As a literary master, Ma Zhitu has experienced legends and traveled extensively. In his recently released collection of reminiscent essays, "That Era, That Kind of Person", the 108-year-old writer recalled more than 20 literary masters who had passed away, such as Lu Xun, Ba Jin, Bingxin, Xia Yan, Cao Yu, Wang Zengqi, etc., leaving them with wonderful portraits of thick or light.
Original author | Horse knows the way
Excerpts | Ho An Ann
"That Era, That Kind of Person", by Ma Zhitu, People's Publishing House, January 2022 edition
See Lu Xun
As for Lu Xun, I have seen it, and I say that I have seen it, not that I have seen it. Before his death, a great literary hero like Lu Xun was just a middle school student, how could I have met him? But I did see him, and twice, I'll never forget. In 1932, I went to school at the High School attached to Peking University, and the principal of that school was a professor who had returned from studying in France, advocating freedom, equality, and fraternity, so the democratic atmosphere was relatively strong, and there were many students with progressive ideas, and there was a classmate named Zhang What in the same class. One day he asked me out for a lecture, and I asked him whose lecture he was, and he said he'd know it. We arrived at the large playground of Normal University outside the Peace Gate. He told me that it was a secret assembly, and that it was mainly to listen to Lu Xun's speeches. I was secretly notified to listen to Lu Xun's speech, and I was also considered a progressive, and I was very happy and a little proud.
After a while, I saw a small and thinner half-old man on the table, no one introduced, no polite words, and began to speak. Oh, this is Lu Xun! What Lu Xun said, I can't hear his tone clearly, I don't seem to want to hear it clearly, I can see Lu Xun for the first time, and it is enough to see Lu Xun on this occasion. After a while, Lu Xun finished speaking, and suddenly he got off the table and disappeared without a trace. I don't even know when he finished speaking. The crowd dispersed, and we went back to Pingda High School.
On the way, Mr. Zhang told me in detail about Lu Xun's situation. He said that Lu Xun was China's greatest literary scholar, a leading figure in China's new culture, and sympathetic to the Chinese revolution. The reactionaries were particularly jealous of him, so this time he secretly went to Beiping to give a speech, and not many people knew about it, so you should not tell others. I said, "I read Lu Xun's Diary of a Madman in junior high school and admired him. You asked me to go and let me see Lu Xun, and I was very happy. "Since then, I have been part of their progressive elements.
Lu Xun
First acquaintance with Wang Zengqi
Wang Zengqi and I met at Southwest United University in Kunming, which was during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. He and I are both students of the Chinese Department. He was one year older than me. Once, Chinese tied out a notice, that kind of calligraphy with a unique flavor caught the attention of me, a calligrapher who loved calligraphy. I asked my classmates, who wrote this? My classmate told me that Wang Zengqi wrote it. Who is Wang Zengqi? The classmate replied that he was a talent in our department. He wrote well, and even more well wrote prose, which was appreciated by Professors Zhu Ziqing and Shen Congwen, and was a disciple of Shen Congwen. This was the first time I knew of Wang Zengqi as a classmate. Later, because the Southwest United University implemented a credit system, although he and I were of different grades, we simultaneously chose Mr. Shen Congwen's literary creation class and Mr. Wen Yiduo's "Chu Ci" and "Tang Poetry" courses, so we met in class. But the intersection is as light as water, and there is not much contact.
At that time, I had read his writings and the essays he published, and I thought they were all outstanding. His prose is light and elegant, and it is very interesting to read. Artistically, very distinctive. I also heard Shen Congwen say that his own prose could not catch up with Wang Zengqi, and I also heard that Wang Zengqi wrote a paper for people to catch a knife (at that time, he used to submit a paper or work as a final examination paper), and handed it to Mr. Wen Yiduo, who read it and said that this paper was better than Wang Zengqi's paper. There is such a thing, which shows that he is also appreciated by Mr. Wen.
We knew each other at the time, but I didn't want to associate with him because he was a dashing talent. I respect him as a talented man in our Chinese department, and artistically I also appreciate his prose, but I do not appreciate the tendency of his prose to deviate from the reality of the War of Resistance, especially the dashing life of some of their talents, that is, sleeping lazily, making tea houses, playing bridge, smoking and drinking, reading papers, poetry and lyrics, and celebrity style. At this time, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, this cynical attitude and dashing life were criticized by the progressive students of the school. Not to mention that they are drunk and dreaming of death, but also do not seek progress politically. I think they have a patriotic and self-motivated spirit, that it is desirable to study the profession seriously, that they are in a middle-of-the-road political state, and that they are the object of our struggle for unity. In fact, they all became involved in the student movement. Wang Zengqi is such an intellectual.
Mr. Wen Yiduo had no choice but to engrave a stamp
Mr. Wen Yiduo is knowledgeable, poetry, calligraphy, painting and printing, all are familiar, plus he studied art in his early years, attacked ancient Chinese in middle age, and was very accomplished in kung fu such as oracle bones, gold stones, and seal carvings. Moreover, in this square inch, his layout and composition are ingenious, and the strength of his knife technique is even more rare.
In the seal engraving, as in his poems, paintings and articles, the rules are rigorous and unbridled, and in the small square inches, he can also see his enthusiastic but not debauched character. As art, this is superior. However, Mr. Wen Yiduo did not intend to engage in this kind of artistic creation, but relied on this sale of money to make up for the financial difficulties, so that his wife's illness could be treated, and the children could eat enough to save the family from the risk of frostbite.
His time could have been spent studying Chinese culture, and he had many well-thoughts that needed to be written, but he couldn't. In order to survive, I had to engage in such a "small handicraft", which is really called Sven sweeping the floor. This can be regarded as a tragedy for the intellectuals in the kuomintang area at that time.
Mr. Wen Yiduo's engraving of the seal was originally a graceful thing, but most of the people who came to ask for engraving were laymen. In that era, people with general knowledge cultivation could not live in a miserable and fearful day, who had spare money to play with style and elegance, and how many square stamps did Mr. Towen Yiduo engrave? Most of the people who come to engrave the seal are those who are rich in money and have heard the name of the master, and want to use the master's exquisite seal to increase their own value. This is bitter to smell Mr. Yiduo. Don't tick it, there is no such extra income, and you hang up the sign, people pay according to the "run routine", it is really "rules and regulations and you do business", can you refuse? Mr. Wen Yiduo knew where these fat-headed people knew what art, but he never hesitated, and each party was meticulously carved. His bitterness was that he did not beg for the dignitaries, but had to beg for those money bags, and he still felt that this was a spiritual humiliation.
Smell a lot
Professor Wu Mi angrily attacked Xiao Xiangguan
Wu Mi is also very researched in Chinese literature, he pays special attention to "Dream of the Red Chamber", attaches great importance to many characters in "Dream of the Red Chamber", and especially values Lin Daiyu, the sister of Lin Daiyu. Not only did he value Sister Lin, but he also thought that all of Lin Daiyu's actions could not be changed and could not be suspected to the point of being sacred, and even Lin Daiyu's room, utensils, and maids must be respected and not insulted, so an interesting thing happened.
On that day, a few classmates and I were "sitting in the teahouse" in Xiaoxiangguan, and we were preparing to eat Hunan vegetables, when we suddenly saw Professor Wu Mi carrying a hand stick and rushed over. When he reached the door, he shouted loudly: "You dare to open a restaurant with the name Xiaoxiangguan, this is an insult to Lin Daiyu, how can it be so!" So he involuntarily ping-ponged with a stick and beat the glass doors and windows to pieces. The owner of this restaurant, surnamed Jiang, listened and did not know what was happening. When I went out, it was Professor Wu Mi, who was fighting for Lin Daiyu there.
He asked Jiang: "Why do you dare to use the name 'Xiaoxiangguan'?" Jiang Mou replied: "We are Hunan people, Xiaoxiang people are also, so we use the name Xiaoxiangguan." Professor Wu was still angry: "Do you know who xiaoxiangguan is in its place?" How did you use this to open a restaurant and insult Lin Daiyu! You must change, change now! The students in the class all laughed, who dared to reason with this famous professor? Jiang Mou also knew that there was no way to reason with this, so he had to respectfully say: "Good, let's change, change it immediately." Professor Wu was relieved, raised his stick and left, and said: "This is too bad, insulting..."
Everyone advised Jiang Mou: "You can change it, Xiaoxiang Hall is the sacred place of Sister Lin." ”
A generation of female talents and essayists Yang Dai
Yang Dai is a famous female writer in the mainland and a female talent in the beautiful scenery of Jiangnan. Born in Gaomen, he graduated from Tsinghua University and is proficient in Chinese and English. He created new dramas very early and became famous in the Shanghai opera scene. She was on a par with her husband, Qian Zhongshu, who was also a famous scholar, in Shanghai. However, she is more famous than her husband Qian Zhongshu, so people do not call her "Yang Dai of Qian Zhongshu", but "Yang Zhongshu of Yang Chong". Later, it was Qian Zhongshu who became a university, published the academic masterpiece "Tan Yilu" and the literary masterpiece "Siege of the City", which became famous throughout the country, and everyone was just named "Yang Dai of Qian Zhongshu", in the end, the husband was more famous than the wife. This used to be a literary story, but it was gradually annihilated.
Qian Zhongshu and Yang Dai both worked at the Institute of Foreign Literature after liberation, and were two pillars for the study of foreign literature. Qian Zhongshu has made great achievements in the study of Chinese and Western literature, and its reputation in the academic circles has risen day by day, so that it has formed a special school of "Qianxue" that is expected by everyone. At this time, although Yang Dai was also engaged in the translation of important foreign literary works, such as Cervantes's Don Quixote, he also had a unique style of quite outstanding prose works. As for the long stories she is also good at, except for three works such as "Bathing", there are no longer long stories. Obviously, she deliberately "hid" in order to highlight Qian Zhongshu, and from this point, she can see her high style and bright festival. A generation of female talents and essayists Yang Dai, I have long admired, but I did not have the opportunity to see the style.
I attended eight national congresses, and I thought I could see this elderly man who was over 100 years old. She said she was ill and could not attend. Soon, nine congresses will be held. If my health is good, I will go to the meeting, and maybe have a chance to kiss the style. However, it was learned in the newspaper that she died on May 25, 2016, at the age of 105. Leave with such a high life, do not regret it. Suddenly, on a whim, I made a casual song, thinking it was a joke.
There are two hundred-year-old writers, and I am still here when Yang Dai is gone.
If it weren't for Yama's dream foot, it would be the little devil who pulled the kidnapper.
Drunk and confused on the way, the registration notice forgot to bring.
The old man should steal the fun, read the code and be happy.