Fortunately, I visited the English Department of the University of Chinese in Hong Kong in 1993 and left a diary for more than three months, otherwise I would not have remembered how I met Brother Feng Weicai. Check my "Hong Kong Visiting Journal", February 27, 1993 diary: "In the morning, I met with Feng Weicai and Rover, and looked at the manuscript of "Talking about the Past in the Medicine Hall" and the twenty-one essays (sketches and translations) of Chow's Anonym, most of which were unpublished, which was an unexpected and great harvest. On March 23, he also wrote: "At noon, Feng Weicai feasted, entrusted him to bring books back to Shanghai, and Rover was seated at the same table." In the afternoon, he bought books with Luo and Feng Zhiqing and roamed the Hong Kong Cultural Center. "These are the first two meetings between Brother Feng and me, and time has passed, nearly thirty years ago.
Later, I learned that Brother Feng had been an old subordinate of Mr. Rover and had edited the "New Evening News Xinghai", while I had only written for the Hong Kong "Wen Wei Po ・ Pen Hui" in the early 1980s, and I did not know that there was also "New Evening News Xinghai". Mr. Rover lived in Beijing for ten years, and after returning to Hong Kong, he donated the manuscript of "Memories of Zhitang" (that is, "Yaotang Talks about the Past") from the Museum of Modern Chinese Literature, which was also brought to Beijing by Brother Feng. Brother Feng also edited a "Hong Kong Contemporary Chinese Writers Anthology Rover Volume", which was really well compiled. During Mr. Rover's time in Beijing, I often wrote or came to the door to ask for benefits, perhaps because of this relationship, Brother Feng and I saw each other as usual and talked very well.
The author is the author in the front row from the left, and feng Weicai is the first person on the right in the back row
In the 1990s, I had the opportunity to go to Hong Kong or to Taiwan through Hong Kong to attend academic seminars, and in a group photo of my friends in Hong Kong's literary circles (above), huang Jizhi, Gu Cangwu, Du Wei, Huang Jundong, Lu Weiluan, Hui Dingming, Chen Haoquan, Chen Huiyang and brother Feng were also present. It can be seen that we had frequent exchanges at that time, which was not only a karmic meeting, but also because we had a strong interest in modern Chinese literature and Hong Kong literature.
Brother Feng and I have worked more closely since he edited the republished Hong Kong monthly magazine Reader. He did not give up, and asked me to serve as the "special editor" of "The Reader" together with the meticulous female history of Hong Kong and brother Wu Xingwen in Taipei, and I was certainly happy to participate. The so-called "special editors" actually do not actually participate in editing, but provide new book information and literary trends in the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan every issue, which "forces" me to read a lot of new books. I happen to have a copy of the July 1995 issue of "The Reader", which published two humble works, one was "A Century Fax on Shanghai - "Shanghai Fever" in the "Twentieth Century Shanghai Great Fax", and the other was "The Wordless Protest of Ba Jin's "Rethinking Record"" and signed with the pen name "Shanwen". After more than twenty years of rereading, I still think I can write well. I should thank Brother Feng for providing this rare platform for writing communication.
After entering the new century, Brother Feng and I met many times in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other places to talk freely. In August 2009, the roles of the two of us changed, and it was my turn to edit the journal, which is the Journal of Modern Chinese, which focuses on the study of modern chinese literature and culture. Brother Feng also naturally became the author of the "Journal of Modern Chinese", and published articles such as "Dialogue in the Space of History - Commenting on the Voices of Hong Kong Culture" that have been included in "Hong Kong Literature Half-Life", which gave us great support.
Now it is time to talk about Brother Feng's forthcoming new book, "Half Life of Hong Kong Literature". In my opinion, in the study of Hong Kong literature, as far as Hong Kong local authors are concerned, if Ye Lingfeng, Liu Yihuan and Rover are counted as the first generation, and Chen Bingliang, Huang Jizhi, Lu Weiluan, etc. are the second generation, then Feng Brother and Ye Si should belong to the third generation. Brother Fung is not a member of the academy, but he is an ideal candidate for the study of Hong Kong literature. Because since the late 1970s, he has been a participant and witness in the process of Hong Kong literature, and the so-called "half-life" refers to this half-century-long indissoluble relationship with Hong Kong literature. He also has extensive knowledge of both mainland and Taiwanese literature, to name two. 1. In August 1985, he visited Mr. Shen Congwen in Beijing and published "Visiting Shen Congwen on the Border City" in the "Hong Kong Literature". This is a rare review of his masterpiece by Shen Congwen in his later years, and he still has not lost its reference value; second, he has edited "From Realism to Modernism - A Collection of Papers on the Controversy of TaiwanEse Vernacular Literature", and it is still a reference for the study of this important controversy. Therefore, Feng Brother has a broad academic vision, the study of Hong Kong literature is not to look at Hong Kong literature in isolation, but to take Hong Kong as the basis, but also from the perspective of the interaction between the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, coupled with his proficiency in the use of field theory, post-colonial theory and other new research methods, so he can become a family of his own.
If my estimation is correct, this "Half-Life of Hong Kong Literature" should be a selection of Feng Brother's research on Hong Kong literary achievements. The book discusses and criticizes a wide range of subjects. The first series contains research on Hong Kong literary masterpieces, such as Huang Guliu's "Shrimp Ball Biography", Zhao Zifan's "Semi-Inferior Society" and Liu Yihuan's "The Drunkard"; there are discussions of different texts of works that have always been controversial, such as the publication of the Chinese and English versions of Zhang Ailing's "Song of The Yang", which are all whipped into it and give people great inspiration. Brother Feng has long edited the annual anthology of Hong Kong novels, and later edited the novel volume of the "Hong Kong Literature Department (1950-1969)", and the long preface he wrote for it is naturally remarkable. From the 1920s to the 1980s, Feng Brother made a comprehensive review of the complex process of the publication and dissemination of the works of new Chinese literary writers in Hong Kong, and the rich and diverse materials and orderly discussions were enough to make up for the shortcomings of Hong Kong literary research in the mainland.
Brother Fung's love for Hong Kong literature can be seen from the fact that he has been tracking the development and changes of Hong Kong literature. The second series of this book includes his explanatory texts on the specific works of representative Hong Kong writers such as Ip Ling Feng, Ma Lang, Li Weiling, Ruan Lang, Dai Tian, and Ye Si, all of which are in-depth and meticulous, fully demonstrating his ability to read texts carefully, and also more clearly showing the open and diverse context of Hong Kong literature. His analysis of Ye Lingfeng's "Chao tou Feng" is refreshing, and his evaluation of Zhang Chu's "Mo Qiangqiu" is linked to the trend of literary thought, so as to see the big in the small. This series gives a large space to Ye Siren's text, which also shows that Brother Feng attaches great importance to Ye Si's view of Hong Kong literature and the practice of Hong Kong literary creation. The Hong Kong writers discussed in this series, like Zhang Chu and Lu Wenmin, I have never read their works, and after reading Brother Feng's comments, I have aroused my impulse to read the works of these writers.
In short, reading Brother Feng's "Half-Life of Hong Kong Literature" and forewording it not only made me relive my friendship with Brother Feng for many years, but also experienced a pleasant journey of Hong Kong literary criticism, which was really a happy thing. I believe that the publication of Feng Weicai's "Half-Life in Hong Kong Literature" is actually a re-departure. His "Hong Kong literary origins" are far from over, and they will certainly continue, and they will certainly be more exciting.
On February 12 of the year of Nongyin, he was in the meichuan bookstore on the sea, which is the third year of the new crown epidemic.
This article is the preface to the upcoming "Half Life of Hong Kong Literature" published by Hong Kong Chuwen Publishing House
Author: Chen Zishan
Editors: Andy, Qian Yutong
Editor-in-Charge: Shu Ming
*Wenhui exclusive manuscript, please indicate the source when reprinting.