Famous silhouette| Bi Shumin: "My mentor Li Guowen"

Editor's Note

The "Famous Family Silhouette" column was launched by "Times Literature" in 1997, and was successively hosted by He Zhenbang, Bai Ye, He Shaojun and others, selecting a famous artist in each issue, and inviting several friends and old friends to chat about their texts from different angles, so that readers can more fully and deeply understand the writer's little-known stories behind the works. Over the past 20 years, more than 100 contemporary Chinese writers and more than 500 column authors have met readers with different attitudes in this time that can grow up a generation with ease, and left a bright star in the history of literature.

In view of this, China Writers Network has re-launched the "Silhouette of Famous Artists" series, selecting its Chinese chapters, and listening to the old and young in the literary world talk about literati and literary affairs.

Li Guowen

In this issue, we invite Li Guowen, a famous old writer known as the "living Buddha" of the literary world, to invite the old and young people who are familiar with Li Guowen in the Beijing literary circle to chat about him, and provide readers with some little-known feelings and materials. Among the gentlemen who participated in the chat, there were both old editors like Cui Daoyi, who had always known Li Guowen for more than forty years, and Bi Shumin, a writer who was influenced by Li Guowen.

From your words, we know Li Guowen's bumpy life experience and the recent situation of gradually getting better, know Li Guowen's character of "living Buddha" and "chivalrous guest" in one, and know his mentality of living a dashing life.

Such

Life is like a valley, and this is the fate of many of my literary contemporaries.

In fact, everyone has a time to enter the trough of fate, from the eight characters, the transportation of canopy is a common thing, and the unfavorable flow of years is inevitable. In the eyes of the poet, it is called "the moon has clouds and sunshine"; the words of the common people are called "people have bad luck at night". But the amplitude of ups and downs has reached the point of falling yellow springs, and the valley bottom is endlessly extending, never going to the head, it seems that only me and my contemporaries can enjoy the "favor" of this era. Lucky misfortune? I won't talk about it. Anyway, the trough of more than twenty years, in the history of human tossing, is not uncommon, not only preferential treatment for our generation. Some people, who can never get out of the trough, are buried at the bottom of the valley and can never turn over, which is a tragedy; those who finally come out of the trough, those who are lucky enough to survive, are full of scars and lingering, is this a comedy? I don't think so.

Because, no matter how open-minded and open-minded, it is impossible to accompany such a cruel political game because human life is so limited. It is not easy to laugh when it comes to these best years of life, the most elite and the most capable of doing some things, and being forced to waste the past in this way, unless this person has a problem, he will say the words "mother beats son". That's why I don't want to look back, and why in my work, I'm reluctant to tear the scab wound again. Now those who keep nagging that they are the "warriors" of five or seven years, I always suspect that they are at least luckier than me. A person who has died more than once will relish it, like catching a burnt cake with a handle, and telling the process of death endlessly?

Now, shake the camera back and start with the name my grandfather gave me!

It was an old mr. Winter Dryer who was holding a hookah bag and teaching private schools in the countryside, and painstakingly prepared it. Old-fashioned Chinese names, only one word belongs to you. The other two, one is a surname that belongs to your family, and the other is a ranking that your siblings of the same generation share. The name my maternal grandfather gave me in no way meant that he foresaw that I would make a living writing novels and swearing articles in the future. However, in the mind of the old boy, there was devotion to the Confucian cultural tradition, and he thought that this "Wen" word was a very good word.

Whoops, that's a big fallacy! In China, since Cangjie made the characters, there have not been many literati and literati, and there are not many lucky people, and those who have swept down the literary field are everywhere. In this way, a "wen" word in the name later fulfilled my whole life, making me feel more and more undesirable. But what can be done? Chinese pay attention to not changing the name, sitting and not changing the surname, it will have to be done.

It was 1930, Shanghai, and my date of birth was August 24 of the lunar calendar.

That year was the nineteenth year of the Republic of China, in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, which was in the Lixiahe region, and my hometown was flooded, the water depth was several inches, and the months did not retreat, and countless people drowned and starved to death. When the Pacific War broke out in 1942 and the Japanese devils entered the Shanghai Concession, when I returned to my hometown for the first time because of the flight, the villagers recalled the flood in the year I was born, pointing to the stains left by the walls after each time they were soaked in water, explaining why they had left this poor and remote area since their ancestors.

Therefore, Yancheng is still a region in Jiangsu Province that has not yet become rich. Therefore, in the old society, even if there were no floods and famines, it would not have been enough to eat and clothing, let alone military disasters and bandits. As a result, many villagers ran to the beach to mix rice and eat. "Jiangbei people" are looked down upon by the indigenous people of Shanghai, just as the developed countries now look down on Chinese because they are poor. Because of poverty, they can only earn a living by working part-time, selling coolies, and engaging in lowly occupations. It is said that in the old days, Shanghai pulled rickshaws, mostly in my hometown.

My ancestors have not pulled, and they have been annihilated. But in my father's generation, it was still just a small citizen. Despite the effort to think that it is not, wear a long shirt instead of a short hit; wear a top hat instead of a melon skin, and speak two pidgin English; Eating Western food knows which dish to use what knives and forks, thinking that I am a bit educated, it seems that my family is not bad. But in their bones, there is no doubt that they are still small citizens who live authentically in the countless lanes of Shanghai.

However, my father's generation belonged to the kind of kind and honest little citizens. This has no intention of smearing grease, because in any society, kindness and honesty are always synonymous with cowardice, and they are a kind of crowd that does not have much to show. My long lack of a sense of resistance is probably a problem with the fetus. But I am also grateful for this intrinsic goodness that has been formed since childhood, trying to be friendly with others, trying to cherish even a little bit of friendship with others, and trying to do something for others (if I have the possibility). Of course, to those guys with aggressive tendencies, no matter how authoritative he is, how qualified, how powerful, how powerful, I can't afford to provoke, I can hide. There is really no way, I have to bend down under the hegemony, power, political persecution, and even fall into the evil dog village and suffer setbacks, I also try to maintain the minimum dignity as much as possible, especially in the soul, I think I will never submit to any king. This is also the reason why I am even more unlucky in the unfortunate situation.

The villain, even a little smarter than him, will be jealous of the teeth, and you actually dare to despise him mentally, and pay a painful price for it. Although he can deprive you to the point of zero, he knows in his heart that the knowledge you have, the culture you possess, the many books you have read that he has not read, the education you have received that he will not rush even if he makes up for it, that is, everything that the word "Wen" in my name represents, is something they cannot take. It was these only possessions that gave me the courage to face everything.

However, I know that my roots are still small citizens, easy to satisfy, easy to give in, easy to forget, easy to be credulous. Studying the petty citizen mentality of myself and others has become a theme that I often explore in my works. It is difficult to understand this particular level of people in society from the point of view of economic and class analysis. The small citizens in the big city are both a surging force and a terrible inertia. Every cell has an attempt to escape from the uneasiness of the whole, and when it is not possible, it can quickly find a reason to enjoy it. Some people will be jealous of those who are stronger than him, and they will also be comforted by laughing at the shame of those who are inferior to him. These people, never satisfied and always satisfied, have the desire to devour an elephant, but have no determination to catch a rat. Some people, worshiping money and intimidating the powerful, make a certain part of the nerves particularly developed, but they often appear numb and accustomed to vulgarity, meanness, depravity, and shamelessness; some people, when they become brutal, bully and play tricks, are good material for being dog-legged or white; some people, who have no great ability and no great interest, but seek three full and one fall, and then close the door and curse the emperor, or the east and the west are short, making the vulgar society more vulgar. No matter who among the small citizens, one by one, they are both happy and unhappy, and it seems to be painful, but it is not very painful. These are the people in the alleys I know. However, this habit of small citizens, this vulgarity, is not limited to those alleys today. In the ranks of writers in my midst, the old, the young, the men, the women, and so on, who are well-dressed, have grown up day by day, and I can see that there are some people who are no better than the small citizens, even more unpretentious, more boring, more shallow, and less of a thing.

But when I was young, I didn't know that everywhere in the world was noble and despicable, and light and darkness coexisted. I can't remember which philosopher said, "Literature is my ideal country", in such a pure small civic atmosphere, I am not high, but I wish there was some high, so books are the only place where I can escape reality. This is also my motivation for a middle school on Huaihai Road in Shanghai, reading the second year of high school, because I participated in the progressive student movement and could not read until graduation, I chose to apply for the examination to nanjing to study drama and screenwriting, which was in 1949. People, although they can't grasp their own future, but they still have a trajectory to find but which path they eventually embark on.

This is thanks to the fact that in my age of greatest thirst for knowledge, there were so many books to read; I am also grateful that in that era, there were not many exhortators who "respected the writing paper" and earnestly taught you what books you should read and what books you should not read; even if there were such good teachers, there were also the right to either listen to and obey, to be a good child, or to be a fart, not to be ignored, and to choose what you want.

At that time, in this national drama college, it was already in turmoil, people's minds were changing, and they could not read Shakespeare and Ibsen at all. This may be the reason why I still want to write drama but can't write it, and it is probably the root cause of some of the dramatic shortcomings left in my novels. People are easy to stereotype, and texts are easy to stereotype. Literary character is the same as human disposition, and it is difficult to change it. Also, a writer should understand the tastes of your readers. You write for your readers, as long as they read your books and buy yours! And why chase the wind and waves wave after wave to make waves? Of course, this is a bit of a short defense, but the text is not fixed, why must it conform to any norms and trends? I think it's comfortable to write like this, it's painful to write, others say gossip, why should they go to the heart?

So I never believed that a person said that my work was good, and a person said that my work was bad, even if all the "critics" shook their heads at me, I had an attitude of indifference. It was not easy to write an article, and it was too tiring to look up at this and look at that face. Besides, when I was in my twenties, I was only one step away from death in order to write a novel, and my life was almost given away; now, after passing the age of huajia, it is necessary to care about what others say about this and that?

Subsequently, after the liberation of Nanjing, I went to the third department of BGI in Beijing and the research department of the Central Academy of Drama, which was soon established. Then I was transferred to the Tianjin Railway Bureau's Cultural and Labor Corps. I'm ashamed to be a creator, but I haven't written anything.

Although, I would like to write, but on the narrow road of literature, it is not easy to find my own place. The period between my return from Korea in 1954 and my work in the Propaganda Department of the China Railway Federation of Trade Unions in 1957 coincided with what may have been an initial awakening in Chinese literature.

Spring in Beijing always comes and goes in a hurry. At the tail end of this literary spring, during the stormy 1957 years, I finally published my debut novel "Re-election" in People's Literature. I sent two or three short stories, and that was my first submission. Soon, when I received the reply, I went to talk to the editorial office in a courtyard with a shadow wall in The Yang Yibin Hutong in the Dongcheng District of Beijing. The result of the discussion was "Re-election", and they said that this one was the best, and they sent it first, so all the disasters of my life began with this novel.

Fortunately, he embarked on the road of literature; unfortunately, he also experienced more than twenty years of suffering.

A short story, a short story that is considered a big poisonous weed. After a few decades, it was treated as a "replayed flower". Therefore, I have little trust in any judgment of my work. Such as fish drinking water, cold and warm self-knowledge, good and bad, in addition to those who feel good about themselves, the writer himself has the most number in his heart.

Seriously, in hindsight, back in 1957, fate was going to make a joke with a person, and that was often quite cruel. Everything went so smoothly that it was written almost without any hesitation, published, and, immediately noticeable. Of course, because of this, I suddenly paid a heavy price for this novel, and I could not imagine that I would fall into the trough of my life and spend more than twenty years of difficult years.

Therefore, the word "text" is not always beautiful. These twenty years, in a word, are fortunate not to die.

It is no longer necessary to say this to those who understand, and to say this to those who do not understand, it may not be possible to produce pain in the skin. The taste of this is also difficult for non-parties to understand. But the painstaking efforts of many writers of the same generation, I admire. The difference between history and literature is probably that the former squeezes out the pain, while the latter does not, which may be where the vitality of literature lies. Therefore, the faces of individual sellers are really dirty enough, and they do not dare to compliment themselves by talking about hardships and making any capital for themselves.

Guard this "wen" word

Cui Daoyi

What the word "Wen" represents, in Li Guowen's case, is not only character, but first and foremost in personality, so I am also highly respected. The idiom of high moral respect, if reasoned according to Li Guowen's essay "The Misunderstanding of Language", has also entered the misunderstanding and has become a common compliment for the elderly. I was his contemporary, and I didn't have to flatter him. My so-called high moral esteem is only to summarize the type of writer, and Virtue refers to the rank and weight of personality in the literary works, and hopes to refer to the status and influence among readers and peers. In these two aspects, Li Guowen is great and calm, tall and heavy enough, and belongs to the benevolent elders among the old writers at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Li Guowen belongs to the social writer. But which writer is not a product of society, and who has no connection with society? The reason for the separate list of social types is that it is relative to the self-proclaimed private types that have emerged in recent years. In fact, this classification is not appropriate. Real works of art are all private and unique, and without individuality there is no creation. But to emphasize the complete exclusion and detachment of nature from society is neither true nor worthwhile. The works of some private writers, blindly flaunting themselves, do not hesitate to sell privacy, in fact, no one has been able to pull their hair away from the earth, even if the privacy is exposed, if there is no social moral content, it is just a pinch of hair. And the writers recognized by society and the writers who accept history are mainly because they can be the spokesmen of society, and they are often prophets of history, such as Li Guowen. Li Guowen was born out of the world with the entry of his literature, and stood out in the world with the cynicism, caution, and prosperity of his literature. He is one of the most socially responsible writers and one of the writers with a sense of historical mission in the mainland literary circles, and his artistic steps of worrying about the country and the people can often walk in front of the times, be good at and dare to be the first in the world, and unswervingly, always "have the courage to face everything". This spirit, radiating in his shining words, will continue to carry forward.

Li Guowen is a moral writer. This does not mean that there is a relatively unethical writer. However, there are indeed some people who do not write for the country or the people but only for the sake of the name and profit of the people, and there have indeed been some vicious writings that play the role of the children of bad people according to traditional moral views, and even more despicable to the point of being a civilized person and being a spiritual prostitute. The character of the literati in the mainland from Qu Yuan to The Lu Xun tradition should be "wen to carry the Tao", "to Jun Yao Shun, and then to make the customs pure", "to heal the soul of the country". Li Guowen is a person who is concerned with tradition and is not bound to tradition, and his way of writing is: "I advocate that the text should carry the tao, but it is not necessary to carry the tao, the words carry the tao, the author is painful, and the reader is more painful, why do more." But it is indispensable not to do it, the wind and snow, do not dare to face life, it is inevitable that it is too cowardly. I advocate that writers should still be as sincere as possible and dedicate their love to the majority of the people" ("Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Writers Li Guowen Volume Self-Introduction"). "There is one thing, without writing those disgusting works, people can do it" (Li Guowen, "So and So"). He has undoubtedly done it, he is facing most people, and he is giving sincere love. As a result, he was genuinely loved by most readers, and he was recognized as a "big brother" by many writers who were younger than him, the same age as him, and even older than him.

This is where it comes to people as they are. Since we are already highly respected and natural people are like their texts, but because some writers are not as good as their texts, I still want to use the topic to exert a little emotion. For this state of separation between people and literature, after years of personal experience, the feelings have become more and more distinct. When you are young, you read famous works and enjoy them with your eyes, like sitting in the spring breeze, thinking that the soul of a person who can write such beautiful words must also be beautiful. After reading the biographies of those classical and modern masters, it also confirms that the feelings are true. But after working, becoming a professional reader, still looking at the current author with such a wish, dealing with such and such writers, and gradually finding that some things are unexpected.

A few people who bear the laurels of the engineer of the human soul on their heads are astonishingly false, vulgar, and ugly in their hearts and deeds. The truth, goodness, and beauty they write about are made for people to see. The average reader sees the unicorn skin, and as an editor, I often learn the inside story, and I can see the horse's foot under the unicorn skin. Li Guowen observed his peers with the eyes of a writer and saw him more clearly than I did. His "So and So" reveals: "In the ranks of writers in my midst, the old, the young, the male, the female, and so on, who are well-dressed, have grown up day by day, and I can see that there are some people who are no better than the small citizens, even more unpretentious, more boring, more shallow, more fucking not things." ”

Li Guowen has always respected editors. In his 1985 book The Editor and Me, he said: "The labor of an editor is a kind of labor that pays a price, but the result does not belong to himself, it is a kind of labor that others make wedding clothes." It is precisely because of the work of the editor that it is ensured that the labor of the writer is not in vain, he compares the editor to the ferryman who can make the author reach the other side of success, "after he crosses you the river, people only know your work and your name." But without the efforts of the ferrymen, you will always stand by the river and hesitate, and you will not reach the other side of success. If the author had left the ferryman behind his head after crossing the river, it would have been inappropriate. His article, taking the birth of "Re-election" as an example, once again expresses his gratitude to me. At that time, he was already a famous master, and he still "never forgot" my "discovery" of him, calling me "the first ferryman to put him on the road of literature", and it must be known that it was because of my election of "Re-election" that he "fell into the abyss as soon as he landed". I have had a negative effect on his fate, but he only understands it from a positive point of view, "never complaining, never complaining." What he remembered was: "If on that day, when Dao Yi was working on my manuscript, he stuffed it into a paper basket or sent it back to me with a lead-printed rejection letter, then maybe it would cancel my literary dream in one fell swoop." "Before I re-raised my pen and squeezed into the ranks of the literary army of the new period, and the ferryman in my literature, there was only two sides of the newsroom meeting. Daoyi left me with the most profound impression, nothing more than what I can feel closely. His fiery heart wanted me to succeed. Wanting others to succeed and helping others succeed is an incomparable virtue of a true editor, and Daoyi is such a person. I believe that Li Guowen's words are sincere, but I think he has long had self-confidence: endowed with writer genes, there will always be something to create. Of course, I also know itself (without this self-knowledge, I am not a real editor): this crosser meets the ferryman, which is nothing more than fate. When he says my words, he is actually a kind of affection for editors, and he even holds a grudge against editors: "A literary history, engraved with the names of writers, literary critics, the names of people who lead the literary and artistic movement, and there is no editor alone — the names of people who cross the river for us, which is of course unfair." But specifically for a writer, this kind of feeling that will not be forgotten and should not be forgotten is very strong. "This is enough, the editor has never been nameless, let alone in the history of literature, as long as the writer has such a strong affection for the editor, it is very fortunate."

In the editorial team, I am even luckier, because there are many writers who also look at me like Li Guowen. In 1981, Wang Meng wrote the preface to my "Talk on Creative Techniques": "Many people (including myself) mention Cui Daoyi and other veteran editors of "People's Literature", and a feeling of gratitude and admiration will arise. How many people stood up by their hands and 'started', but they silently and silently did the work of the 'human ladder'. When I think of this, my eyes and heart are warm. "If I am affectionate, I have received a lot from the voice and eyes of the writer. But there is one thing that is unique. For forty years, the only person who has preserved and copied the letters I originally wrote to writers as an editor and photocopied for me to remember is Li Guowen. What kind of love, what kind of fate! It is these four letters that arouse my thousands of thoughts, so that I can write down so many such mixed memories and feelings, which obviously does not fit the "silhouette" writing method. And I think that this is still just from my point of view to do my best to outline a few floating silhouettes for Li Guowen. And I also feel that synchronizing with the silhouette should also accumulate detailed historical materials for the commentaries of famous artists. Otherwise, although it is only forty years, even if the parties concerned, the memories will inevitably be outstanding. For example, "So and So" said that Li Guowen first sent two or three short stories, which were "Re-election" only after the editorial department talked to him. There were also witnesses who "photographed" and said that Li Guowen personally sent five or six short stories to the editorial department instead of sending them. The effect of this will show that the "Re-election" was not selected by my hand from natural manuscripts, which is not true. Suppose that if it were not for the sensation of the editorial department because of "Re-election", I am afraid that the author would not have been invited to meet. Li Qingquan's preface can testify that the articles such as "Re-election" were "read before the meeting." These letters of mine are even more "evidence." On May 4, 1957, he wrote in the letter to "First Love": "The first five articles are being circulated in the editorial department, and this one must be read as soon as possible." We'd love to have an interview with you, but when will you have time?" The letter dated 10 May, informing the decision to publish its manuscript, agreed on a meeting time, and stated that "if you are on official business, you may take leave with this letter." I told Li Guowen about this historical fact, and on the phone I heard his laughter coming from Jane: "That's because I can't remember clearly, of course, you have to prevail." It can be seen that some documentary photographs are not necessarily true. History is not all credible..." The emotion that arises from this should be a little bit of meaning for his new novel or essay.

A flash of thought often becomes a fire, and Li Guowen is the keen one among such spiritual writers. Only in this regard, his countenance does not match his talent, and in his bones, man is indeed as his text, and his appearance is extremely consistent with his character. He is one of the most approachable in the famous series, thick and honest and has not changed in the slightest by the growth of his name, there has been no celebrity shelf that makes people feel uncomfortable, there is no goosebumps of celebrity style, for most ordinary people, he is always such a smiling and smiling benevolent elder.

This time, Li Guowen made an article on a "Wen" character in his name, saying that "everything represented by the word 'Wen' is the only wealth he has" that can make him "have the courage to face everything" I want to go along with the meaning of the text, and add a few words: Under the real "Wen" word, there is a real "human" word to support it. People are like their texts, they are the real literati. What Li Guowen has is exactly such a "wen" word.

Keeping this "wen" word, letting it be such and such a human "lunar eclipse", it will surely be a cleaner, more delicate and moving crescent moon light, pouring out of the mountains and forests, pouring out the whole earth...

My mentor Li Guowen

Bi Shumin

The Mandarin teacher has a Buddha's face.

A person will always have writers and works that he particularly likes, just like having the favorite meals and the favorite colors to watch. I think it must have something to do with the temperament of the blood, and maybe there is some kind of ancient genetic code lurking in the brain, doing hobby guides.

More than a decade ago, I was a picky literature lover. The privilege of being critical comes from the fact that I have not yet written a single work, let alone published sacredly. When people don't know anything, they have the courage to comment. For example, people who can't play football dare to blame Maradona on the TV screen. If he himself went to the green field to run two laps, he would be much calmer.

At that time, the Capital Theater held a weekly literary lecture, and the contemporary brilliant literary stars met with literature lovers on the podium in turn, and the ticket price was very cheap, as long as one dollar. I was the director of a factory health clinic, so I used my position to transfer my night shift time to the night before the lecture day (the director was too young to find an opportunity for myself to sneak out of my job, fortunately, it was so flexible), and after the night shift, I could use the rest time to go to Dongsi to listen to lectures.

On the day when it was the turn of the Chinese language teacher to lecture, he rescued the patient at night, and in the early morning, he was dizzy, and he was eager to take a big top on the ground and pour all the blood veins of his whole body into the Tianling Cover, making the nerves shake. In the morning, there were several official tasks to be done, and I did not find the opportunity to take a nap. In the afternoon, it was a headache. Before listening to the lecture, I secretly said to myself, let's relax today, listen when you can listen, slip away if you can't listen, and never insist. But as soon as teacher Guowen appeared, the first impression was that he was like a Buddha, and a feeling of cordiality and stability immediately poured out in his heart, so he listened quietly.

I remember the Chinese language teacher said that there is no trick to writing. If you write for the sake of the name, you may wish to clean Tiananmen Square, bring your own broom dustpan, and work hard and complain, regardless of pay. It won't be long before a journalist will come and interview you, and if you can say something bold and be typical, the speed of fame is far above that of writing. The Chinese language teacher also said that if you write for profit, you will basically be disappointed. By writing alone, the probability of getting rich is minimal. With that work, it is better to go to the bustling downtown areas of Beijing, such as dashilar, look for it with your head down, and happen to pick up a wallet, which is more cost-effective than climbing the grid. Take the time to write and do other businesses, and the hope of wealth is much brighter.

Teacher Guowen also talked about the arduous preparation he made before writing a novel and the anxious wait after the manuscript was sent...

These simple and witty words, buried with a profound sense of life, steadily entered my ear drums and made my spirit violently and happily cheered up. I remember walking down the steps of the Capitol Theatre that day, I looked up at the sky, the usually cloudy northern sky, showing a strange cloisonné blue. It was at that moment that I made one of the most important decisions of my life - to go home and write a novel.

Before this moment, I was a lover of literature, but after that, I tried to be an operator of literature. Like Sun Wukong, I jumped on the clouds and carefully and even harshly examined myself on the ground, determined not to write for fame and profit, but for hobbies. Someone was waiting to ask the Chinese language teacher for an autograph, so I withdrew. I don't like to sign, whether it's asking for someone or being asked. Especially since I learned that some of the signatories took his signatures to the auction after the death of the celebrity, I felt that this matter was a bit like a capital investment that did not cost money, stained with copper. If you respect a person, think about his words, put this respect in the cleanest place in your heart, and store it.

In 1987, I published my debut novella, Kunlun Death. One day, my husband said, from now on you should also read the newspaper about literature, or you will not know anything about the overall situation. He was a soldier by birth and had an enduring love of national events and newspapers. I said, I don't know what newspaper to read. He said, I went to the street to look for it, and there was an eye-catching one to buy back.

When he returned home one day, he brought back a copy of the "Literature and Art Newspaper". After dinner, I brushed the dishes, and he sat there browsing first. Reading and reading, I suddenly jumped up from the sofa and said, Come and see, there is an article on it that Mr. Li Guowen encourages you. As he spoke, he read it to me.

"We often like to use the four words 'extraordinary shot' to describe a new work by a newcomer, and 'Kunlun Death' also leaves such an impression on readers." Although the author wrote the story of the extraordinary absurdity of the ten years of the Cultural Revolution, in order to carry out the deputy commander's "training" instructions, a field force passed through the snow line above the survival of the forbidden area. But the author did not insist on cursing the absurdity of these absurd years, let alone thinking about the past in reflection. Although the author is a woman, she strives to express the magnificence of humanity shown by the revolutionary soldiers in this man-made tragedy, from the commander to the soldier in an extremely difficult environment, the high purification and sublimation of the soul, and the indestructible quality and tradition of the people's army, and perhaps the Kunlun Mountain in her mind that the author personally experienced. The whole work leaves a tragic and profound impression...

“...... After reading "Kunlun Death", I realized that on the snow field where everything is extinct, it is also a world of ever-changing changes. In such a world, life and death, love and hate, sublime and humble, light and gray, and in the form of that particular environment, an author wrote such a work for the first time, although it is inevitable to be childish, but encouraged, I hope that the author will write a better work at this starting point, which is also a purpose of criticism. ”

I was relatively slow to praise and criticism since I was a child, but this time I listened to it and was deeply moved. The source of that was not only the encouragement of the Chinese language teacher, but also from such an old writer whom I respected, who read my debut work so carefully and said what I had preset in the text, and I was surprised to experience a kind of spiritual resonance power. There is also the magic of words to convey feelings, although I am so unskilled in use, I am like a first-time horse rider, suddenly believing in the reins of horses on the grassland, suddenly nervous and hesitant, thinking that the surrounding area is empty. The next day, I suddenly receive a map drawn by a pair of wise hands, marking out the trajectory of what you have already walked, and pointing out the destination you want to reach but you are just starting out, thinking that it is a secret destination. While I admired and appreciated gratitude, I was accompanied by a thick sense of surprise and a faint awe. I thought that if I did not continue to work hard, I was ashamed of such concern and expectation.

After reading that, my husband said to me, you should write a letter to Mr. Li Guowen to express your gratitude.

I said that I had never known me at all. Isn't it too presumptuous to be easily disturbed?

The husband said that he had read your novel, so he didn't know it at all. You don't write, it seems too rude.

After thinking about it again and again, I wrote a letter to the Chinese teacher. I am a person who has been ashamed of thanking people since I was a child, not only is the big favor not thankful, but also the middle grace is small, and I also feel that true gratitude cannot be expressed. The letter only briefly mentioned one or two words of thanks, mainly a request to the Chinese language teacher, which was essentially to add a big trouble to him and ask him to help me find an opportunity to study literature.

I have confidence in my medical skills, I have no grasp of literature, and I want to study it systematically, but I have no eyes in the whole literary world, and I have no way to ask for help.

Teacher Guowen quickly wrote back to me, saying that he had forwarded my request to Teacher He Zhenbang of Lu Xun Academy of Literature, please wait with peace of mind.

I was touched again, by the whiteness of the letter and the extreme neatness of the handwriting. What I read from it is not only the solemnity of my request to be treated kindly, but also the peace and tranquility that permeates the lines.

Later, with the help of all the teachers, I went to the graduate class of Lu Xun Literature Institute as I wished. When selecting a writing supervisor, Liu Zhenyun and I were honored to become graduate students of Professor Li Guowen.

Over the years, I have heard many writers who are about my age or younger about the great help of their Chinese language teachers. In the days after he became the editor-in-chief of the Selected Novels, the encouragement and support he gave to the new generation of Chinese literature will be remembered by many people.

Teacher Guowen said that literature is a flowing river, and there must always be continuous living water injecting people in order to show infinite vitality. Teachers of Chinese literature not only write with their own painstaking efforts, rush with their lives, and set off surging snow waves, but also strive to use their own strength to promote the tide of literature and merge into the vaster ocean of literature tomorrow.