There has always been a saying that in the special period of ten years, there are only two novels to watch, that is, "Sunny Days" and "Cotai Strip".
When you look at the names of these two novels, you basically know what content is written, with strong characteristics of the times, so it has also been controversial.
The author of these two novels is Haoran, a name that was once full of aura.
So, why can Haoran write such two novels? What kind of person is he?
Haoran's original name was Liang Jinguang, born in 1932 in Jixian County, Hebei Province, a peasant family, his childhood was very unfortunate, when he was 10 years old, his father died of illness, and two years later his mother died, And Haoran had to live with his uncle.
However, although life is very hard, Haoran has a natural affinity for cultural undertakings, usually as long as there is a drama team or folk artists to perform, he will definitely be the first to show, even if the performance has ended, he will also run to the backstage, watching people pack up things, full of endless interest in everything.
Moreover, although Haoran had only attended school for three years, he had never given up reading, always trying his best to find books to read, even if it was an old imperial calendar, he also read it with relish.
It is these preferences and insistence on culture that lay a solid foundation for his future achievements.
In 1946, Jixian County was liberated, Haoran immediately signed up for the People's Liberation Army, and two years later joined the Communist Party, and changed his name from Liang Jinguang to "Haoran", inspiring himself to have a "Haoran righteousness" whether he is a person or a worker!
In 1949, in view of Haoran's excellent work ability and cultural background, the organization sent him to study in a cadre training class. During the training course, Haoran's cultural level has been greatly improved, and he began to engage in literary creation, writing a lot of poetry, essays, novels, newsletters, etc.
Since 1950, Haoran's works have been published in newspapers one after another, such as "Sister Has Progressed", "Magpie Dengzhi", "Spring Silkworm Cocoon", "A Red Skinny Horse" and so on, which have emerged in the literary world.
These works, without exception, have close ties with the countryside and farmers, and they are all Haoran's personal experiences and what they have seen and heard, so they are written very really, and their feelings are also very sincere, which is loved by the majority of readers.
With the continuous maturity of writing and the continuous enrichment of experience, Haoran is no longer satisfied with publishing those short works in newspapers, he wants to create a long work to show the spiritual outlook, ideological changes, life changes, etc. of China's rural areas and peasant groups in this great historical change, and to establish a biography for the peasants!
To this end, Haoran took the opportunity to go to the countryside of Weifang, Shandong Province, to go deep among the farmers and accumulate materials for his own creation.
During that time, Haoran ate and lived and worked with the common people, and when his father and fellow villagers learned of his ideas, they were also very supportive of him, telling him their own stories and encouraging him to write more stories about farmers.
These things made Haoran feel encouraged and even more determined to create this work well!
After Haoran returned to Beijing, he began to devote himself to creation, and after several months, he finally wrote a novel of more than 200,000 words, called "Sunny Days".
When he showed this work to the writer Cui Daoyi, Cui Daoyi also appreciated it and suggested: "200,000 words is too short and comprehensive, and the reader does not seem to be enjoyable enough, so it is necessary to write more." ”
As a result, Haoran went through many cold and hot summers to finally complete the "Sunny Days" trilogy of up to 1.26 million words.
"Sunny Days" takes the Dongshanwu Agricultural Cooperative on the outskirts of Beijing as the creative object, circles the background of the creation in the short period of one month before and after the wheat harvest, and by depicting the outstanding contradictions and conflicts of the society, comprehensively shows the earth-shaking changes in the lives of the vast number of farmers in that era, as well as the great change in thinking, and enthusiastically praises the happy life of the vast number of farmers in the new era.
After the publication of this work, it quickly set off a boom across the country, and even caused quite a stir overseas, with a Singapore consortium that had to invest millions to buy the entire copyright of "Sunny Days".
At that time, this was definitely a huge amount of money, you know, the entire manuscript fee of "Sunny Days" was only 10,000 yuan.
However, Haoran was not moved, saying: "I have enough to eat and drink, not to try this money, and besides, if I want to adapt my works in China in the future, I will have to run to Singapore to buy copyrights from others, so I will not sell." ”
Moreover, even the 10,000 yuan of manuscript fees for "Sunny Days", Haoran did not spend it himself, but paid all the party fees.
In this regard, Haoran frankly said: "My standard for being a human being is not to be ambitious, not to be greedy, not to harm people's hearts. Be kind, kind and upright. ”
In 1999, Hong Kong's Asia Weekly selected the "Top 100 Novels of the Chinese 20th Century", and Chinese mainland only two novels from 1949 to 1976 were selected, namely Haoran's "Sunny Days" and Wang Meng's "A Young Man from the Organization Department".
In 2019, "Sunny Days" was selected into the "New China 70 Years and 70 Novels Collection".
In the 1970s, Haoran began to create another important work: "The Golden Light Avenue", which depicts the joys and sorrows of people in the tide of socialist transformation in a village called Fangcaodi in Jidong, shaping a series of characters with distinct personalities such as Gao Daquan, Zhang Jinfa, Lu Ruifen and so on.
This novel, written for 7 years and 1.9 million words, is another epic poem that records farmers.
Haoran was born in the countryside, grew up in the countryside, and almost all the works he created were also related to the countryside, and he once said: "Writing about the peasants and writing to the peasants is a burden that I consciously and voluntarily provoke, and I want to pick up this burden until I can't walk, I can't climb, and I can no longer pick up the pen." ”
Moreover, Haoran also has a motto, that is: "Go deep into the countryside for a lifetime, write about a lifetime of farmers, and be a down-to-earth spokesperson for farmers for a lifetime." ”
However, there are also many people who have controversies about his personality and works, believing that he is a "praise- and praise-making" writer who caters to the times and sings praises for the times, and lacks the "compassion" that a writer should have.
For example, the famous evaluator Radar called him "the last singer of seventeen years of literature", commenting: "All works, including "Golden Light Avenue", have put a clear label on Haoran's creation, and are too close to the political consciousness at that time, which means something for a writer who is really engaged in literary creation. ”
Of course, there are also many people who are very supportive of Haoran, such as the famous writer Qi Shuying once said: "Haoran is definitely not a person who meets the power, but a writer with a rigorous style, diligence and self-discipline, and high moral standards." ”
In short, whether it is support or criticism, Haoran has left a strong mark in the history of new China, and it is right or wrong, and it is for others to comment.
On February 20, 2008, Haoran died of illness in Beijing at the age of 76.
(References: "Father Haoran and His Friends", "Culture Expo", "Contemporary Literature")