According to the news of China Writers Network on February 7, the famous writer Zhang Jie died of illness in the United States on January 21, 2022.
Zhang Jie (1937-2022), originally from Fushun, Liaoning, was born in Beijing. He graduated from the Department of Planning and Statistics of Chinese University in 1960 and worked in the Ministry of First Machinery Industry. During the Cultural Revolution, he was sent to the "May Seventh" cadre school and returned to work in his original organ in Beijing in 1972.
He began his literary creation in 1978, joined the China Writers Association in 1979, transferred to the Beijing Film Studio in 1980, and later became a professional writer of the Beijing Branch of the China Writers Association and the chairman of the Beijing Writers Association. He was a member of the 4th China Writers Association, a member of the 5th and 6th Plenary Committees, and an honorary member of the 7th.
Zhang Jie is an important representative writer of Chinese literature in the new era, and joined the Chinese Writers Association in 1979. His works such as "Heavy Wings", "Wordless", "Love, Cannot Be Forgotten", "Emerald", "Children from the Forest" and so on have a wide range of influences.
In 1982, he won the second Mao Dun Literature Award for "Heavy Wings", and in 2005, he won the sixth Mao Dun Literature Award for "No Words". The Mao Dun Literature Award is one of the highest honors in Chinese literature, and the difficulty of winning is very high. The award has been awarded 10 times in the 40 years since its inception, and more than 40 novels have been awarded. Zhang Jie is also the only writer to have won the Mao Dun Literature Prize twice so far.
On September 23, 2019, "Heavy Wings" was selected into the "New China 70 Years and 70 Novels Collection". He has won the National Outstanding Novella Award and the National Outstanding Short Story Award for many times. Some of his works have been translated into many languages and have won the Order of the Italian Knights and the German, Austrian, Dutch and other multi-national literary awards.
Tie Ning, chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and chairman of the China Writers Association, and Zhang Hongsen, secretary of the party leading group and vice chairman of the China Writers Association, respectively expressed deep condolences for Zhang Jie's death and expressed deep condolences to Zhang Jie's relatives. In its condolence telegram, the Chinese Writers Association expressed its high respect for Zhang Jie's outstanding contributions to contemporary Chinese literature.
In 2013, Zhang Jie said in an interview: My first novel, "A Child from the Forest", Mr. Luo Binji gave a high evaluation when he saw it, and encouraged me to submit to the "People's Literature" magazine, but was rejected by Ms. Wang Fu of the society. So I died as a writer and didn't want to try to run for other magazines. And Mr. Luo Binji repeatedly made me believe in his judgment, saying that it was definitely a good novel, and asked me to switch to Beijing Literature magazine again. The novel was appreciated by Teacher Fu Yawen, who put the novel in the headline of the journal, and after the novel was published, she won the first National Short Story Award held by the China Writers Association. And then she often encouraged my work, we often visited each other's homes, and she was one of the people who sympathized with and supported me when I was under great political pressure for Heavy Wings. Later, the rebellious "Love, Cannot Be Forgotten" that was criticized by some critics at that time was also published in the Beijing Literature magazine. Beijing Literature is the birthplace of many writers in Beijing.
Zhang Jie said: I think the value of literature has little to do with the amount of books that are read, and many good works in the world have not been read much so far, such as Borges, whom I like very much, and I have said that Borges is a fine product and Márquez is a food stall. When the People's Literature Publishing House published my anthology last year, I deleted "Love, Cannot Be Forgotten" and three short stories that won the National Outstanding Short Story Award, and did not include them in my collection. I don't think they are up to the level of literature, and although I am not from a literary background, my respect for literature cannot be questioned.
Zhang Jie: The expression of the liver and intestines in our time
Text | Zhang Yue
In her later years, Zhang Jie began to dispose of her belongings one at a time, and her friends would receive such invitations: You come and see, is there anything you can use? I take what I like, and I take care of the rest. Her clothes, jewelry, daily necessities, ornaments, souvenirs, books, picture books, paintings... I moved from her house to a painting that had been hung in the living room for decades, and I also pulled away the big cake sent to her birthday by the Writers Association, and carried it directly to the stage for colleagues of all kinds of work to eat.
She also processed and destroyed material from various historical periods, including letters, diaries, photographs and some manuscripts, and I witnessed her daughter protesting to her: "You can't do this!" If one day our children want to see what grandma looks like, they can't have a single photo. "In the end she will still leave some behind, right?"
I also asked her, "Okay, why is this so painful?" She said: "I don't want to trouble others all my life, and I hope that after death, I will not have any trouble, and I can arrange things to settle in advance." As for why words and photos are not willing to be preserved, she means that after death, she does not want to be remembered, discussed, guessed, studied, and does not want anyone to remember her again, but only to disappear from this world completely! So, at the moment I am writing this article nervously, should I write it?
I still remember that many years ago, in the first conversation, she said to me: "I have seen the articles you wrote and the shows you did, and I liked it, we can chat and be friends, but I will not accept your interview." So I never asked to interview her, and although I had this desire, I even wrote a complete outline of the interview, but never showed it. As the days went on, I trusted and understood more, everyone had no worries, the conversation often involved privacy, including some little-known storms in the literary world, and I consciously snuffed out my shrewdness as a journalist and the good memory of the host, so should I write about her now?
I am a student of literature, so I will not confuse the characters of the novel with the author, but in the childhood of Wu Wei in the novel "Wordless", the humble two-year-old girl at the corner of the staircase, I firmly believe that she has zhang Jie's shadow. In the chaos of war, in the flood, in the fire, in the extreme poverty and turbulence, Zhang Jie and her mother depended on each other for their lives, humble and tenacious growth, she was bound to grow into a strong woman, otherwise she would have died long ago. She is independent, self-respecting, not afraid of hardship and suffering, can cover her daughter, cover her mother, cover her lover... She doesn't spend other people's money, she doesn't owe other people's affection, and she doesn't ask for help from others, and this "other person" includes her relatives. If anyone had given her the slightest help or kindness, she would have been flattered to reciprocate. She seems to be strong, but in fact she is fragile, and her desperate efforts are only because of her lack of inner security, she is tough and difficult to deal with on the surface, but in fact, it is only because she does not understand human feelings and sophistication...
At the age of almost 60, she renovated the house, and if she was willing to accept help, some people were willing to work, but she was naturally unacceptable, from the age of two, she could not. She broke her leg, dragged her broken leg up to the windowsill, painted and cleaned, and shouted into the empty room: "What else can you do with me?" "Is this calling out to fate? What else can fate do to you? If you opened yourself up, what else could you do? You live proudly, and even if a thousand people want to spoil you, you can only work hard all your life!
Did Heaven favor her or torture her? Let such a stubborn woman be born with a good look, Zhang Jie is more beautiful in middle age, the more beautiful she is, the style is elegant, and the handsome and foreign atmosphere is rare in Chinese women of the same age.
An excerpt from Zhang Jie's novel "No Words"
Outsiders saw him as bold and enthusiastic, and only his wife and daughter knew how cold and rough he was. It is precisely in this way that Gu Qiushui freely sows and cultivates the hatred, awe and dependence on men under the deep sowing and cultivation of Wu Wei's soul, and this hatred, awe and dependence thrive under the irrigation of her repeated failures in life. ”
This is a novel, but why is Zhang Jie's childhood not like this? When a girl is unfortunate enough to have such a father, the girl will look for such a man for the rest of her life: handsome, talented, brave and righteous, cold and arrogant... She wants to find that familiar taste, to conquer this man, to be hurt by this man, and they will love deeply and fight all over the body, which is called replication in psychology, and it is also called compensation. Therefore, when she wrote "Love, It Cannot Be Forgotten", she will cry blood. And her realistic version of the love story, if it happens today, is enough to burst the WeChat circle of friends.
She often told me that she didn't like "Love, You Can't Forget", although so many people liked it, it was just a self-mistaken work, she told me not to be obsessed with that tune, if you can't meet a man who is really good to you, I would rather not get married, because marriage can become a huge harm:
"You don't have to be afraid of loneliness, you will be lonely if you don't get married, you don't have to be afraid of being old and no one to take care of you." If you're old and need help, at least I can help you! This again shows her sincere and stupid side, saying that she is nearly thirty years older than me, I am old, what does she take care of me?
I have been wondering why Zhang Jie's creative power has been flourishing for a long time. I think about it because of her: incompetent! In the face of real life, she is extremely incompetent. Not only does she not deal with the trivialities of daily life, but also does not deal with people, everyone thinks she is powerful, her attitude is rejected, I sometimes listen to her answer the phone to discuss things with people, and I will laugh out loud next to her: "You will only talk like this?" Changing the tone of voice is much better! ”
She shrugged in confusion. If she expressed her affection, it looked like this: "I was in Italy, and I bought you a good pair of leather shoes, but when I came back and thought about it, I'm afraid that the number is wrong, and you should not be able to wear it." Or something like this: "I'm in the U.S. and I want to buy you a particularly good set of skin care products, and I went to buy them, but I didn't have the money, and I lost the money." ”
That pair of unreliable shoes, I am still in the shoe cabinet, can not wear, throw and reluctant, as for skin care products, I should have been smeared on the face.
She not only repeatedly lost money, but also repeatedly lost her credit card; if she lost it, she went to the bank to report the loss of the replacement card, and apologized to the bank with trepidation: "I'm so sorry!" I'm so confused that I'm in trouble for you! After a week, the bank called her: "Ms. Zhang Jie, your credit card has been replaced, you can come and get it." ”
Later, she simply gave her various documents and key deposits to the neighbors, and the neighbors never made trouble after taking over, fortunately she had a good neighbor.
In an era when human beings are becoming more and more shrewd, Zhang Jie seems to be becoming more and more stupid. In fact, she was very stupid since she was young. Her upbringing was too simple and painful, and such a person would certainly not be shrewd. When you are young, you are aggressive, the more stupid you are, the more aggressive you are, and you behave very strongly; when you are old, you have no aggression, and you know that you are stupid, so you simply close yourself off and don't deal with the world. Art has always been the product of loneliness, the result of her own dialogue with herself, she has loved to ask the world some strange questions since she was young, and after being hit back by life again and again, her nose is blue and her face is swollen, and she can only ask herself. These self-talk are her enduring creative vitality.
I thought that the real beginning of her creation was "The Man Who Hurt Me The Most In the World Went."" This is a farewell to warmth, and her farewell to warmth is the beginning of true self-questioning and self-tearing. The long story "No Words" is the most fierce, painful, and worthy of her life. In the past hundred years, Chinese men and women have experienced how to shape and shape each other in this cultural soil. The author kneels before fate, tearing apart his scarred body over and over again, whipping his own soul, such bravery and sincerity, this is a work that you cannot ignore.
It is an epic of human nature, a living case of psychology, a living case of sociology, and even a good footnote to political science, and it is a work that all psychologists, sociopoliticians, and readers who are concerned with human nature should read carefully.
Zhang Jie, who survived from "Wordless", his subsequent works are whether it is the short story "Dreaming when the Benefits Become Nothing", "Listening to the Comet Glide Silently", "The Dust of the Rose", "Four Chimneys"... Or the long "Knowing Presence" and "The Soul is Used to Wander", it is no longer possible to see what country and what era she is writing about, she has left the usual writing framework and entered an increasingly deep place of human nature, expressing sorrow and distance. I would like to summarize all her works at this stage in the name of one of her essays: "The Broken Expression of Our Time", and her short story "A Life Is Too Long", which I regard as her sealed work, she writes of an old lone wolf, wandering alone in the alpine wilderness, the old wolf sees everything in the world but is full of confusion.
It encounters an injured hunter who can easily bite the other person and eat a full meal, but it does not, it pushes the shotgun to the hunter's hand and waits quietly for the hunter to kill himself.
An excerpt from Zhang Jie's novel "Life is Too Long"
"Farewell, life! Not only in this life, but also in the next life, in the next life. Never, never again... I want to end my life when I am still competent, not when I am old and weak.
I finally glanced at the world I had lived in, remembering the kind of ignorance that I had when I was born, and the feelings and expectations that I had for coming to this world...
After that, my soul flew towards another world with the comfort and happiness that I had never received in my life, without a trace of sadness, lightly..."
When I read this novel, I was on a business trip, and I didn't even dare to lift my head, for fear that the tears that kept pouring out would scare my colleagues! I was also struck by the precision and sharpness of her words, and thought of how many times she had sighed at me: "How difficult it is to narrow the distance between feeling and expression as much as possible!" Whether Zhang Jie writes it again in the future, I regard "A Life Is Too Long" as her last work, a farewell work.
Zhang Jie's oil painting
She really stopped writing, she expressed ——— painting in a more intimate way. She is not like others, the merit of the year Gao Dexun on the painting of ink freehand, she painted oil paintings, from the 60s to paint, no teacher, so that art critics are surprised. Her paintings are often desolate and old, even depressed, such as: a flower that has failed, and it is a lonely flower, I said: "What is this for?" Weird! "But I like the leopard she painted, a female leopard in the sunset, sharp and mysterious and beautiful, standing alone in the empty world." She painted me a picture of a Spanish streetscape, a sunny sun, a small house of color, bright and gorgeous, which was not her style, and she certainly didn't like it, just to take care of my mood.
The goodbye has always been continuous, slow, all-round goodbye. Her house was getting emptyer, less and less stuff, and life was getting simpler. She has experienced many honors and humiliations in her life, she has won many awards, seen a lot of the world, caused a lot of trouble, and many big chinese and foreign figures are her readers and fans. In the past, we would make appointments to go to some good restaurants for a meal; later, even this was waived, and every time we met, I went to the German bakery to buy two breads, and she cooked pumpkin soup at home, although she made a good Western food, but the bread and soup were enough! She said: "I am so tired, in this life, I have to do everything my best, I am really tired." ”
We poured wine, had a drink, and talked for an evening. She continued to say goodbye, to everything, this time to her homeland. In 2013, she finally decided to immigrate to the United States, in fact, she could have had American status long ago, but she gave up because she did not want to cause trouble for her daughter's family living in the United States. Although she was ready to die alone, she ultimately failed to do so. The air and environment continue to deteriorate, so that her asthma patients continue to get sick, at the urging of her daughter's family, she had to leave, she sold the house in Beijing, divided all the things, when I went to send her, I saw her luggage, is a supermarket shopping cloth bag, bread in a few old porcelain plates porcelain bowls, said that it has been used for a long time, and an old hat worn for many years, she carried these old things, and left.
It is said that her little apartment is on the edge of Columbia University and is quiet. She said: "If I die, you don't have to feel sad, I am not afraid of death!" ”
Of course I understand, my friend! I'm just sorry for your sadness. Every time I see a life that has been destroyed at an early age, and I have struggled all my life in pain and still struggle to surpass myself and squeeze myself, I will be very sad! I feel sad about the many broken expressions of the liver and intestines in this era! And among them, there is also my expression. I've been worried about you, not loneliness, not sickness, not death, I'm just worried that you can't reconcile: with life, with the world, with God! I just want you to be "happy", a very inaccurate and frivolous word, but I can't find any other word, maybe you have reconciled and I don't know! Maybe I just thought I understood you and I didn't.
I can't help you, my friend! I can only offer my deep blessings!
Originally published: Journal of Literature, August 6, 2015
Edit | Chen Tong
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