The Power of Struggle: Ordinary Warmth- Teacher-Student Dialogue Hit Drama "The World of Man"

Chongqing, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Recently, the opening year drama "The World of Man" is being broadcast on CCTV, and this drama is adapted from the novel of the same name by writer Liang Xiaosheng, which tells the changing times, family ethics and brotherhood in China for half a century from the perspective of an ordinary family in the north. In the play, the life of the five members of the Zhou family is microcosmed, showing the endless struggle experience of ordinary people in the past 50 years and the fireworks of the most kind and loving people. Teachers and students of Southwest University began a dialogue on this issue.

Stills from "The World"

Grasp the handle of the sword of suffering and cut through the thorns along the way

Graduate student Ye Can: "I want to tell a story to young people and let them know what China was like in the past, which will help them in their lives." Liang Xiaosheng, the author of the novel of the same name in "The World of Man", once explained his original intention. As a history of the struggles of the fathers, how do you view the arduous struggle revealed in "The World of Man"?

Doctoral supervisor Dong Xiaoyu: First of all, the struggle in "The World of Man" is not only the struggle of the fathers, but also the struggle of everyone in the times. Going up to the mountains and going to the countryside, the construction of the third line, the return of intellectuals to the city, the restoration of the college entrance examination, going abroad, going to the sea, going to the cave, the reform of state-owned enterprises, the layoff of workers, self-employment, shantytown transformation... All this is not only the resonance of fate where risks and opportunities coexist, but also the glory and dream in the great historical process.

Starting from the low-level figures living in that turbulent era, Liang Xiaosheng told the vicissitudes of half a century and painted a picture of perseverance and vitality. As the youngest son of the Zhou family, Zhou Bingkun was protected by his parents and siblings when he was young, and the hardships in his life came like a tidal wave when he grew up. His sister was arrested, his mother was mentally traumatized and sick in bed, and he had to take care of his paralyzed mother and his sister's little niece who was fostered at home. The adopted son Zhou Nan had a hard time studying in the United States, and he was about to get ahead, but he was shot and died young, and the bad news came, and Zhou Bingkun and his wife were saddened. After clashing with Luo Shibin and killing the other party by mistake, Zhou Bingkun was arrested and imprisoned, and wept during the trial: "My eldest son just died, my daughter-in-law did not have a job, and there is a young son at home. But, "Do you feel bitter?" Zhou Bingkun asked himself, "I chewed and swallowed." "Suffering is like a knife, but if you hold the hilt of the sword, you can cut through thorns. The small people represented by Zhou Bingkun, their lives may not be vigorous and earth-shattering, but the psychological resilience allows life to be extended in continuous struggle.

Secondly, the struggle of "The World of Man" is also the struggle of Liang Xiaosheng. Liang Xiaosheng came from a poor working-class family, in the second line of the family, with two younger brothers and a younger sister below, and the family lived for many years in a dark, cellar-like hut. In his essay collection "Awakening on Earth", he described childhood as follows: "The four walls and the ceiling drop at least three pounds of earth every day, and the stove must fly at least four or two dust into the narrow space every day." But reading changed his destiny. During his time in the mountains and the countryside, Liang Xiaosheng became a soldier of the Corps, and because he loved to read and study, he was recommended by the Corps to study at Fudan University. After graduating, Liang Xiaosheng first worked as a literary editor at the Beijing Film Studio, and was later transferred to the China Children's Film Studio as the deputy director of the Arts Committee. In 2002, Liang Xiaosheng became a professor in the Department of Chinese of Beijing Language and Culture University, lecturing on "Literary Writing and Appreciation", and in 2019, Liang Xiaosheng won the 10th Mao Dun Literature Award for "The World of Man". Reading not only changed liang Xiaosheng's life trajectory, but also allowed him to find a literary career that he was willing to fight for all his life.

Plant the seeds of reading and accumulate spiritual strength

Graduate student Ye Can: Zhou Bingkun, the third oldest of the Zhou family, had mediocre grades, entered the factory as a worker before graduating from junior high school, and was called "the most unproductive old knot" by his neighbors, but later, he had independent thoughts and consciousness through reading, and slowly changed his destiny. May I ask, what do you think of this transformation of his?

Doctoral supervisor Dong Xiaoyu: Zhou Bingyi, the eldest of the Zhou family, was admitted to Peking University and had a smooth career after graduation; the second oldest Zhou Rong also graduated from Peking University, first becoming a young associate professor at a key university in his hometown, and then living in France for more than ten years. Only the old three Weeks Bingyi, who did not graduate from junior high school, became a small worker in a soy sauce factory, living with a meager salary. Fortunately, Zhou Bingkun has a "seed of reading" in his head, which was planted in the childhood of listening to his brothers and sisters talk about literature, and then took root in the hungry reading after participating in the work, and blossomed into a tough and simple flower. From planning wonderful programs with his own literary talents in the factory's literary and artistic performances, to writing hard until late at night in order to write a satisfactory manuscript; from a manual worker to a newspaper editor with a pen in his hand, and later became the director of the editorial department. Life was branded with poverty, he swallowed the suffering caused by poverty, and books became his greatest comfort and brought Zhou Bingkun a turnaround in work. Rich knowledge reserves and solid writing skills, let him step through a thousand heavy waves, no fear of white hair.

This change also occurred in his co-workers' group. As soon as Tang Xiangyang had time, he took out the mathematical, physical and chemical textbooks to study seriously, and Lü Chuan always pushed away the party and seized the time to improve himself, and eventually they were all admitted to the university, becoming the company's deputy manager and deputy division-level cadres respectively, flipping their own destiny. As the writer Victor Hugo put it, "Books are this tool for transforming the soul." What humanity needs is enlightening nourishment. Reading, on the other hand, is precisely this nourishment. "The three children of the Zhou family, the eldest and the second, realized the importance of reading from the beginning, so they walked out of the slum early and constantly pursued and realized their own life value." Although the old third Zhou Bingkun has taken a detour, he uses reading as nourishment, constantly broadens his horizons, and actively changes his destiny. "When you think it's too late, it's the earliest." It's never too late to start reading, it will give you a spiritual strength to salvage yourself when you are hit by life.

There is always a wind and cold in the world, and the wind and cool are wrapped in the beloved

Graduate student Ye Can: "The World of Man" starts from home, in the turbulent times, anchors the small lonely boat of the individual, while family, friendship, love, and neighborhood love are like lighthouses, guiding the direction of the lonely boat to go home. How do you understand this fireworks in the world?

Doctoral supervisor Dong Xiaoyu: "In the mortal world, there will be fireworks. "'The World of Man' shows an ordinary world, but it is full of fireworks, rich and warm. No matter where they are, the Zhou brothers and sisters are always concerned about this family, even if there are all kinds of contradictions, but the flesh and blood affection can always form a centripetal force, deep and strong. Different from his brother and sister, the old third Zhou Bingkun is a typical ordinary person, he has experienced wind and rain and social changes but has not wavered, and he still laughs at life when he encounters a wall again and again, and warms his family and the audience with a gentle and solid personality force. He stayed at home to accompany his mother, patiently reading letters to his illiterate mother; he did not seek vanity, even if the eldest brother was the son-in-law of the governor, he never bothered the sister-in-law to help; he was more responsible for men, after his mother was bedridden with a sudden cerebral thrombosis, afraid of affecting the work of his brother and sister, he undertook it with all his might, and did not complain about half a minute of hard work. "No matter how times and environments change, kindness and bravery are always the simplest and most important qualities." Zhou Bingkun can share the blessings and difficulties with Fa Xiao, and will also have compassion for Zheng Juan, who is in difficulty in life, and give a long-term help, so when Zhou's mother was sick in bed, his friends took turns with his family to help, and Zheng Juan resolutely lived in the Zhou family, helping to take care of the elderly and children day and night, and picking up the burden of life for Zhou Bingkun. "There is always a cool wind in the world, but the cool wind is wrapped in the warmth of human nature and the fireworks of life." It is precisely because of this most loving and kind human fireworks that ordinary life will become unique and sweet.

Li Jingze, vice chairman of the China Writers Association, said: "'The World of Man' powerfully portrays the changes of the times, especially the characters in the changes of the times, and they repeatedly ask us: What can people be like? What should people look like? "In the torrent of fate under the mud and sand, there are no real winners, but there is the strength of struggle and ordinary warmth.

Source: Xinhua News Agency