Zhou Shuangjuan, editor-in-chief of "Violet" magazine, once mentioned the delicacy and luxury of Zhang Ailing's life in an article, as a freelance writer, how much is Zhang Ailing's daily income? What is her attitude towards freelancing and selling literature to make money? What is her view of money and economy?
One
Zhang Ailing once said: "With other people's money, even if it is the inheritance of her parents, it is not as free as the money she earns, and her conscience is very happy..." This is the view expressed by Zhang Ailing in a conversation with Su Qing on February 27, 1945, as an old woman, Zhang Ailing's economic outlook is quite independent as her article.
In 1939, Zhang Ailing published her debut novel "Genius Dream" in the monthly magazine "West Wind", and won the thirteenth excellence award in the "West Wind Society" essay contest. Zhang Ailing was always grumpy about not getting a better ranking, and when she included her article in "Zhang Kan" (May 1976 edition of Taiwan's Crown Publishing House) in her later years, she did not forget to write a note and complained: "My "Genius Dream" won the thirteenth honorary award of the "West Wind" magazine essay. The essay limits the number of words, so this text is compressed vigorously, just within this number, but the first place is several times longer. It's not that I'm still struggling decades later, but because it affects the content and credibility of this thing, I have to mention it. ”
Zhang Ailing graduated from St Mary's Girls' School in 1937 and was admitted to the University of London, but due to the outbreak of war, she could not make the trip and entered the Literature Department of the University of Hong Kong. In 1939, at the age of 20, Zhang Ailing came to Hong Kong alone, specializing in literature at the University of Hong Kong, she worked hard to learn English, she could memorize Milton's entire "Paradise Lost", and she also tried to write in English. In 1942, due to the outbreak of the Pacific War, the University of Hong Kong was suspended, and Zhang Ailing failed to graduate, and then returned to Shanghai with her friend Yan Ying. After that, she applied for St. John's University in Shanghai, but was not admitted because she "failed the Chinese language". As a result, Zhang Ailing began to contribute to a living, writing for English magazines such as The Times and Twentieth Century, earning a fee to maintain her daily life.
Zhang Ailing, who returned to Shanghai, began to show her talent in literary creation, and her essay "In the End is a Shanghainese" once wrote: "When I returned to Shanghai a year ago, my first impression of a long-lost Shanghainese was white and fat. In Hong Kong, nine times out of ten Cantonese people are dark and thin, Indians are even darker, and Malays are thinner. Accustomed to seeing them, Shanghainese people look fat and white, like advertisements for milk powder... Shanghainese are traditional Chinese, coupled with the tempering of modern high-pressure life, the exchange of various deformed products of new and old cultures, the result may not be very healthy, but there is a strange wisdom here... I wrote a book "Legend of Hong Kong" for Shanghainese, including "Agarwood Crumbs • First Burning Incense", "Agarwood Crumbs • Second Burning Incense", "Jasmine Tablets", "Heart Sutra", "Glazed Tiles", "Blockade", and "Love of the Fallen City". When I wrote it, I always thought of Shanghainese, because I tried to look at Hong Kong from the perspective of Shanghainese. Only the people of Shanghai can understand what I don't want to do. I like Shanghainese, and I want Shanghainese to like my books. ”
Two
The young Zhang Ailing is full of ambition, she lives in the Edinburgh Apartment (Changde Apartment) on Changde Road, and writes her literary life with the pen in her hand. Zhang Ailing became famous in Shanghai in the 1940s when she published her novels "Agarwood Crumbs : First Incense" and "Agarwood Crumbs of Second Incense" in Violet magazine in April 1943, when the discerning person was Zhou Shuangjuan, the editor-in-chief of Violet. In the article "Written in Front of 'Violet'", Zhou Shuangjuan described his excavation of Zhang Ailing in a colorful way: "One day a lady surnamed Zhang came to visit, and I rushed downstairs without hesitation, but I saw a long-bodied jade lady wearing goose yellow satin half an arm standing in the living room to bow to me. I replied and beckoned her to sit down. After the conversation, I learned that this Ms. Zhang was born in Beiping, grew up in Shanghai, studied at the University of Hong Kong the year before, and graduated in another year, but unexpectedly the war broke out, she returned to Shanghai, lived with her aunt in a Western-style apartment, engaged in selling literary life, and sold 'Western' literature, wrote drama reviews and film reviews for the English-language "Times" in English, and wrote articles for the English magazine "Twentieth Century" run by the Germans. As for Chinese's works, in addition to writing a "Genius Dream" for "West Wind" magazine before, I did not write again, recently made two novellas, telling two stories of Hong Kong, asking me to show her whether it is okay, saying, I opened a paper bag, and gave me two manuscript books, I looked at the title called "Agarwood Crumbs", the first one marked "First Incense", the second one marked "Second Incense", just like this, I already think it is very chic and very meaningful. At the moment, I asked her to keep this manuscript with me, and let her read it carefully..."
A week later, Ms. Zhang came to ask me for my opinion after reading, I said that it was a bit like the works of the famous British writer Maugham, and a little influenced by "Dream of the Red Chamber", and when she said this to her, she expressed her satisfaction and sincerity, because she was a fan of Maugham's works, and "Dream of the Red Chamber" was exactly what she liked to read. I asked her if she would like to publish Agarwood Crumbs in Violet, and she agreed... Now that I have solemnly published this "Agarwood Crumbs", I invite readers to enjoy Ms. Zhang's works with a special mood, and I can also get a deep impression on the extravagant and lavish life of the so-called high-ranking Chinese in Hong Kong..."
Zhou Shuangjuan's preface revealed a lot of information and details about Zhang Ailing, one of which was that Zhang Ailing was affected by the war and failed to complete her studies at the University of Hong Kong, and after returning to Shanghai, she sold literature for a living, that is, a freelance writer; second, because Zhang Ailing's English was better, she initially "wrote a drama review for the English-language Times" and wrote articles for the English magazine "Twentieth Century" run by the Germans. In the preface, there is a paragraph that also writes that Zhou Shuangjuan went to Zhang Ailing's place as a guest, and at a small cocktail party, Zhang Ailing once showed him an article "Chinese Life and Clothing" in the "Twentieth Century", which was written in English and accompanied by hand-drawn illustrations, which made Zhou Slender Crane very impressed; the third is that Zhang Ailing's life at that time was still very exquisite, in addition to dressing, Zhou Shuangjuan also participated in a small cocktail party organized by Zhang Ailing, and from the description of the scene, it can be seen that the cost is not small. As a freelance writer, what is Zhang Ailing's daily income? What is her attitude towards freelance work and selling literature to make money? What is her view of money and economy?
Three
In Zhang Ailing's essay "Fairy Tales" (published in the seventh and eighth issues of Tiandi magazine in May 1944), there is a section dedicated to "money", from which we can know Zhang Ailing's economic outlook: "The first time I made money in my life was when I drew a cartoon and threw it into the English "Damei Evening News" in middle school, and the newspaper gave me five yuan, and I immediately went to buy a small Danqi lipstick. My mother blamed me for not keeping the bill as a souvenir, but I wasn't as emotional as she was. For me, money is money, and I can buy everything I want. There is something that I feel should be owned by me, because I enjoy it more than others, because it gives me great joy. Sleepy dreamed of planning a piece of clothing, and when it came to buying it, he had to think about it again, and the project he considered also had joy in pain. There is too much money to think about; there is no money at all, and there is no need to think about it. My restrained bitterness belongs to the petty bourgeoisie. Every time I saw the words 'little citizen', I thought of myself in a hurry, as if I wore such a red silk note on my chest..."
"Until now, I have fully enjoyed the pleasure of self-sufficiency... It's a little bitter, and I love my profession. 'Learn to become a martial artist, sell with the imperial family', in the past the literati ate by the ruling class, but now the situation is slightly different, I am glad that my food and clothing parents are not 'imperial family' but the masses who buy magazines. It's not a slap on the shoulders of the masses – the masses are really the cutest patrons, less capricious, 'unpredictable'; don't put on a shelf, be genuine, and remember you for five years and ten years for your little benefit. And the masses are abstract, and if there must be a master, of course an abstract one..."
Zhang ailing
Zhang Ailing found out early on that writing can make money, and she also knows that the way to make money is actually very simple, that is, to write desperately. In Shanghai that year, Zhang Ailing's daily expenses such as eating, drinking and having fun all relied on writing, and the negotiation of manuscript fees was never ambiguous. Zhou Shuangjuan's "Violet" made her debut in the literary world, while Ping Xiangya's "Vientiane" and Yuan Shu's "Magazine" made Zhang Ailing a female writer in the 1940s. Ping Xiangya once wrote an article recalling Zhang Ailing's submission, which is the same as Zhou Shuangjuan's article, but it was not published in Vientiane, but in a tabloid "Poster" of that year: "Zhang Ailing is one of the outstanding members of modern female writers." Grew up in the south, graduated from the University of Hong Kong, and began to come to sea after the incident. Both of his parents remained in Europe. The Zhang family lineage was in the Qing Dynasty for a while... Ai Ling is probably the widow of the famous Gong Juqing. There are few prodigies, six or seven years old is good at chanting, fourteen or fifteen years old, prose novels have been submitted to various newspapers, see more important than the times. The article "Genius Dream" can be found in a certain number of "West Wind", that is, its autobiography. This time to Shanghai to live in an apartment, the first time to hold the "Agarwood Crumbs" novel manuscript two articles to see the skinny crane, the Crane Gong greatly appreciated his talent, published in "Violet". He then submitted a draft of the Heart Sutra to Vientiane, and at the same time submitted a letter and a letter to Yu, and had several interviews, and with three unpublished manuscripts and seven published novels, he asked for a single book to be substituted, and the paper was as expensive as gold leaf, and the agreement was not reached. Yu returned "Love in the Fallen City" and another long manuscript to Ailing, leaving an article of "Glazed Tile" for publication in "Vientiane". Ai Ling's pen tone is due to the "Dream of the Red Chamber" department, but there are few changes. However, "Glazed Tile" is playful and fluent, and the style is different, and Yi Zi thinks that the creation of a unique machine will soon see "Vientiane". ”
Ping Xiangya asked Zhang Ailing to publish a "serial set" on "Vientiane", and the two sides agreed to pay seven or eight thousand words per month and advance one thousand yuan per month. As a result, not long after, due to the soaring price, Zhang Ailing did not do it, and she had to increase the writing fee, otherwise she would reduce the number of words. Ping Xiangya disagreed, and Zhang Ailing really reduced the number of words. Later, at the suggestion of Ke Ling, Ping Xiangya sent an additional two thousand yuan to Zhang Ailing, which was equivalent to three thousand yuan to write five or six thousand words. As a result, the check was returned and the Serial Set was beheaded. Ping Xiangya and Zhang Ailing had many grudges and entanglements around the publication of books, manuscript remuneration, broken manuscripts, gray tin and other events, which should be another story. With a monthly advance of 1,000 yuan, plus other contribution fees, Zhang Ailing's income in the current year is not low.
Four
Compared with Ping Xiangya's "Vientiane", Zhang Ailing and Yuan Shu's "Magazine" seem to be closer.
In May 1938, Yuan Shu founded the current political journal Magazine, which was changed to a comprehensive literary and art monthly magazine based on literature in 1942. After reading Zhang Ailing's works, Yuan Shu was impressed by her literary talent and rushed to personally ask for a manuscript. Soon, the magazine launched Zhang Ailing's "Love in the Fallen City", "The Golden Lock", "Red Rose and White Rose" and other novels, which detonated the Shanghai literary circle that year. In addition, Yuan Shu also specially invited Zhang Ailing to accompany the article with illustrations, paint the title page of the publication, and invite her to various fraternities.
On August 15, 1944, the magazine published the most important collection of novels in her life, Legends, for Zhang Ailing, and listed the book as one of the "magazine series". The collection of novels was originally given to Vientiane Book House by Zhang Ailing for publication, but the manager Ping Xiangya thought it was unprofitable and returned the manuscript. When the magazine got the manuscript of "Legend", it immediately declared that "it is not purely for the purpose of making money, but is willing to help publish this collection and influence the lonely literary world." At the end of 1944, the drama "Love in the City", adapted from Zhang Ailing's novel, was performed for 80 consecutive times at the Shin Kong Grand Theatre, and the scene was full. After the magazine, Zhang Ailing is already in the sky.
In just a few years, Zhang Ailing transformed from a freelance writer into a famous female writer, and became a prolific female writer in the 1940s with her novels published in publications such as Violet, Vientiane, Magazine, and Everyone, as well as essays published in magazines such as Bitter Bamboo, Ancient and Modern, Tiandi, And Xiao tiandi, as well as the published novel collections "Legends" and the prose collection "Rumors". According to the research of Professor Chen Zishan of East China Normal University, Zhang Ailing also wrote articles for many tabloids in Shanghai, such as Haiguang, Li Pao, Tabloid, Guanghua Daily, Tie Bao, and Xiao Li, and Zhang Ailing, who was diligent in pen cultivation, became the best professional writer of that era. During the fall of Shanghai, a reporter interviewed Zhang Ailing and Su Qing to inquire about their living conditions, at that time, Zhang Ailing's monthly writing fee was equivalent to about 400 to 500 yuan of silver dollars. In Shanghai at that time, such income was naturally not cheap.
Zhang Ailing once said: "I like money, because I have not suffered from money, do not know the disadvantages of money, only know the benefits of money." Zhang Ailing, who likes money, uses her talent and diligence, coupled with a little luck, to live her free life luxuriously.
Source: Magazine of All Walks of Life, Issue 3, 2022
Author: Yao Yiming