In October 1949, Guan Xinsheng was born in Shanghai. In 1968, he graduated from junior high school and was assigned to Shanghai Aluminum Factory. In 2021, the three-volume "One Hundred Years on the Sea" was published, which was his "summary statement" as a "worker novelist".
The novel is 1 million words, written from 1921 to 2021, and the working life of several generations of samurai jumps on the paper. Behind the fate of individuals and families is the turmoil of Shanghai's near-modernization in the past century, the ups and downs of the Shanghai workers' movement, and the pain and rebirth of Shanghai's industrial transformation.
Becoming a worker, describing a worker, managing a new student to use his whole life. He was succeeded by his daughter Guan Yancao, another author of "A Hundred Years on the Sea". Guan Yancao, who graduated from the Shanghai Theater Academy and has a master's degree in fine arts, has not worked as a worker for a day, but the factory was once the environment in which she lived, about growth, about her understanding of the world.
"The Haipai culture that lacks the fate of workers is incomplete." The father and daughter wanted to use this work to annotate their own words.
From "Worker" to "Centennial Sea"
At that time, it was not changed to highlight the main body of "workers", but now it is changed to "a hundred years on the sea" in order to highlight the vicissitudes of Shanghai in the past century, the hundred years of struggle of the Chinese Communists, and the century-old development of Chinese workers. The focus is on the time span of "one hundred years"
Upper study: Two guan teachers spent 10 years to write a three-volume "Worker", which was published in 2013. After 8 years, the story of the three generations of samurai was once again published under the title of "One Hundred Years on the Sea". What changes have been made from "The Worker" to "One Hundred Years on the Sea"?
Guan Yancao: I will answer first, because I wrote the first volume. The first volume adds a genre that is currently undefined, a new exploration, let's call it a link.
In order to revise the novel, I kept looking up the materials and found a lot of things that I didn't know much about. For example, in my novel, I write about workers going to cafes after work for coffee. Don't think that coffee belongs only to "petty bourgeoisie", Shanghai workers in the 1920s and 1930s, especially tram workers, drank coffee regularly, and there was a workers' café near TilanQiao. I not only introduced this situation in the link, but also took the opportunity to make coffee into the history of Shanghai. Professor Chen Sihe of Fudan University said after reading it that this form is very good.
There are 36 links like this, which help readers understand the century-old history of Shanghai and the characteristics of the city, making the context of the history of the Communist Party of China and the history of the Chinese workers' movement clearer.
Upper Study: Are links in the text or listed separately? Will it affect reading?
Tube Freshman: Placed at the end of the volume listed separately. According to my original idea, it was placed in the text, which could create what the German theater innovator Brecht called the "distancing effect" ——— jump out of the novel from time to time to understand something intellectual. This is very similar to modern people browsing on the Internet, encountering content of interest, you can click into it to see.
We not only hope that readers will read a novel that reflects the centuries-old history of Shanghai workers, but also hope that readers can better understand the city of Shanghai.
Worker punching in (file photo)
Upper study: You give the reader a key, but open it or not, the initiative is in the reader. Are there any other changes?
Guan Xinsheng: The age covered by the novel has also changed. The original first volume was written from 1906 to 1930, and now it is changed from 1921 to 1930, with the emphasis on 1921, which is the year of the birth of the Chinese Communist Party.
The second volume is difficult to write and has more revisions. The second volume deals mainly with the workers, under the strict supervision of the Japanese invaders, how to deal with and fight against them. Modified to increase the turn and tension of dark battles.
The third volume is even more changed, involving changes in themes——— which originally depicted the development history of Shanghai workers, and now focuses on the century-old history of the Communist Party of China. To this end, some plot has been added. For example, the drama created by Wu Dawu was changed into a centennial gift work of the founding of the party; for example, how the Huangpu Riverside changed from an "industrial rust belt" to a "life show belt"; and some landmark buildings of the founding of the party in Shanghai were integrated... There is even the latest "battle" from the fight against the new crown epidemic.
"One Hundred Years on the Sea" is a novel created on the basis of in-depth study of the history of the Chinese communist movement, the history of the Chinese workers' movement, and the history of Shanghai's urban development. Taking the chronicle of major historical events as the meridian and the small figures in the big era as the weft line, this novel praises the shining initial intention of the Chinese Communists in the early days of the founding of the party, praises the great achievements of the communists in the period of liberating all of China and building a new China, expresses the heroic ambition of the Chinese workers in the new period of reform and opening up, projects the grand narrative of the times into the family history of a workers' family, and from the perspective of the workers, shows the glorious course and brilliant achievements of the party in leading the people to carry out revolution, construction, and reform.
By telling the story of Chinese workers and the Chinese Communist Party, and by spreading the voice of the working class, we relive the history of struggle, answer the issues of the times, and guide readers to think about the deep "link" between life ideals and family happiness and national prosperity and national rejuvenation.
Study: When "Worker" was published, Teacher Guan Xinsheng said that the title of the novel "Worker" was irreplaceable, so why was it changed to "One Hundred Years on the Sea"?
Guan Xinsheng: The title of "Worker" was set at the beginning of our creation, and the literary critic Wang Jiren asked me when writing the preface to the novel, "Worker" does not "catch" people, there is no selling point, do you want to change one? I replied "No change". At that time, it was not changed to highlight the main body of "workers", but now it is changed to "a hundred years on the sea" in order to highlight the vicissitudes of Shanghai in the past century, the hundred years of struggle of the Chinese Communists, and the century-old development of Chinese workers. The focus is on the time span of "one hundred years". The new title of "One Hundred Years on the Sea" is more appropriate and focused than the original title.
A story that will only happen in Shanghai
The century-old history of Shanghai is the history of the rise and growth of industrial workers. How to draw wisdom and strength from this period of history, and then carry forward the fine traditions of the Communist Party of China and the fine traditions of Shanghai industrial workers, is a question of the times
Study: "One Hundred Years on the Sea" consists of three volumes, with the titles of "The Light of Heaven", "The Light of the Earth" and "The Light of Man". Can you explain the meaning of "heaven", "earth", "man" and "light" in detail?
"One Hundred Years on the Sea"
Pipe newborn pipe swallow grass
China Workers Publishing House
Guan Xinsheng: Heaven, Earth, and Man constitute the inner meaning of this novel: Chinese workers have a glorious history, but also bear the pressure of the times, always stand up under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and contribute to national development and social progress.
The first volume, "The Light of Heaven" (1921-1930), is a kind of "light that breaks the dawn." This volume begins with Wu Jiagen, a son of a peasant family in northern Jiangsu, who came to Shanghai to find his biological father, and tells the tortuous experience of him successively becoming a dock worker, a yarn factory worker, a ship repair factory technician, and successively getting to know revolutionaries, communists, Kuomintang, national capitalists, and gang figures. In Shanghai Beach, where Chinese and Western cultures meet and fish and dragons are mixed, he gradually awakened and became enlightened from a chaotic rural youth to a vanguard of the working class who charged into the communist ideal.
The second volume, "Light of the Earth" (1931-1949), is the "Light of Blood.". Through the wonderful fate of Wu Boping, an ordinary worker who tightened his life on the factory gear and never stopped turning, this volume reflects the ups and downs of China's large-scale industry from the Republic of China, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression to the eve of the founding of New China, and shows a magnificent picture of the development and growth of the party and the working class.
The third volume, "The Light of Man" (1950-2021), presents the "Light of Humanity." This volume tells that the factory in the new era is obviously no longer a factory in the original sense, and the workers are no longer workers in the traditional sense, in the days of greeting the centenary of the founding of the party, the Wu family has gone forward for generations, not forgetting the original heart, keeping in mind the mission, charging ahead, even in the face of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in the world, the true color of Chinese workers is still shining in the torrent of the new era.
Upper Study: What kind of propositions of the times does "One Hundred Years on the Sea" answer?
Guan Yancao: Answered the question of why Shanghai became the birthplace of the Chinese Communist Party and China's first generation of industrial workers. The century-old history of Shanghai is the history of the rise and growth of industrial workers. How to draw wisdom and strength from this period of history, and then carry forward the fine traditions of the Communist Party of China and the fine traditions of Shanghai industrial workers, is a question of the times.
Study: Reading "A Hundred Years on the Sea" gives a strong impression: this is a story that will only happen in Shanghai. How to make Shanghai the protagonist of the novel instead of the background?
Guan Xinsheng: Shanghai is a heroic city, a revolutionary city. This is the choice of history. The First, Second, and Fourth Congresses of the Communist Party of China were held in Shanghai, and the May Thirtieth Movement and the three armed uprisings of workers took place in Shanghai... These are all doomed to Shanghai's position in the torrent of history.
There are workers in Shanghai, and there are workers in Shenyang, but only when this story and this character——— are written to this extent, this story and this character cannot exist without the specific environment of Shanghai, and the novel is successful. Not only "One Hundred Years on the Sea", but also in many of my short and medium stories, there are many very typical images of Shanghai workers, because I am very familiar with the history of Shanghai, the customs and customs of Shanghai and the factory environment of Shanghai, and I also have the ability to weave Shanghai stories.
The imprint of life in the blood
The lives of workers are changing rapidly and keep pace with the times, especially when you further observe, enter and penetrate into their individual family life outside the factory and the team, you can completely touch the pulse of the times from their bodies
Upper Study: Guan Xinsheng teacher devoted himself to workers' literature and was known as a "worker novelist". Some people think that "there is no scenery in a familiar place", you have worked in a factory for more than 40 years, but your enthusiasm for workers' subjects has not diminished, why are workers and workers' literature so attractive to you?
Guan Xinsheng: The life of workers and workshops touched me and moved me. My debut novel, "Competition", originated from life and was born out of life.
Workers, factories, and industry are both majestic rivers and rivers, but also like an unfathomable well, waiting for writers to approach, approach and excavate. The lives of workers are changing rapidly and keep pace with the times, especially when you further observe, enter and penetrate into their individual family life outside the factory and the team, you can completely touch the pulse of the times from their bodies. As soon as I walked among the workers, I felt an indescribable kindness, like going back to my own home. Workers, crews, factories, machines... These are the imprints of life that melt into my blood.
Who says familiar places don't have wonderful scenery? To borrow Rodin's famous quote: There is no lack of beauty in the world, what is missing is the eye that finds beauty.
Upper study: Teacher Guan Yancao has published youth literature and white-collar novels such as "The Diary of a High School Girl" and "The Double Confessions of Peeping Men and Women". What made you move from a lighthearted best-selling genre to a more historic and heavy worker genre?
Guan Yancao: After graduating from the Shanghai Theater Academy, I went to the Huai Opera Troupe and did not work as a worker. But I have a lot of workers around me, and the workers I know most well are my dad. When I was a child, every weekend, I would go to my father's factory to take a bath and play in the workshop. This subtle effect is important.
When I grew up, I did my own creative work, and there were many opportunities to participate in the symposiums of workers, especially laid-off workers, to understand how they faced job changes and strived to achieve reemployment, which was both successful and unsuccessful; I also saw the steaming scenes of workers discussing literature in the Workers' Cultural Palace. I have always been familiar with the working group.
As I grew older, I was no longer satisfied with writing youth literature and urban life all the time, and writers always had to grow. It just so happened that Dad was going to write a tome of worker novels, which was his dream all along, and I wanted to help Dad realize this dream while also challenging myself.
The image of a worker in a film and television drama
Study: "A Hundred Years on the Sea" uses vivid and legendary brushwork to show the magnificent history of Chinese workers for a hundred years, how do the two deal with the relationship between the macro "big history" and the "small people" at the bottom?
Guan Xinsheng: "Big times" is the background that everyone can't get around, while "little people" have their own wonderful and suffering. We basically follow this creative principle. As Teacher Wang Jiren said: "I have also read other novels spanning a hundred years, and in order to achieve the effect of 'chronicle', almost every character in it has been assigned to participate in a major struggle or several paragraphs, often deliberately suspected, but also regretted being stretched." It is rare that can really take into account the three aspects of history, events, and people and make a deep impression. After reading "A Hundred Years on the Sea", I am inclined to the novel author's way of seeking truth from facts, taking advantage of the strengths and avoiding the shortcomings——— the performance of history is not deliberately complete, the familiar can be written more positively, and the unfamiliar can be written laterally or not. "What Teacher Wang said is exactly what we did.
It can withstand the torture of history
The novel not only has a true description of typical characters, typical events, and typical environments, but also the streets, roads, temples, and even a cup of coffee and an explosion in the novel, almost none of which have no origin, and none of them can be traced back to the source
Shang shu shu: Different from the long-standing historical tradition and stable aesthetic style of local literature, China's industrialization time is only more than 150 years, the advent of workers' literature is relatively short, the development momentum of industrial themes is also weak, and the tradition of "workers' aesthetics" has not yet been established. How do they construct and understand "worker aesthetics"?
Guan Xinsheng: This is a question of comparative theory, not a question of creation.
Workers' literature is always on the way. Yu Dafu's "Spring Breeze Drunken Night", Mao Dun's "Midnight", Xia Yan's "Contractor", Ci'er's "Shanghai Morning"... So many "worker" literary images reflect the different creative concepts of different writers in different era backgrounds. It is time to reflect our time.
Theoretical problems are expected to be solved by theoreticians. "A Hundred Years on the Sea" is a construction and an understanding of our "workers' aesthetics", and all thoughts permeate between the lines. Perhaps it needs to be cracked by critics, because literary creation has always been the forerunner of literary theory. We are willing to be the cornerstone of "workers' aesthetics". We firmly believe that workers will regain their might and return to the center of the stage of social development, and literature on industrial themes will usher in a new spring.
Shang Shu Shu: How do the two of you view the relationship between workers' literature and Shanghai culture? And how to view the relationship between Shanghai culture, red culture and Jiangnan culture? These three cultures are intertwined and embedded in this novel.
Guan Xinsheng: When Professor Chen Sihe commented on "A Hundred Years on the Sea", he had such a passage, which I think can be used to answer this question very well. He said: "This book is about workers, about Shanghai workers, and the writer consciously combines workers' lives with Shanghai cultural customs. There are many related links in the narrative of the novel, such as the history of Shanghai's place names whenever a scene occurs. When the characters in the book drink coffee, there will be a link to the history of coffee entering Shanghai. This is a change in the style of the novel: every character lives in an ordinary scene, but behind every scene there is a story and a history. In fact, it is about the emergence and development of workers' culture and Shanghai culture together. Reading this novel can help you understand the history of Shanghai, and there is a lot of history interspersed with specific stories. For example, the tricycle driver Zang Da bite was killed by foreigners, causing protests from the dock gang; such as the Gu Zhenghong incident. The history of these narratives interspersed with the novel is the history of the Shanghai workers' movement. ”
The workers' uprising is an important part of Shanghai's red culture
"A Hundred Years on the Sea" can withstand the torture of history and can be studied and discussed by experts and scholars who study the history of the workers' movement, the history of the communist movement, and the local history of Shanghai. The novel not only has a true description of typical characters, typical events, and typical environments, but also the streets, roads, temples, and even a cup of coffee and an explosion in the novel, almost none of which have no origin, and none of them can be traced back to the source.
The history of the workers' movement, the history of the communist movement, and the local history of Shanghai are intermingled, infiltrated, and reflected in "A Hundred Years on the Sea", which is the relationship between the Shanghai school culture, the red culture, and the Jiangnan culture——— rely on each other, and life and death depend on each other.
Shanghai culture is a big concept, and workers' culture is an extremely important part of Shanghai culture. The historical position occupied by the workers in Shanghai is destined to be an inseparable and important part of the Culture of the Shanghai School. The Haipai culture, which lacks the fate of the workers, is incomplete.