The famous silhouette | "Why am I obsessed with Zhang Wei?" ”

Editor's Note

The "Famous Family Silhouette" column was launched by "Times Literature" in 1997, and was successively hosted by He Zhenbang, Bai Ye, He Shaojun and others, selecting a famous artist in each issue, and inviting several friends and old friends to chat about their texts from different angles, so that readers can more fully and deeply understand the writer's little-known stories behind the works. Over the past 20 years, more than 100 contemporary Chinese writers and more than 500 column authors have met readers with different attitudes in this time that can grow up a generation with ease, and left a bright star in the history of literature.

In view of this, China Writers Network has re-launched the "Silhouette of Famous Artists" series, selecting its Chinese chapters, and listening to the old and young in the literary world talk about literati and literary affairs.

Zhang wei

Zhang Wei's literary creation began in the "shell" era in the late 1970s when he was studying at Yantai Normal College. His debut short story "Dada Daughter-in-law" was published in the 3rd issue of Shandong Literature in 1980, from the short story "Lu Qinghe Tells Me" and "Autumn Anger" to the unique prose "Into the Wild", from the novel "Ancient Boat", "September Fable", "Bai Hui" and "Family" to "You are in the Plateau", which won the 10 volumes of the 8th "Mao Dun Literature Award", he has dedicated more than 10 million words to readers in various genres.

Zhang Weiqi, as his literary friends describe, is good at thinking, diligent in reading, writing desperately, and has a bit of humor. He was in the best state of the Wansongpu Academy, which could travel around the world and retreat to the Shore of the Bohai Sea.

In this issue, we invite several of Zhang Wei's literary friends (some can also be called his hardcore "fans") to talk about Zhang Wei's personality and creation.

The release of "You're in the Plateau"

Chen Zhanmin

It can be concluded that in the future, the author who wrote a biography for Zhang Wei will visit the biography of the master, and will stay in Panhuan at Wansongpu Academy, percuse the Metasequoia pine tree, gaze at the green vines and wildflowers, and write a heavy stroke affectionately. Part of Zhang Wei's life is left in this lush jungle; several of his important works of life are also produced here.

Roughly speaking, at least the entirety of "Heart Like Fire", the bulk of "Hedgehog Song", was completed at The Manmatsuura Academy; the largest decisive revision of "You are in the Plateau" was also completed at the Academy; there are also a large number of short chapter essays, and some collections of revisions and edits... Wansongpu Academy's Wei Wei Huang hua qing qing qing lisgrass recorded Zhang Wei's diligent years here.

In 2007, when the spring grass of Wansongpu Academy was revived, Zhang Wei began the last large-scale revision of "You are in the plateau". It is difficult to predict how large the scale of the revision will be; however, this revision is decisive and does not dare to slacken off in the slightest. Nineteen years have passed since the writing of "You are on the Plateau", the plateau has been rolled out, and there are still strange peaks and peaks; the long river is rushing, and there are still terrifying waves; and the final large-scale revision will determine whether the magnificent ideal of many years can be fulfilled. Zhang Wei strolled and thought in the pine forest of the academy, and on the other side of the pine forest, the tide rose and rushed to the shore. More than two thousand years ago, Xu Fu, the great master of the Dafang, was said to have set sail from there to the east and sailed away.

"You are in the plateau" had the opportunity to come out more than a decade ago, when "Family" was published in advance and received rave reviews, and Zhang Wei needed to have a strong determination to resist the temptation of the overall launch. A well-known writer, just creating a good year, writing inertia, publishing inertia, distribution inertia, criticism inertia, many inertia to promote him, if he lacks concentration, he will not be able to hold on, lose the square inch. However, the power of those inertias will not be exhausted, and it will be difficult to avoid them when the inertia is exhausted, suddenly braked, unstable heels, and wrestling fiercely. It is rare that Zhang Wei maintains enough sobriety and has sufficient artistic patience; he insists on not taking it out, covering it, and covering it again.

Only a few friends know this huge writing secret of Zhang Wei. In 1986, "Ancient Ships" was published, followed by "September Fables", "Bai Hui", "Family" and other long works came out one after another; in the new century, "Books of Other Provinces", "Can Not Remember Hollyhocks", "Ugly Acts or Romance", "Hedgehog Song" were intensively published, as well as a large number of short and medium stories, essays, essays and essays. He did not have an obvious "publication interruption period", and it is difficult for the average person to imagine that he would have a large work hidden in it. How much vitality does a writer have? What kind of time will he have for writing and revising a big book that is hidden deep in it?

In fact, Zhang Wei has been running this big book for many years. In addition to completing those works that came out one after another, he put all his time, energy, and effort into this big book. Modifications are always ongoing, intermittently. The revision, which began in the spring of 2007, was the largest and most decisive.

It also needs to be bold, and it will not hesitate to hurt the bones. Some parts need to be completely abolished and rewritten, and some parts need to be overhauled. The final drafts of some books are not at all what my friends see in the first draft, as if they are completely new books. After the book was written, my friend was greatly surprised, remembered the opinions that had not held out hope for this part, and marveled at the strength of Zhang Wei's revision that it was difficult to imagine. Zhang Wei was overwhelmed by his friend's initial criticism. After the publication of "You are on the Plateau", Zhang Wei repeatedly said in an interview with reporters: "Some of my friends are called slanderous friends, and they always give me advice without mercy - they don't care what my ability is", "They all smash the manuscript to death", "I only hope that I have spent so many years to write a very important, even masterpiece."

Yes, because of too many expectations, friends have "smashed the manuscript to death", and some opinions have even reached the point of harshness. Friends know very well that for a writer like Zhang Wei, who has achieved great achievements and has established his own aesthetic concept of writing, your opinion must be sharp enough to deeply sting him, so that he can re-examine the works he has written and overturn some of his original flawed constructions. "At the end of all literary periods there must be a period of decay; art decays, withers, bound by stereotypes, lifeless... But the problem is not the writer's ignorance. On the contrary, his methods have never been so skillful, and all the methods are perfect, so refined that even the public knows that anyone can use them" (Danner: The Philosophy of Art). Hence the artist's most harrowing mediocrity. Blindly applauding and praising is harmful to a writer who is revising his own work, especially for a writer like Zhang Wei. The right approach is precisely the opposite, that is the responsible attitude. Not only for Zhang Wei personally, but also for his literary career. Only by breaking the heart can we hope for reorganization. When the cheap touting of the literary world is in full swing, at least there should be a kind of sincere and loving sharp criticism among friends, and "slander" is the most precious friend.

Among Zhang Wei's friends, there are many Coats and "strangers". Zhang Wei's strong interest in "Inhuman" has been maintained since the beginning of his writing, and "Inhuman" occupies a prominent position in his novels, flashing with romantic and eerie brilliance. Some of the "infidels" who came to the academy claimed to be "Lama Yi turned", and once saw the night fork of the sea patrol and recorded the years and months of witnessing the strange deeds. Zhang Wei has adapted it accordingly and written it into "You are in the plateau", although he is very skeptical that the "alien" has really seen the night fork of the sea patrol. The supernatural world undoubtedly exists, but it exists in an empty place that natural people cannot witness, can be presented in the absurdity of the novel, and should not appear in reality. "Inhuman" also talked about the examination method of the eighth-level forger, an iron egg is placed on a steel plate, a hammer is smashed, the iron egg is not moving, even if it is qualified, it can be promoted. Some friends don't believe it and say, how many legs does that have? How many leg iron eggs flew up and smashed. A talented friend draws a cartoon titled "Examination", and an examiner is about to raise a hammer and smash it into the iron egg, and one person has a bandage wrapped around his leg, comes on crutches, and reaches out to stop it. After reading the comic, Zhang Wei couldn't help but laugh, and after laughing, he seriously explained: The iron egg is chained, and it can't hit the leg when it is smashed. Another layer of humor provoked another burst of laughter, and I don't know how the iron egg smashing iron egg exam eighth-level forging union appeared in Zhang Wei's future works.

Zhang Wei is modest and confident. He certainly wouldn't blindly listen. Opinions from all sides of friends, some are consistent, some are different. Those who are consistently opposite, he will carefully screen and carefully consider. He naturally knew the place that "You Are in the Plateau" occupied in the entire literary world he constructed. If you think about it, it is indeed magnificent and magnificent: a continuous plateau, with different postures such as "Ancient Ships", "September Fables", "Book of Other Provinces" and so on, dotted among them, like Qi Yan Nine O'Clock, cloud steaming Xiawei. But that requires enormous labor to achieve. Talent is not reliable, talent is reliable. The important thing is not to spare up our strength, not to rely on talent, to swing it, but to go through it step by step and go all out. The elevation must not be lowered, even if all ten cannot reach the highest standard, at least four or five must reach the height of "Family", and several are above the horizontal line. In fact, the tree can be used as the standard of "Bai Hui". "Bai Hui", which came out in 1995, can almost be included in "You are on the plateau". The whole story can be placed at the beginning of the volume as a general preface to this great book. Vineyards, plums, cypresses, 03 ... It will also appear in books that follow. That kind of melancholy, that kind of pain, the long sleepless night, the surging tide of thought, will continue throughout the entire book that follows. "Bai Hui" really opened an opening and exported the vast river after that. "Bai Hui" is like a prophecy, a prelude; a huge confirmation, a majestic symphony, still to come. Xu Fudongdu's ancient songs will echo repeatedly throughout the big book.

It was Zhang Wei's romance and poetry, flying in the sea and the sky. Without romance and poetry, there would be no "You're on the Plateau." "My heart, in the plateau", the affectionate verse of the Scottish poet Pence, must reverberate in Zhang Wei's heart for a long time. Zhang Wei has not given up writing poetry since he was a teenager, and in middle age, he also has long poems such as "The Road to Refuge" published. How much his poetry played a big role in the creation of "You are on the Plateau", you can't overestimate it. The explanatory part of "Family" is prose poetry, which can be seen at a glance; more importantly, the romance and lyricism of the poem make the whole big book flexible and lively, not to be stagnant and cumbersome; not to mention the plot that is also true and illusory, the poetic depiction is lyrical. The talking part of "Family" is like a chord in music, always accompanied by the playing of the main melody. This kind of polyphonic writing appears frequently throughout the book, not only for the purpose of structure, but also for the needs of the mood of the content. The poet-like novelist, consciously or unconsciously, will let his poetry overflow outside the novel.

The protagonist of "You Are in the Plateau", Ninga, is a very poetic person, and he loves to write some "long and short sentences". "If you occupy mountains and rivers, why not scrutinize mountains and rivers?" He studied geology, and in the process of scrutinizing mountains and rivers, he will be full of love and rivers, and he will be published as poetry. Ninga is the protagonist of the novel, but also the narrator, singer, and bard. From Ninga's perspective, Zhang Wei gained great freedom to write. Ninga walked through it and was able to stay outside, he both moved forward and looked back, went deep into the valley bottom to explore the source and trace the flow, and jumped to the peak to point out the country. Instead of following the linear pattern, he looped back and forth in a radial pattern. His freedom, that is, the freedom of the rules, he made the parts of a large book both independent and consistent, with a miscellaneous peanut tree, and a tree with branches and trunks to support a tree of flowers. It is like stepping on a long plateau and climbing to the top of the peak, you can see the direction of the mountain, and the veins are connected; but the peaks under your feet are different, each standing there, with its own mountain spring flowing - that is, the poetic source, which comes endlessly. Ninga is an extraordinary singer who sings in the mountains. In a voluminous novel, the flow of poetic springs is extremely important, like a continuous mountain, there is water, there is aura, there is poetry, there is spirituality. It is not only a long story, even if it is a short story, poetry and poetry should not be completely lost. In recent years, the short and medium stories, speaking roughly similar language, trivially telling roughly the same story, trivial, banal, paper-filled realism, breathless, poetic ethereal lost. I can't read toned to tolstoy's Cossacks and Chekhov's Prairie novels with a rich and long poetic flavor.

Of course, the bones and bones of the novel still need to be built up with a solid pen and ink, and it is impossible to float away, without the strong and strong bones, no matter how much romantic lyricism can not constitute a novel. A long story like "You Are on the Plateau" requires tons of solid materials to form its skeleton and flesh and blood. Naturally, there is no shortage of materials, and Zhang Wei has made sufficient preparations. Like Ninga in the novel, he once packed his bags, surveyed the hydrology of the mountains, looked up at the wilderness, "scrutinized the mountains and rivers", and accumulated the harvest as the basic material of the novel. After the book was completed, Zhang Wei once sighed, thinking about what was written in the book, no point was completely fictional, there was a realistic source, but no chapter or section was the appearance of raw materials. This is the process from life to art, a process that requires the writer to go down step by step, and each step cannot be in the air. It's not a matter of skill, it's not a matter of technique, it's just labor, down-to-earth labor.

In the gap between labor, he put down writing, zhang Wei was humorous and witty and funny. Every day after dinner, a walk is a compulsory lesson. He called the phone and said, "Let's go, shall we?" This side should say "yes", go out, meet at the gate of the college, follow the road in front of the college to the south, then to the west, all the way to the sea. This is the time to talk about literature, but also the time to talk about interesting things. Talking about literature, there is the collision of ideas inspired, the heart flashes; talking about interesting things, there is a colorful and humorous life, often can't help but laugh out loud.

The walk of the academy was also like Zhang Wei's prescribed writing, and the delay had to be made up. Sometimes he went out with something and came back late, and he called and said, "Let's go for a walk." "Simple" walking will not go to the beach, only in the courtyard of the academy. Stepping on the stone paved path between the pine forests, walking in a circle, often walking is not "simple", and it will also go to the night sky. During the day, he would occasionally walk around, it must be afternoon, Zhang Wei did not write, and his friend also lived in the pen, only reading. Meet by phone, one to the south, one to the north, meet in the pine forest, and go down. Walking to the corner of the pine forest, there were dogs barking. It was a puppy that Zhang Wei had brought from Jinan and had grown up in the academy. Zhang Wei named it "Treasure". It is a small dog in Shandong, a famous dog, Zhang Wei has repeatedly praised its cleverness, and it runs in a graceful and beautiful posture. When people walked over, the "treasure" jumped up and shouted, and Zhang Wei went out with a finger and told it to "shut up." It closed its mouth and stopped barking loudly, just groaned lowly. Zhang Wei stroked its head with his hand, stroked it at once, and said with frustration: "Water can carry boats, and it can also cover boats..." He said that "treasures" can be understood...

"You are in the plateau" turned out to be a success, but it is not isolated, it does not appear suddenly in Zhang Wei's creation, it is a masterpiece of Zhang Wei, and the previous creation has a solid blood relationship with it. "Ancient Ships" reflects and analyzes history, "September Fables" loves and worries about the land, and "The Book of Provinces" is vigilant and worried about globalization and modernization, and in "You are on the plateau", it is even more vast and strengthened. Yizhuang Yihuan of "Ugly Or Romantic", the humor of "Can Not Remember Hollyhocks", the absurdity of "Hedgehog Song", to "You are in the plateau", more developed and grown, and it is a spectacle. The argument of the Ancient Qi Di JiXia Xuegong, the humor of qi Dongye language, turned into solemnity and humor, from Zhang Wei's early works, all the way down, to "You are on the plateau", has obtained a most wonderful centralized unity, which makes people often worried, and often can't help but be funny, or painful, but also all comfortable. What kind of artistic realization is that?

Some good things have been preserved from the first draft to the final draft, and they cannot be changed under any circumstances, no matter what kind of opinions they come from, Zhang Wei has certain rules. For example, the Great Migration in "Man's Magazine", the first draft existed, after several major changes, and finally did not change. Will that part form dyslexia and be read less? Whether anyone was willing to read it was not within Zhang Wei's consideration. "The quality of literature does not change because of reading" (Zhang Wei), the quality of literature lies only in its inherent existence, not in whether anyone reads. A writer with serious aesthetic ideals, his responsibility lies only in writing the best work, not in how many people like his work. In today's Chinese literature, "pleasing readers" has become a big tide, which is driven by interests, the publishing industry has an unshirkable responsibility, and writers are also to blame. The tide of pleasing readers is wrapped in "vulgarity", "vice" and "vulgarity", and serious writers' works are washed ashore, looking at the "tide" and sighing. It's time to have a few good writers in the middle of the stream to turn against the trend.

There will also be fewer people willing to read, and perhaps those large paragraphs of speculation. In the first drafts of several parts, speculative paragraphs were available, which once aroused the admiration of friends. This last large-scale revision, Zhang Wei once again seriously examined it. The subjectivity of the novel needs to be re-recognized. The speculative part of Tolstoy's Resurrection was once criticized as preaching. In fact, that is when the writer can't stand up, he has to stand up and speak directly, it is an organic part of the work, and it also comes from the writer's persistent and burning heart, which is the so-called "I am good at arguing, I have to do it." This kind of last resort was already done by Tolstoy in War and Peace. The second part of the "epilogue" of "War and Peace" is speculative throughout. We will analyze, reflect, and expound on the themes of history, the forces that promote the nations, and the historical theories of the past, as well as many major issues related to the destiny of mankind. More than a hundred years later, when we read it again, we do not feel bored at all, but we have no interest in reading Tolstoy's religious and philosophical works", "The Kingdom of Heaven in Your Heart", "Contemporary Slavery", and "On the Meaning of the Russian Revolution", and we can better appreciate the profound and informal methods that only great writers can have. The master is always breaking the inherent rules and creating new rules. His purpose in doing so is not to be simple and innovative, but to submit to his own writing pursuits and aesthetic ideals. In order to achieve such a goal, even the indispensable hardness and obscurity have rejected some readers. In the final revision of "You are on the Plateau", the original speculation has not only not weakened, but has become more and more strengthened; and Zhang Wei is changing the form of speculation. The "Night Book of Rebuttal" in "People's Magazine" speculates on many serious issues in contemporary society, such as industriousness, love, sports, and entertainment, but appears in seemingly playful pen and ink, positive, negative, negative, positive, negative, negative, ironic ridicule, ridicule, ridicule, righteousness, and anti-truth, as if Dongfang Shuo was reborn, boarded the pulpit of the former dynasty's abandoned Jixia Xuegong, laughing and scolding, and always cutting to the big theme of jiangshan sheji's morality. Qi culture's influence on Zhang Wei has changed into various appearances. Zhang Wei printed out his rewritten chapters of the "Book of the Night" every day, and in the evening he gave them to his friends to read, and the joy of finding a satisfactory form of satisfaction was overflowing with words.

In the middle of the summer of 2008, halfway through the final revision of "You are in the Plateau", Zhang Wei pulled out and wrote "Heart Like Fire". It was an act of wisdom in his writing strategy. A mature writer needs to be very wary of "sliding writing." Fluent in technique, familiar with the road, relying on talent, relying on a pair of flow channel writing, you can write along the established track, like gliding on the ice track, carrying your hands on your back, you can also reach the end. But here lies the danger. Mediocrity, kitsch, weakness, laxity, often occurs from this. Don't expect "gliding writing" to keep the original height, sliding around, it will slide. This is especially true for the writing of novels, not to mention long river novels like "You are on the plateau". Zhang Wei was sober and calm. The final revision of "You are in the Plateau" is progressing smoothly, and it also needs to be contained and tightened, and there will be "tightening" only when there is "Le".

The writing of "Heart like Fire" does not contradict the revision of "You are in the plateau". For the study of Qi culture, Zhang Wei has not relaxed for many years and has been thinking about it. "The arbitrariness and tiredness of the State of Qi" reminded him of too many problems in the human world, such as desire, economy, revolution, and so on. Cheng Pai's famous drama "Suolin Capsule" made him think again and again about the concepts of harmony, moderation and beauty related to human well-being. He once wanted to write a novel called "Suolin Capsule". In the middle of summer in Wansongpu, when the flowers were flourishing under the sun, he thought of the topic of "Fangxin Like Fire", so he wrote a monograph on Qi culture. His research and thinking on the alignment culture for many years has been sorted out and released in a concentrated manner. For the sake of the peace and happiness of human society, he prayed to the moon on the Dengzhou Cape in Guqidi, hoping that modern people would accept the lessons of Guqiguo and no longer let the heart of desire burn and burn until it reached ashes. That's also the theme of his anger and cries in "You are on the plateau". The theme of "You are on the Plateau" is large and complex, and can be interpreted from many aspects. However, as long as you grasp the outline of the warning to contemporary society, you will not be wrong in any direction. The sunken wasteland, the delivery of dawn and twilight, the majesty and bumps of the East Patrol Carriage, the absurdity and nothingness of the night fork of the sea patrol, are not from ancient times to the present, from heaven to earth, from land to sea, have been warning contemporary people what they should be wary of and how they should live? Contemporary people should ask about the way of life. In "Suolin Bag", Xue Xiangling, who has experienced the disaster, summed up his life and deeply sang "The bitter sea returns, early enlightenment Lan Yin", and some performances are changed to "rest in love with the passing water, cheer up the spirit", which is not the original meaning of the work and the true meaning of life. Without asking about the cause and effect, blindly "cheering up the spirit" will only make the fire-like heart burn more fiercely, and "early enlightenment of Lan Yin" can make the galloping horse take reins on the cliff and re-examine the way and the way to go.

How did we get here and how should we move on? It is not enough to carefully analyze it without revisiting it carefully. Mr. Qin in "You are on the plateau" is a high-ranking person in the provincial city, as if he is living in seclusion in Lin Quan, and it is difficult for ordinary people to see him. The younger generations admired his academic sentiments, regarded him as the conscience of a city, and carefully visited him with reverence, and when they saw the light in his house, they would feel the warmth. At the critical moment, he needed to stand up and take a stand and say "yes" or "no" in front of the big right and wrong, but he flinched and inexplicably lit up toward the younger generation. Undoubtedly, he is an intellectual image in Zhang Wei's pen, however, he is not a symbolic intellectual, and he cannot be used to trap him with the common concept of intellectuals. "Establish a heart for heaven and earth, establish a destiny for the people, continue to learn from the saints, and open up peace for all the worlds", the tradition of ancient intellectuals, in his place, is only the right side of the book, hanging up for people to see for themselves, he can not really do it. But the "old Red Army" was able to persevere for the sake of faith. The "old Red Army" is naturally also reflecting, and the result of reflection is not the loss of the most basic beliefs and pursuits, but a more sober and firm march toward the spiritual high ground. The rain of the cemetery, the general image of steel pouring iron casting, how can not be forgotten. Abandoning conceptual writing, Zhang Wei wants to write about the richness and complexity of life, society, and human nature. He is never "binary", he is never so simple. He is not a "landist" or an "anti-urbanist"; he is not a "spokesman for intellectuals" nor a "populist". He is a trekker of the spiritual plateau, exploring the way to climb only for the spiritual plateau of mankind. Then there can be no lack of screening and criticism, and there will be no lack of confusion and repetition. The pouring out in "Family" has already revealed the vast mood in advance, although nine deaths are still unrepentant; later lyrics, it repeatedly echoes that "chord".

We can't use the standard of ordinary novels to demand long river novels like "You are in the Plateau", "September Fables" and "Book of Provinces", which have already given us a glimpse of how exquisite, exquisite, exquisite and transparent Zhang Wei will be in the palm of his hand. "You are in the plateau" should reflect Zhang Wei's other aesthetic pursuit, that is, magnificent beauty, vast and majestic. You can't take a breath from a tributary and be picky about whether it's lacking in meandering, whether it's lacking in symmetry, whether it's missing. The flawed wonder is far better than the perfection of the mean. The master transports the pound, an axe splits down, and the natural magnificence is even more admirable. "You are in the plateau" provides Zhang Wei with a huge creative space, and all his skills can be shown to the best of his ability; on the contrary, there is not enough talent, no skillful multi-faceted skills, and it is difficult to support such a huge building. And the basis of all this is labor, great labor, the best quality of a writer. "Genius, if nothing else, as a person or as a character, is but a better laborer, a more sincere person, a more beautiful and simple character." What Feng Xuefeng said when he evaluated Lu Xun in those years, more than half a century has passed, and today he revisits it and more deeply appreciates that precious acquaintance.

The huge labor obviously left traces of wear and tear on Zhang Wei's body. Nearly three years had passed since the final large-scale revision, and when winter came, after dinner, he went for a walk by the sea near The Manmatsuura Academy, and Zhang Wei put on a thick down jacket, put on his hat, and fastened it tightly. The cold wind blew and he would still cough. It seemed a little difficult for his injured body to survive this enormous labor. However, he struggled to hold on and did not relax for a moment. What matters is to concentrate and have no distractions. There were some invitations to go out, which he politely resigned; there were some boring parties, which he firmly refused. "The city is colorful, the seafarers are noisy, but you ignore the unknown." You sit in a corner, in a graceful manner, breathing heavily. The purple-blue sky dome was more quiet, and the stars were condensed. I looked at the three islands and listened to the sound of my heartbeat" ("The Seaman Talks about Yingzhou and the Book to the Sea God"). The waves on the sea slammed against the shore, Zhang Wei's heart was pounding, and he was close to the peak of the plateau.

In the evening when the snow was flying, Zhang Wei and his friends once again went for a walk on the beach. The friend walked out of the small building of the training department of The Manmatsuura Academy where he lived, and a colorful bird stopped inside the door. The door was closed, the window was not open, and it was not known where the birds came from or when they came. The friend opened the door and stood still, waiting for the colorful bird to fly away. The colorful bird stopped there, flashing its eyes, not leaving. The friend crouched down, gently reached out and picked up the colorful bird and walked to the gate of the academy. The old employees who drank some wine were full of red light, looked at the colorful birds, and smiled at Zhang Wei and his friends: "Good, good..." In the coastal area on the edge of the ancient Eastern Yiqi land, the Qi cultural tradition has a long history, and the folk have the saying of "the main text of the colorful birds". The original meaning of "literary brilliance" originally came from the colored bird. The Classic of Mountains and Seas says, "The Mountain of Dan caves... There are birds, whose shape is like a chicken, and the five are picky and literary", that is referring to the phoenix bird. The old staff was reluctant to color the birds, took them into the cage, fed them for a few days, watched for a few days, and released them at noon in the bright sun. The colored birds circled several times over the academy, flapping their wings and flying away.

It's the end of 2009. "You're in the Plateau" went through three years of massive revision. From the beginning, it had been twenty-two years in Zhang Wei's hands. It was already warm and hot from Zhang Wei's chest. Zhang Wei has maintained enough artistic patience for the works; he has treated opinions with enough humility; and he has paid great hardships for labor. In the prime of his life and the prime of his creation, he devoted twenty-two years of great effort. As a writer, he has done exactly what he was able to do. He did his best, not spared. Overall, "Haike Talks About Yingzhou", "People's Magazine", "Boundless Wandering" has reached the height of "Family", several have reached the horizontal line, none of them have fallen below the level, and the established revision goal has been reached.

The advent of "You are on the Plateau" is a colorful movement in Zhang Wei's literary career.

Looking at Zhang Wei's huge output of works, it is natural to marvel at his talent; but when you see his daily writing, you will understand that talent is not the most important, the most important thing is labor, it is diligence. Eighteen or nineteen years ago, "Ancient Ships" and "The Fable of September" had already been published, and Zhang Wei once privately commented to himself that his talent was not first-class, but his diligence was first-class. Whether Zhang Wei's talent is first-class or not, regardless of it, talent exists in the works; Zhang Wei's diligence is indeed first-class, and he himself does not overestimate. In the middle age of his life, he has achieved great achievements that many people cannot complete in their lifetime, and more than 12 million words of works need to be written word by word. Without first-rate diligence, without day-to-day hard work, it is impossible. The British writer Maugham also made a self-evaluation, saying that he was not a first-rate writer, but he was a second-rate writer in the front row; but Maugham evaluated other writers and said first-class things. In his evaluation of Balzac, he said that a prolific writer is not necessarily a great writer, but a great writer must be a prolific writer. Recently, Balzac's influence and evaluation in the Chinese literary circles have declined, but when you rub the "Comedy of Man" on the shelf like a mountain peak, and then read Balzac's biography, and see how Balzac wrote and labored, you will naturally admire: this is a great writer.

Labor, diligent labor, daily labor, like a diligent farmer, rising in the morning and ploughing on his beloved land. Balzac began to write every day in the middle of the night, which violated the laws of life, and Balzac did not live a long life, which is not unrelated to this. Zhang Wei follows the law of life movement, has a regular schedule, and writes in the morning, which is the time when the sunrise is vigorous and steaming. It needs to be normal, it needs to be quiet, it is not something that must be done, and it cannot interfere with the morning writing. Even the phone is not called, the necessary communication in the college, only a mobile phone text message. Sometimes I write for an hour and a half in the afternoon. After a day's writing task is completed, you can relax, deal with chores, read books, and reply to some letters. In this state of writing, Zhang Wei set the rules from his youth and continued. This is the reason for the production of the works that roll like a vast river. Jiaodong folk have a saying: "Don't be afraid of slow, be afraid of standing." "Every day, if you don't quit and move forward step by step, it is possible to go far and it is possible to ascend."

It is not a retreat for self-study, the academy is originally a place of lectures and visits, frequent visits at home and abroad, Zhang Wei will be warmly received. "Wansongpu - Bay Garden International Poetry Art Festival", an English poet walking off the work machine to the academy. At the opening ceremony, Zhang Wei wore red flowers on his chest and gave a warm speech, saying that the British friend just got off the plane this morning, and it was really "joy to fall from the sky". Zhang Chengzhi came from Beijing, and Zhang Wei and his friends waited at the academy until midnight. The snow bright headlights illuminated the pine forest over there, the car stopped, Zhang Wei opened the door, Zhang Chengzhi got out of the car, and the hoarse voice called out to Zhang Wei in a low voice, and Gently hugged Zhang Wei. Friends were touched by their affection, and their eyes were hot. It was nearly dusk before the Tibetan writers' troupe arrived at the academy. The symposium was held with the lights on. Zhang Wei changed into a clean shirt and smiled kindly in response to the visiting group of writers from the farthest distance in China. The Hebei Writers' Troupe arrived a week after the Tibetan Troupe had left. At the symposium, Zhang Wei talked about the danger of vigilance against timeline thinking in writing, and about the semicolon that disappeared in writing. At that time, the 8th Mao Dun Literature Award was in an intense selection. When toasting, Hebei writers sincerely wished "You in the Plateau" an award, and Zhang Wei smiled and said that winning the award is not the most important thing, the most important thing is to write the work well.

It was a hot summer day, on the beach north of the academy, people were weaving at night, and there were lights swimming in the air, Zhang Wei said that it was probably "Kong Ming Lantern". During the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang was trapped in Pingyang by Sima Yi's soldiers, and Zhuge Liang invented the "Kong Ming Lantern" to fly and ask for help; the descendants released the Kong Ming Lantern to pray for blessings.

If the release of the "Kong Ming Lantern" can pray for the well-being of the human world, then the spiritual lamp released by The Manmatsuura Academy should also be able to pray for the blessings and blessings of modern people. That is the ultimate purpose of our writing today; without the happiness and tranquility of the whole human race, everything loses its meaning.

Why am I obsessed with Zhang Wei

Spring Steps

He became acquainted with Mr. Zhang Wei at the end of August 1984. When I first got my college acceptance letter, I asked my classmates to go to Jingzhi Town, Anqiu County, to catch the market. My favorite place to go is the Xinhua Bookstore in town, which has three bungalows and is very unremarkable. I walked in, leaned on the glass cabinet and looked inside, and inadvertently, I saw a light and elegant collection of novels called "Lu Qinghe Tells Me". I asked the book salesman to take it out and hold it in my hand, and I was immediately attracted by the fresh language, but I had no money in my pocket, and my classmate asked me: Do you really like it? I said I liked it. He bought two copies, one for each of us.

From then on, when I saw Zhang Wei's books, I bought them; when I saw magazines that published Zhang Wei's articles, I also bought them; and if I couldn't buy them, I copied them. In college, because of my love, I copied short stories such as "Sound", "Lala Valley", "A Pool of Clear Water", "Snow by the Sea", "Into the Wild Land" and other short stories, and Zhang Weifa copied some creative essays in the newspaper. I read a rotten copy of "Ancient Ships" and bought another one. But I never had the opportunity to see Mr. Zhang Wei. Later, after graduating from university and assigned to Weifang City, he has always longed for Jinan, where Zhang Wei lived, where there were not only springs, but also Zhang Wei.

In July 1999, I was finally transferred from Weifang to Jinan. The person I most want to meet is not the provincial party secretary and governor, but Zhang Wei. I think he's a light. It was around the spring of 2001 that I finally came into contact with him, plain, easy-going, and slow-going. But we don't have as many chances of meeting as we text. In fact, Zhang Wei has not been in Jinan, he has traveled everywhere, especially in the Jiaodong area, where he lived in his childhood.

Zhang Wei talked about his abducted fourth brother in the "People's Magazine" volume of "You are in the Plateau", using the words: "This is a particularly stoic person, a person who can sing loudly in a desperate place." I seemed to have followed him all the time, from adolescence to middle age, down the embankment of the Luqing River, all the way to this vineyard- now there is no other choice, my only hope is to keep up with him and continue to move forward. In my heart, Zhang Wei is the reassuring "kidnapper fourth brother".

Although I rarely met, I always felt that he was by my side, he was my literary brother, like a pool of clear water that never dried up, reflecting my soul. With him, I did not dare to fall; I felt warm when I thought of him; when I read him, I was immersed in the luqing river, like the stars in the deep night sky, pounding on the windowsill of my soul like grapes...

Fan him because he's funny

"Our family has loved to meet interesting people since ancient times." This is the first sentence at the beginning of Zhang Wei's huge work "You are in the plateau" that won the Mao Dun Literature Award. In fact, anyone who comes into contact with Zhang Wei will also feel that he is a very interesting person, and he is not as tight-browed as some people think. The impression is that he is always smiling, sometimes humorously.

When friends gathered, everyone waited for Zhang Wei to tell jokes. He was very serious when he said jokes, he didn't laugh at all, and from time to time he flashed his eyes at the people around him. Yu Jing of shandong publishing house said that once Zhang Wei told a joke to writers Han Shaogong, Fang Fang, etc., and when he said "a little love", he pinched his little thumb with his thumb and pulled out a little big place with green beans. When Chi Zijian called Zhang Wei, he always jokingly shouted "Zhang -- Teacher", and Zhang Wei immediately said: "She is not sincere, these little young people are postmodern..."

Interesting people, often interested in everything. I remember once, having a simple dinner with Mr. Zhang Wei, he specially brought a bottle of French red wine. He said that he had studied the wine making process and really wanted to make his own wine. After the ripe grapes are rinsed with water, the stems and green grains, moldy grains, broken grains, etc. are removed, put into a sterilized container, and squeezed or mashed by hand... Then there's the fermentation... In "You are in the plateau", Zhang Wei's rich winemaking knowledge has been concentrated.

Reading, the most temperamental, Zhang Wei said that reading is very mixed, in addition to those often read to nourish the soul of the famous works, he is also particularly willing to read some interesting books, such as the recent American wrote "Manic Depression Multi-Talent", this book is written about those outstanding artists, and most of them are manic and depressed personality, such as Beethoven, such as Van Gau, Byron and so on. In addition, Shandong Friendship Publishing House published a book "Russian Manors and Celebrities", which Zhang Wei also read very interestingly. "Reading literature books should be slow, pay attention to those key points and subtleties, can not be fast, fast will get nothing." 」 Zhang Wei said.

When Zhang Wei wrote the novel "Ancient Ships", he specifically studied Chinese medicine, believing that Chinese medicine is not only a medical knowledge, but more importantly, a way of thinking. If this kind of thinking is missing today, it will cause a disaster in our world. Now we can often see the skin of Western thinking, the so-called Western medicine on people's diagnosis and treatment, really like the repair and replacement of a machine parts of the process. This kind of simplification is one-size-fits-all and does not seek much understanding, and wants to be used to treat the world's medical people, and there is no door.

"You're on the Plateau" is strictly speaking, a geological worker's handwriting. Zhang Wei said, "In order to write this book, I have specially studied all the undergraduate textbooks of Nanjing Institute of Mining and Technology, as well as botany and archaeology, and I had a dream in my childhood to be a geological worker. Many times of my teenage years were spent in the tents of geological team members. To this day, I and my friends still have tents and other geological outfits."

Fan him because he is low-key

I don't like high-profile people, whistling, especially not.

Zhang Wei is the opposite. When the novel "Can Not Remember The Hollyhocks" came out, I wanted to do an interview with him, but he always said, let others say it, I should say it in the novel. "You're in the Plateau" came out, and I wanted to do an interview with him again, and he still said that. Reluctant to say more.

He was always quiet in a remote corner, thinking incessantly, or walking alone. I used to hear Zhang Wei say the words of a sage, and I still remember: "Every time I go to a place with many people, when I come back, I feel that I am not as good as before." Zhang Wei mentioned this passage again, which may have left a deep impression on Zhang Wei, because I found that he quoted it verbatim, and he himself was a person who did not go to a place where there were many people. On many lively occasions, he could not be seen at all. When you think about it, that's really the case. When we go to a party with many people, we need to socialize, we need to cater to, and naturally we consume energy, and the energy is consumed, and it takes many days to return to its original state.

Zhang Wei did not like to stay up late, except for the years of amateur writing, he has been working with a very normal schedule. In this way, he always maintains a simple and energetic vitality.

In order to write quietly, sometimes it is necessary to hide in the mountains or some small villages where there is no one. The second half of "Ancient Ships" is hidden in an abandoned substation hut in the southern suburbs of Jinan. One year he hid in another mountain where no one lived for many years to read and write, there was no basic living conditions, the snow closed the mountain, in the deep winter he was frostbitten, and his friend had been bedridden with a high fever for three days when he found out, and had to go out of the mountain to rush to the hospital. Another time, when he was alone writing about a heavy bleeding from an illness, he was rescued by a friend.

Zhang Wei's novel "Can Not Remember Hollyhocks" has such a passage: "What an award, a success in the gallery, that is just a way for people to make 'crumbs'... As long as it is crumbs, never want to throw a sound, and there is no trace when the wind blows. When I read this passage, I also communicated with Zhang Wei and said that the crumbs have no roots, and can only follow the wind and let the wind blow away. There are two kinds of people who do not follow the trend: one is not to make crumbs and stones, and the other is to become the wind by yourself.

I realized from Zhang Wei that the really excellent people are in a quiet corner, have been in a low-key state, silently cultivating according to their own ideas.

Charm him because he is stubborn

Zhang Wei is a sincere and stubborn person. He once said that in the surge of literature and ideas, being a person is like being a tree, and no matter how deep the roots are, they are easy to shake. However, as long as the roots are not pulled out. A person in the tide of the times, the tide is coming, people have feelings, it is impossible not to be moved by fashion, sometimes in fashion to doubt themselves, question, look forward to, this process is like a tree shaking, but in the end to stand on their own position. Like a tree, not only will it not die, but it will also become more lush under the blowing and combing of the wind. The roots are always in the dirt, and where there are roots, there is a stand.

When it comes to film and television, Zhang Wei said that film and television are the products of multi-person cooperation and cannot highlight personality very well. The director may be better, but he must also compromise and accommodate. I still want to engage in my literature, "what two people cooperate with is not literary, literature is very personal, can not cooperate." Literature and film and television are completely different, two professions. A work changed to film and television can be widely disseminated, it should be said that only the film and television itself is spread, and that work is still the same as the original, and cannot increase or decrease its weight. ”

Zhang Wei said that he rarely watches TV dramas, one is that he has no time, and the TV series are too superficial. From the point of view of expression, TV drama is popular, it pursues the average, and literature is to break through the average.

He seems to have said something similar: there are not many good films worth watching, and there are few good artists. In addition to their talents, they also read too little. For example, playing those historical figures, the actors play the fur, and they can't play the temperament of these characters who bite the steel and chew the iron. If the gaze has weight, the gaze of those real historical figures is a ton, and some actors may only have two or two...

On the afternoon of June 18 last year, the Shandong Provincial Drama Theatre rehearsed the recitation of "Ancient Boats", and Zhang Wei pushed aside many social activities and watched the performance from beginning to end. He was happy after watching it. He told me that when he wrote "Ancient Ships", he was still a little more immature. The advantage is purity, youth, passion, and explosiveness. Of course, the things of youth, themselves, are also bottomless and clear, and I can't write them now.

He told the drama actors that they should highlight the literary things. In any small detail, do not make the mistake of conceptualization, language and performance, break through conceptualization. Ask: Is this the case in life? Be sure to break through the average and conceptualize. Grief, is there another expression? Joy, is there another expression? Highlight the pure, the eternal, the non-conceptual. In this regard, we must be stubborn and stubborn.

Zhang Wei has always been wary of imitation in the trend and has always adhered to his principles. I want to be a self-reliant and self-reliant writer, creating on my own and eliminating outside interference. I want to be a calm and quiet person, such a person will have principles and courage. "The indifferent screen, some modern media, the street tabloids, in general, have always stood on the opposite side of poetry and truth. True writers do not distance themselves from them occasionally, but rather express their disgust in a lasting and profound way. Zhang Wei said.

Charm him because he is patient

When I read "You Are in the Plateau", I felt that when Zhang Wei wrote, he maintained a very full state, and he was running a literary marathon. With his unique rhythm, sometimes soothing, such as Mongolian long tones; sometimes agitated, such as the drum of the march; sometimes like a tired horse, strolling on the steppe...

After spending three and a half months and reading through the whole book, I lamented how much artistic skills and cultural reserves Zhang Wei needed for this thirty-nine-volume giant structure? How much energy does it take to bring the various art genres together? This is all the result of his persistence for decades of learning from the ancients and from the literary friends of his contemporaries. Zhang Wei is a high-power book swallower, and he once said that he insisted on reading 50,000 words a day. I learned that he had bought sixty volumes of The Complete Works of Lenin, and from the beginning, he was often surprised that Lenin had lived to be fifty-four years old and had written more than twenty million words, which was simply incredible. Zhang Wei particularly admired the great Writers of Russia and was often drawn to their powerful humanitarian forces. Together with classical Chinese writers, they became an important spiritual resource for him.

Gong Da, the author of "Zhang Wei's Commentary," told me that he had seen with his own eyes that each printed version of "You are in the Plateau" had several versions, stacked far more than the height of the author himself; and each version listened carefully to the harsh criticism of friends. No matter how sharply the friend criticized, he would sit on the side like a schoolboy and take notes. He came down like this for decades.

I remember Zhang Wei writing a sentence on the title page of the single line of the novel "Allegory of September": "For a good book, you can spend a lifetime." Zhang Wei is like this, writing his satisfactory works one by one, using simple language and writing simple perceptions. Writing a piece, just like the bloom of flowers on the cliffside, more people come to appreciate, of course, happy; there is no one, quietly appreciate it, and do not feel lonely, this is Zhang Wei who can withstand loneliness in the big buzz!

Wang Zengqi recalled his teacher, Mr. Shen Congwen, and there was a passage printed in my mind: "Mr. Shen likes to use a word that is not commonly used by others: 'patience'. He said he wasn't a genius (he should be a genius), just patient. He also used to say to others, 'Be patient'. When he saw his son Xiaohu engaged in machine tool design, he said ' to be patient'. When I saw my granddaughter Xiaohong doing her homework, I also said, "Be patient." His 'patience' means perseverance and not being afraid of effort. For a period of time, Mr. Shen had to publish several novels every month, and several books a year, known as a 'prolific writer', but writing things was not very fast, never a wave. When he was young, he used to write day and night..." By Shen Congwen, I thought of Zhang Wei.

Fascinated by him because he was keen

When Zhang Wei was a child, he lived in a forest and saw trees far more than people. Over time, he has also developed a unique temperament, extremely sensitive to nature, with indescribable emotions for trees, grasses, flowers, hares, hedgehogs, cats, dogs, etc. In his novel "You are on the plateau", the tall figure of the plum tree and the unique atmosphere of the plum tree are often appeared. For example, in the volume "Remembrance of Aya", it is said: "That big plum tree, the big tree that can't be forgotten when you go to the edge of the sky." I thought of my grandmother, its silver, misty flowers like my grandmother's full white hair. ”

On the evening of May 20, 2010, at Zhang Wei's home, he talked about the image of the big plum tree. He said to me, "The big plum tree, a little to the right behind my old house, is bigger than the house, and I have never seen such a big tree in my life." Butterflies, bees, flew around the big plum tree, and my brother and I played there all day, under the tree. The big plum tree was the cradle of my childhood and was later cut down. The stump was larger than the milling pan, and there was a well under the tree, not far from the plum tree, and it might be that the water vein was good, and the tree would grow vigorously. That well, supplying the entire mine. The big plum tree is very important to my life..." The big plum tree is Zhang Wei's tree of protection, the tree of luck, and the tree of thought, and the big plum tree will never wither in Zhang Wei's heart."

In "You are on the plateau", there are a large number of scene descriptions, such as camping in the field, cold dew in the morning, brilliant sunset, etc., Zhang Wei's description, the branches and leaves, let people have the urge to run in the middle of it. For example, in "Boundless Wandering", there are many plants involved: "There are a few oily ground vegetables in the grass, and I pick tender sharp leaves, which remind me of the place of birth: next to the small hut, in the open space of the orchard, there are such wild vegetables everywhere, and my grandmother picks them up and makes them directly into salty rice, or mixes them with corn flour to make sweet nests." At that time we could survive even without a little grain, because there were my grandmother's vegetables and all kinds of fruits; in the bushes to the north, there were countless mulberries, mushrooms, pine cones, and red berries along the curved paths that the seamen had stepped out..."

Zhang Wei told me that there was a writer who was surprised to see that he had written so many plants, and said that he had checked the names of wild vegetables in the book, but he did not find it, and it turned out that Zhang Wei had made it up. In fact, this colleague is wrong, none of these names are made up, can be found in flora, is a universal Latin translation...

As the critic Mr. Zhao Jianping said: "Zhang Wei is relying on the power of nature, has a broad compassionate heart, has a strong sense of morality and a strong moral passion, has a firm and tenacious; when he faces boring disputes, he can laugh through." ”

I had the honor of attending the 8th National Congress of the China Writers Association with Mr. Zhang Wei in November 2011. Asking him to write a few words, he recorded Horace's words to me: "I walked quietly in a wood, thinking about what the wise men and gentlemen could do. ”

The article was published in Times Literature, No. 7, 2012