Zhou Cong: The Texture and Body Temperature of the Village: Commenting on Han Xiao's "Yin's Village"

Han's "Yin's Village" is a group of works that present the inner texture and body temperature of the current village from different angles, and in the observation of "I", the natural features of the village, the history of the family, and the fate of the individual together constitute the spiritual character of the village. Specifically, when we return to the history of the countryside, those bills and bills in the depths of time collage the economic map of the village, and the daily life of the villagers is hidden behind the digital expression, silently. Digitalization is a path, a way to record life. For Yin's father, the profession of accountant made him naturally extremely sensitive to numbers, and through a series of bills and vouchers, his father truly recorded the details of history. At the end of this subsection, the author writes: "Can the once digitized villages coincide with today's?" "The continuation and evolution of digitalization in the village, as well as its inherent economic logic, is undoubtedly a question worthy of serious consideration by readers.

Houses are the "flesh" of the village, adobe houses, grassy paths, old blackened cabinets, fresh white stubble neatly arranged firewood, bread-shaped small televisions... These form the background of the village, and the quiet, rustic, natural nature of the village is revealed. In the geographical sense of the village, living in such a simple and unpretentious villager as Lao Bo, a dustpan of oranges conveys his generous and hospitable character characteristics. Sitting in front of the door, the old man in the daylight is concerned about his children, but he is alone in guarding the quiet village, which is a more common scene in the countryside at present. Inevitably, the villages went into ruin, and those who were engaged in agricultural production in the fields went to the cities, and the villages became empty and dry, like a body that had been drained of water.

"I love black, like pure language, loyal to the corners of my lips." The night in the village is thoroughly dark, and the darkness is duty-bound. The mud room of the 90-year-old uncle, the light that expands out of the door in the middle of the night, announces the existence of home and people, where there is light, there is a home, there is fireworks in the world, which is a trace of anger and hope left in the village. Although Yin's mother is buried across the road, "I" and her understanding of black are also different: "I am tired of the messy light pollution of the city and eager to demand compensation for the dark night; and mother Yin's black is to work all day, not to see the darkness of the day." "I" am trying to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, to seek a spiritually short rest, and the village exists as a form of Eden-style spiritual home. Yin's mother lives in the village for survival, slowly consuming and wearing herself, she is against fate, reconciling, and struggling to live. For her, the night means the end of the day and the beginning of a new day.

The village has vitality because of people, the mother is always the most stable existence of the village, after the death of Yin's mother, the chrysanthemum at the head of the grave evokes her endless memories, in those growing years, the mother and the adobe house are integrated, about the father, about family affection, about life and death, have caused Yin's infinite remembrance and thinking. "Living on top of the dead" is not only the basis of the continuation of human metabolism, but also makes us more calm in the face of the departure of our loved ones.

After staying in the village for two days, when he left, the old man was planting vegetables in a wasteland next to the road, which was a rather sentimental scene, the old man's crutch was crossed over and over, and the shot of him catching the yellow eel was frozen in front of "my" eyes. In the old man's view, "a person can grow old in his old house, is a blessing, as long as he is not paralyzed in bed; when he cannot move, the children should come back to take care of it, or take it away", the old man's inner thoughts and the actual situation make people add a touch of sadness, the land is their lifeblood, and the attachment and worship of the land run through their lives.

In the writing of the village, "I" is carried out from the perspective of an observer, following Yin back to her village, "I" saw Yin's father's ledger, but also appreciated the natural landscape of the village, and deeply understood Yin's sincere feelings for her parents, as well as the current situation of Yin's father's existence, this way of looking inevitably fell into the mode of urban-rural duality, a clear example is that "I" came with the mentality of escaping the crowded city, and the village existed as a spiritual rest. In the author's almost white-depicted narrative, the natural landscape and humanistic ethics of the village are presented, the author's narrative is calm and objective, and Yin's village has become richer and more three-dimensional in the multi-faceted detailed description, and it is undeniable that Yin's village is a microcosm of the current Chinese countryside. Interestingly, unlike the rural writing in the context of traditional farming civilization, the author's village removes the idyllic romantic color, but reveals a cruel, dry and empty spiritual temperament, which is both the reality faced by the village and the fate of the village.

About author:Zhou Cong, editor of Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House, critic of the second signing of Hubei Writers Association