Remembering Uncle Cen Sang
Zeng Yingfeng
(Cen Sang at the Lingnan Library Thirty Years Symposium, source Guangdong People's Publishing House)
On February 26, 2022, Guangzhou ended a cold weather for several days, and the sun showed a smile.
However, the elder of Guangdong's publishing industry, literary circles, and the respected Uncle Cen Sang was no longer able to enjoy the bright sunshine with everyone, bidding farewell to his tireless cultural undertakings, bidding farewell to his readers and authors, and fixing on the 96-year-old life journey.
(Cen Sang invited Zeng Yingfeng and other authors to his home to talk about the writing of "Guangfu Bunko")
I didn't expect Uncle Cen Sang's final departure to be so fast, it blew me up at once, and my brain suddenly turned upside down, constantly searching for the important time of my interaction with Uncle Cen Sang, the last time we met, what day was the last call? It was hard to imagine that on the morning of June 19, 2020, I accompanied several colleagues of the Cantonese Friendship Association to uncle Cen Sang's house in Nanhai (known as Zhongshan Ninth Road in Guangzhou) to listen to his ideas for organizing the writing of the "Guangfu Bunko" and report on the ideas in our writing plan. At that time, Uncle Cen Sang was in good spirits and had been communicating with us seriously, not at all like an old man in his 90s. Indeed, he has a very good reputation in Guangdong's cultural circles and publishing circles, is in good health, has a quick mind, and has been working at the Guangdong People's Publishing House.
(Father Zeng Wei and Uncle Cen Sang are close friends)
Our last call was in January this year, and before the New Year, I knew that Uncle Cen Sang had a wide range of people and wanted to give him a new year's greeting in advance, and to inform him that he had been paying attention to the first works in the "Guangfu Bunko", of which the manuscript of "Chebei Dragon Boat" that I had written had been completed. The phone rang, but Uncle Cen Sang couldn't hear what I was saying, so he had to hand over the phone to the nanny and relay it again, and our call laboriously went between me and him and the nanny. I don't know exactly what Uncle Cen Sang heard. Putting down the phone, I was a little uneasy, how he didn't want to wear headphones. But then I thought about it, Uncle Cen Sang's ear back for many years did not hinder his thinking and work, that is, in the previous year, he also called me twice, asked me about the situation of cantonese folk culture, and conceived of going down to organize a manuscript to publish the "Canton Bunko" series of books. I wish Uncle Cen Sang a long and healthy life in my heart, and I am ready to take the new book with me to meet his old man's house when my book is published. Unexpectedly, after more than a month, I could no longer talk to the respected Uncle Cen Sang. Fortunately, I only learned today that Uncle Cen Sang, as the editor-in-chief of the Guangfu Bunko, had already reviewed the manuscripts of my books before his death, and the manuscripts that were about to be printed had handwriting that he had edited and revised. I can't help but boo, no regrets!
Uncle Cen Sang once laughed and said that he watched me grow up, which was true. He and my father Zeng Wei are old friends in the Guangdong literary circle, and they are also fellow villagers in Shunde Lecong. My father is 7 years older than him, and the two predecessors can be described as "sexually close, far away from each other", but it does not affect their familiarity and intimacy, and they mostly start with "talking and laughing". I remember hearing my father praise Uncle Censang for his versatility and ability to write in "Russian." As a junior, I really met Uncle Cen Sang in 1973, when I was a zhiqing in the Hainan Qionghai Production and Construction Corps, and the first short story I learned to write, "Transformation Master", was revised word by word by Uncle Cen Sang and published in June 1973 in the "Collection of Short Stories of Knowledgeable Young People Going to the Mountains and Going to the Countryside" edited by Guangdong People's Publishing House. Looking at this book published half a century ago, "Zhengrong Years" now, there is no name of the editor or editor-in-chief, but Uncle Cen Sang's concern for our knowledgeable youth in the countryside, the meticulousness and seriousness of revising the author's manuscript, and his unique style of font are deeply imprinted in my mind.
In 1989, I published my first collection of novellas, Letters from a Woman to Three Men, at Flower City Press. I first thought of Uncle Cen Sang, and I thought of his painstaking efforts for my debut work 27 years ago, which inspired me to continuously enhance my self-confidence in literary writing and tenaciously open up the road of literary career after knocking on the door of the literary temple. Uncle Cen Sang knows me, he deeply understands the shortcomings and advantages of our generation of literary youth, knows that I rely on the experience of life, with self-study and ascetic tempering, only in the "Flower City", "Works", "Sprouts" and other influential publications in the country have been able to publish literary works one after another, the final collection published the first collection of novels, I hope to get Uncle Cen Sang's pertinent evaluation and encouragement, but I also know that Uncle Cen Sang has become a pioneer and leader of Guangdong literary publishing, he serves as the main person in charge of the publishing house. Planning and writing and other tasks are heavy, there are many people looking for him, can he write a preface for me? Nervously, I knocked on Uncle Cen Sang's house in Higashiyamaguchi with the manuscript, and unexpectedly, as soon as he heard that he had written the preface to my first collection of novels, he happily accepted it. More than ten days later, I got the preface written by Uncle Cen Sang, reading this preface with more than 2,000 words, a warm current washed over me, Uncle Cen Sang was serious about reading my 160,000 articles, made a pertinent evaluation of the novels I created at each stage, and the preface finally wrote: "Ah Feng This first collection is about to be published, as an older peer who has watched her grow up, I am naturally very happy." I hope that she can further broaden her perspective, hone her means of expression more, and pursue her ideological and artistic breakthroughs in a more rigorous sense. ”
(In 1990, Cen Sang wrote a preface to Zeng Yingfeng's novel collection 1)
I thanked Uncle Censang and remembered his words. I dare not slacken off, and continue to explore in literary creation and folk literature. After spanning nearly half a century, I have also become the foreword to a new generation of literary youth. I also know that Uncle Cen Sang has frequently made great efforts in the publishing circles in Guangdong, founded the country's first large-scale regional academic and cultural series - "Lingnan Library", and planned and launched hundreds of popular books - "Lingnan Cultural Knowledge Book Series". Fortunately, in 2008, I also participated in the writing of it, publishing the book "Guangzhou Ivory Carving".
Unexpectedly, in June 2020, I met with uncle Cen Sang, who was 94 years old, because of the opportunity of the editor-in-chief and the author. I haven't seen him for many years, but he is still as graceful as ever, listening carefully and carefully, talking to each of our authors one by one, and convincing us. Still talking about the manuscript, the draft, in the face of this old man, I can't help but have mixed feelings, it is really like a day for decades. When our two generations of cultural people meet again, we still talk about literature and writing. I sent a packet of small tea leaves to Elder Cen and he said with a smile, "You are still polite", and accepted it happily, I can't help but think of asking him to write the preface for my first book 22 years ago, and he also gave a bag of small tea leaves, and he accepted it with such joy.
Talking about noon, Uncle Cen Sang smiled and proposed to go to a nearby restaurant to drink tea together. During the banquet, everyone had endless words, and before leaving, remembering that he wanted to pay the bill, Uncle Cen Sang laughed and said that he had already messed up. "How can this be?!" I was about to shout, a fellow said, don't argue, Cen Lao asked the author to talk about the manuscript, most of them are his pay. God, in the face of my esteemed literary predecessors, what else can I say?! In the longan harvest season in August, I thought of Uncle Cen Sang, and asked a friend to send a box of longan for him to taste, I know he can't eat much, but he will like it, I like to see Uncle Cen Sang happy.
Uncle Cen Sang did not go far, he will always live in our hearts!
(In 1973, Cen Sang edited and revised the original manuscript of Zeng Yingfeng's short story "Transformation Master"1)
(In 1973, Cen Sang edited and revised the original manuscript of Zeng Yingfeng's short story "Transformation Master"2)
(Cen Lao's final approval of the "Guangfu Bunko" series of books zeng Yingfeng wrote "Chebei Dragon Boat")
(Cen Lao's final approval of the "Guangfu Bunko" series of books Zeng Yingfeng's "Chebei Dragon Boat" 2)
【Introduction of Cen Sang】
Cen Sang, born in 1926, a native of Shunde, Guangdong, is a famous publisher and essayist. He graduated from the Department of Sociology of Sun Yat-sen University in 1949, and after his work, he successively served as deputy general manager of Guangzhou Film and Theater Company, deputy director of the editorial department of Guangzhou Culture Publishing House, deputy director and director of the literary and art editorial office of Guangdong People's Publishing House, deputy editor-in-chief, president and editor-in-chief.
【About the Author】
Zeng Yingfeng: First-class writer. Vice President of Guangdong Cultural Society, Librarian of Guangzhou People's Government Research Museum of Culture and History, Member of Guangdong Provincial Expert Committee for Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection.
Source: Guangdong Cultural Society He Media Studio
Editor-in-charge: He Jinde
Approval: Zhou Jianping