Walk the extraordinary road in the ordinary world

Editor's note: The Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held at the end of 1978 opened a new historical period of China's reform and opening up, at the same time, many writers, while paying attention to the reform and development in reality, published their various thoughts and ideas on the development of the motherland in literature, forming a creative trend of "reform literature". Jiang Zilong's "Qiao Factory Director's Record of Appointment", Zhang Jie's "Heavy Wings", Jia Pingwa's "Impetuousness", Lu Yao's "Ordinary World" and so on are representative works in reform literature. Among them, "Ordinary World" is the largest selling and most far-reaching novel. To this day, "Ordinary World" is not only analyzed as a literary work, but also often explored in depth as a literary and cultural phenomenon, and the spirit of the times it shows is deeply engraved into the history of contemporary Chinese literature and the spiritual life of Chinese.

Manuscript of Lu Yao's "Ordinary World"

In February and March 1975, on an ordinary day, the fine rain was sprinkled with a little bit of snowflakes, and they were pouring onto the earth. The season is almost stinging, of course, the snow will no longer remain, often before it lands, it has disappeared without a trace. The harsh and long winter of the Loess Plateau seems to be over, but the truly warm spring is far from coming.

When the writer Lu Yao wrote this beginning, he may not have thought that in the years to come, "Ordinary World" warmed generations of people, accompanied by the spiritual growth of countless readers, especially young people. Readers are touched by the struggle and fate of the two brothers Sun Shao'an and Sun Shaoping, and are also attracted by the broad social background and warm feelings in the book, thus making this long river of more than one million words of novel become a classic work of contemporary Chinese literature.

"He was a father who fell on the road to thirst"

The original road to the publication of "Ordinary World" was very tortuous. When Lu Yao completed the first part of the novel, his own expectations were very high, and before that, the publication of the novella "Life" caused a sensation, making him a writer with a national reputation, and many literary journals asked him for manuscripts. After much deliberation, Lu Yao gave the first part of "Ordinary World" to "Contemporary" magazine, which was based on two reasons, one is that "Contemporary" has a great influence, and the other is that "Contemporary" has always adhered to the realist tendency. However, after reading the novel, the editor Zhou Changyi "felt that it was slow... All in their own expectations, it is really difficult to look down" (in the same article, Zhou Changyi also admitted that after re-reading "Ordinary World" 20 years later, "suddenly found that it was different from the feeling of that year, it was not ugly"), and decided to withdraw from the manuscript on this reason, which made Lu Yao feel very surprised. Since then, other magazines have also rejected articles. Finally, by chance, the first part of "Ordinary World" was published in Guangzhou's "Flower City" magazine in November 1986.

After the publication of the work, the Shaanxi Writers Association and Huacheng Magazine jointly held a seminar in Beijing, but the overall evaluation of the novel at the meeting was not high, and Lu Yao was quite hit. Even so, Lu Yao still began to write the second part. Because life was irregular, Lu Yao greatly overdrawn his body and was seriously ill, but he did not stop, relying on tenacious will to insist on writing, "writing the whole thing into a state of fanaticism, the body is almost non-existent; life seems to be a pure spiritual form, and daily life becomes a robot nature" (Lu Yao: "Morning begins at noon"). Although the way the first part was written was criticized, in the writing of the second part, Lu Yao still insisted on writing according to the realist method, which was a very brave decision. At that time, most of the popular literary and artistic trends in the literary circles were modern and avant-garde, and realism was considered backward. After the completion of the second part, Lu Yao also found some magazines to submit articles, but no journals were willing to publish. Lu Yao did not stop the pace of creation, and then lived the day of "starting from noon in the morning", living alone in the Yulin Hotel in Shaanxi Province, immersed in writing the third part. In May 1988, the "Ordinary World" trilogy was finally completed, which lasted for six years. After several twists and turns, the third part was published in the Shanxi "Yellow River" magazine, which had little influence at the time, and critics were still not optimistic.

At this moment, Ye Yongmei, a reporter for the Central People's Radio, did something of great significance, lobbying everywhere to try to make "Ordinary World" broadcast on the Central People's Radio. From March 27 to August 2, 1988, the "Long Series" program of the Central People's Radio broadcast "Ordinary World", and the broadcaster was the famous studio artist Li Yemo. Once broadcast, it caused great repercussions in the country, conquered the listeners, the radio station received letters from readers all over the country every day, and since then, "Ordinary World" has been broadcast twice on the Central People's Radio, with a total audience of more than 300 million people, which has laid a very good foundation for the future dissemination of "Ordinary World".

In 1986, China Literary Association Publishing Company published the first part of "Ordinary World", and in 1988 and 1989, it published the second and third parts.

In March 1991, "Ordinary World" won the 3rd Mao Dun Literature Award. In his acceptance speech, Lu Yao expressed his views on literature and life with deep affection: "As a son of a farmer, I am particularly concerned about the situation in China's rural areas and the fate of farmers. Needless to say, it's a concern with a strong emotional color. ...... These hundreds of millions of ordinary and great people living on the earth have created our history and, to a large extent, determined our real life and future direction. The kind of eyes that focus on them to look for scabs is a shallow look. Only by politicians and artists, without losing the feeling of ordinary workers, can we grasp the mainstream of the historical process of social life and make the work we are engaged in real value. In my work, there may be criticism, there may be exposure, there may be deploration, but it must not be without tribute. This is also the last time he will go to Beijing to receive the award.

On November 17, 1992, Lu Yao, who was suffering from illness, died. In order to write "Ordinary World", Lu Yao was tired for many years, and after suffering from liver disease, he still insisted on overloading work for more than ten hours a day, and finally, his fingers were almost difficult to extend, and he had to use a hot water bottle to continue writing. When writing the second part, the doctor concluded that he had reached the advanced stage of liver disease and advised him to rest for a year before working, but Lu Yao did not tell the outside world about his illness and still insisted on writing. In his belief, no matter what, it is necessary to finish the novel before his life is gone, and for this reason, Jia Pingwo wrote in an article commemorating Lu Yao: "He is a father who fell on the road of thirst." Although he died, his works are still read by readers, and his stories are still celebrated. ”

Over time, the influence of Ordinary World among readers has not diminished, on the contrary, showing increasing significance. In 2019, "Ordinary World" was selected into the "New China 70 Years and 70 Novels Collection". As a result, "Ordinary World" is not only a bestseller, but also a long-selling book, thus entering the sequence of classic literature.

"Realism is a spirit"

In the process of preparing for the creation, Lu Yao studied a large number of novels in ancient and modern China and abroad, as well as books on theory, politics, philosophy, economics, history and religion. In addition, we also found some agricultural, commercial, industrial, scientific and technological special works, and collected a large number of intellectual pamphlets, such as fish farming, beekeeping, fertilization, taxation, finance, meteorology, calendar, afforestation, soil transformation, customs, folklore, UFOs (UFOs) and so on. On the other hand, in order to fully understand what happened in Chinese society between 1975 and 1985, Lu Yao found the People's Daily, Guangming Daily, and local newspapers from the decade to read page by page. With such full preparation, "Ordinary World" constructs the background of the era in which the story takes place with an almost rigorous scientific attitude, and the author's analysis and narrative are very real and reliable. When unfolding the trajectory of the fate of the two brothers Sun Shaoan and Sun Shaoping, whether it is rural life or urban life, the author's description is extremely delicate and clear, and every detail is solid and solid, which can withstand the scrutiny of readers.

In Morning Begins at Noon, Lu Yao writes: "These decades were a period of great transformation in Chinese society, filled with a dense and significant period of historical events, which were interlocked and mutually causal, and it is impossible for this work to attempt to structure it in a certain degree of chronicle style to avoid them. My basic idea is to observe the state of existence and life in this social context (or conditions) with historical and artistic eyes. The attitude to political events in some specific historical contexts that will be expressed in the work seems to be the attitude of the author, but in fact, it should basically be the attitude of the characters under that historical condition, and the author should stand on the height of history and truly embody the function of the 'clerk' that Balzac called. ”

It is precisely for this reason that "Ordinary World" is also an epic history of social history, political history and changes in rural social customs, with strong knowledge. The reader is not only reading stories and fate, but also going back to the 1980s, to understand the utensils and objects used by people in that period, to observe their dressing habits, ways of speaking, labor scenes, etc., and even specific ways of working, such as coal mining and working in the fields, the author has a very detailed description. The reader seems to be in that real scene, working with the characters in the book and experiencing various events together. Such an encyclopedic writing gives the reader an "immersive" experience that is highly resonant and leads to a true understanding of the characters and times.

In the context of the popularity of modernist literary thought at that time, Lu Yao was very courageous in choosing the classical realist method to create, which was directly related to his creative purpose and values. He believes: "The expression of realism in literature is not just a matter of creative methods, but mainly a spirit. "In Lu Yao's concept, 'Ordinary World' is a literary work that praises ordinary laborers and ordinary people, and Sun Shao'an, Sun Shaoping, and their friends and relatives around them are the most ordinary characters in life, they face various difficulties, but they are not overwhelmed by difficulties and sufferings, but transform them into a spiritual driving force for moving forward." The greatest ingenuity of a writer should be to be able to deduce huge content that makes people tremble in the daily small pieces of life. "What Lu Yao wants to write is the strong will and tenacious spirit of struggle of ordinary people under difficult survival conditions, which is the overall value tendency and aesthetic orientation of "Ordinary World". There is no doubt that the realist way of writing is the best way to present such a literary concept.

Yang Qingxiang believes that Lu Yao's long essay "Morning Begins at Noon" is like a defense for "Ordinary World". "Life and subject matter determine the expressive approach I should adopt. I can't experiment with some kind of new literature and techniques with works of this scale and the life they represent, that would be irresponsible risks. ...... This work of mine is not written for some experts, but for a wide range of ordinary readers. The work may be treated coldly after publication, but it does not matter. The momentary boom may not be durable, and I hope it can stand the scrutiny of history. Obviously, Lu Yao's words are defending why he should use realism to write, and once again affirming his writing purpose.

The understanding of life and human nature is transcendent and universal

The evaluation of "Ordinary World" has long been divided, on the one hand, it has won long-term and wide recognition from readers, on the other hand, its artistic value has long been not optimistic about researchers. This has a lot to do with the alienation of Lu Yao and the literary circles of the 1980s, and it is also related to the different demands of professional readers and ordinary readers. Some professional readers think that "Ordinary World" is "like a plate of cherries, half ripe and half green", that its language art, storyline, etc. are not mature enough, and these problems are just not taken seriously by ordinary readers, and such an easy language and flat way of telling directly eliminates the reading barrier.

Lu Yao's readership is very broad, mostly ordinary young students, ordinary workers from all walks of life and people who are constantly struggling to change their destiny, some later become successful entrepreneurs, and some later become well-known writers.

"Man, no matter where he is, no matter how poor, as long as a fiery heart is there, as long as he can love life, God is equal to him. Only by being a laborer and not taking misfortune as a burden can we be the master of life and experience it with our sincere hearts, after all, life belongs to us only once. This is a sentence from "The Ordinary World" and can also be seen as the core idea of the entire novel. What Lu Yao praises and writes is the inner spiritual quality of man, the most essential existence of man as a human being. No matter what era, class, and situation you are in, the ultimate determination of the value of your life is not your wealth or success, but whether you have experienced it with a "sincere heart" and whether you have "loved life", so that you can ultimately be the master of life. From this sentence, we can experience equality, dignity, love, and the value of life, which goes beyond the era written by Lu Yao, even beyond national borders, and applies to the entire human life. In this sense alone, "The Ordinary World" has acquired transcendent power and has become part of the classic literature in the history of world literature.

Lu Yao attaches great importance to the moral image of the characters, Sun Shaoan and Sun Shaoping are touching not only in their suffering and fate, but also in the persistence and perfection of their own personality, Tian Fujun's pursuit of career is not only for power, but also has a strong sense of family and country and responsibility, the common characteristics of these characters lie in those personality factors that conform to traditional ethical standards, which not only easily arouse the resonance of the majority of readers, but also contain inspirational functions that urge people to forge ahead.

A reader said: "The Sun Shaoping in my heart is a 'exquisite' person, who is still meticulous about his spiritual world in ordinary life situations. This is a "living individual", a "round figure", and the difference between Sun Shaoping and the characters portrayed in many previous literary works is that he has clear personal goals. He may not be as fully dedicated to the collective as Liang Shengbao, but as an individual, he is written fully and deeply. "Individuality" does not affect the height and purity of ideals, and even, in a sense, his existence proves precisely the overlapping relationship between "individual" and "collective". A pure individual can represent the most powerful force within a collective and an era, but it can promote the healthy development of the nation and cultivate a sound human nature.

On December 18, 2018, at the conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up, Lu Yao won the honorary title of "Reform Pioneer". Today, one of the reasons for the long sale of "Ordinary World" is that the author has a very accurate and profound grasp of the impact of reform and opening up on China's reality. Lu Yao wrote in a letter to the critic Yan Gang: "Contemporary mainland society is like a new three-dimensional intersection bridge in Beijing, layered and complex. In the rural and urban 'intersection zone', it can be said that it is a three-dimensional cross bridge on the three-dimensional cross bridge. ...... With the changes and development of the city and the countryside itself, the impact of urban life on rural life, the impact of rural life on urban life, the pursuit tendency of urbanization of rural life; the conflict between modern lifestyles and ancient ways of life, civilization and backwardness, the conflict between modern ideology and traditional moral concepts, etc., constitute some extremely important aspects of contemporary life. All these contradictions are manifested in the political, economic, cultural, ideological, spiritual and moral aspects of our society, and they are so prominent and complex. ”

"Urban-rural intersection" and "urban-rural conflict" – It can be said that Lu Yao keenly grasped the core contradiction of Chinese society in the process of reform and opening up, and the fate of ordinary Chinese people in this contradiction. As the scholar Xie Zhixi said: "'The Ordinary World' can be read as a literary chronicle of reform and opening up. At the same time, its understanding of life and human nature is transcendent and universal, which will make "Ordinary World" pass on as a literary classic from generation to generation.

(Guangming Daily, 7.28 Liang Hong)

Source: Digest