan, Qingcheng, how appropriate it is for the three words to be put together, how beautiful it is for the three sisters to get together." Xu Zechen revealed on the spot that he likes to use the name of the character as a character, "because these names have a special cultural connotation, natural history and cultural depth, and their own traffic." ”
The three works are concise and profound, and the author uses ancient place names full of historical significance as the spiritual symbols of the characters, and explores the emotional and spiritual self-consistency of modern women. Three sad and clear love stories tell the emotional encounters of three women, telling their hardships, bitterness, confusion and perseverance, and also writing about their integrity, tenacity, kindness and love.
Critic Zhang Li believes that Xu Zechen's new book is full of reflections on women, love, marriage, and women's status and relationships in the social structure. "He wrote about the yearning, confusion, and beauty of Xixia in "Xixia", and he wrote in "Juyan" that Juyan came out of the shadow and wings of his mentor, how to live by himself, how to grow on his own." Zhang Li said that Xu Zechen is a hermaphrodite writer, "He wrote the three sisters as part of the brothers and sisters, rather than condescending writing." ”
Writer Qiu Huadong believes that Xu Zechen's grasp and understanding of women is a struggle with su tong, the writer who wrote "A Flock of Wives and Concubines". Qiu Huadong believes that the short story is like a dagger, the novella is like a hammer, Xu Zechen is "dancing on the tip of the knife", and the "dagger" he creates is sharp, shining, sharp, with a cold breath. "He's good at presenting the big little universe of little people, showing his deep concern."