Stills from "The Wonder Years"
To the inverted space-time
——Liu Yiman and his literary world
Author Tang Dongmei
Chapter 6 Conclusion: The Wise Man Who Looks at the Stars from Afar
Thinking about the past, Chun Yubai could no longer sleep peacefully. Roll over and get out of bed and go to the window. The sun had risen, there was a clothes rack outside the window, and a small bird flew in from a distance, standing on the drying rack.
A moment later, another bird flew in, standing on the clothes rack. Then the two birds flew together, one to the east and one to the west. Yiyi Liu Yimu "Opposite"
Liu Yiman is a modern novelist, but also a modern character, he is determined to innovate in literature, like a child playing on the beach, using seawater and sand, stacking, arranging, building one after another, and then building another fresher and more peculiar "castle".
If he compares the novels he has created to "castles," he sinks into them, but he can withdraw and turn around to describe this obsession.
The structure, text, and even punctuation marks in the novel are all elements of different shapes needed for the construction of the "castle" in Liu Yihu's hands: he never repeats himself, nor does he follow the works of others; he is not intoxicated or frivolous, he is not self-assured, he is focused but not obsessed.
At the same time, he is also an expert in the collection of stamps and ceramics. In addition, he also likes to go shopping, scattered and faint along the way, but remembers the different dialects and slang in the city, sees the colorful clothes with skirts rising; sometimes has the wisdom to see through reality, and sometimes has the witness of compassion.
From the creation of his first novel "Ana Floschi in Exile", to today's "Drunkard", "The Upside Down" and other novels are well-known at home and abroad: from saying goodbye to Shanghai in 1948 to Hong Kong, in the long course of life, Liu Yihu enjoyed a high reputation at home and abroad with his enthusiasm, hard work and rigor, whether in his career as a newspaper editor, or in his continuous exploration and innovation of literary creation.
Today, writers who have been supported by Liu Yihu are active in the Hong Kong literary scene and overseas Chinese literary circles, and have become the main force in the local area. Writers such as Xixi, Li Yinghao, Ye Si, Han Wen, Yang Mingming, Li Yuanrong, who have been active in the Hong Kong literary scene for 20 or 30 years have all been helped by Liu Yihuan.
Ni Kuang's first novel, "The Microwave of Hulunchi", was supported and helped by Liu Yihuan. He said: "I feel that I have quite good luck. When "The Microwave of Hulunchi" was not yet finished, the supplement of the Hong Kong Times edited by Mr. Liu Yihuan mentioned that there was such a novel by chance, and then sent it to him for correction. At that time, when I was writing the manuscript, I wrote it and changed it, and after I finished it, I transcribed it again, and the words were clear, and Mr. Liu Yihuan looked at it and nodded, and that was it. The novel was reported. (Ni Kuang: "(Hulunchi's Microwave) Self-Introduction", Hong Kong Boyi Publishing Company, published in 1984)
In the Afterword to her collection of essays and novels, Jiaohe, Sissi writes: "Thank you Mr. Jiaohe, for he has always encouraged me to write, and now he has published another book for me." ”
"Without the care and guidance of Mr. Liu Yiman, there would be no Li Yuanrong in the Hong Kong literary scene." (See Hanwen "Famous Pen Cultivation Degree Spring and Autumn Liu Yiman: Silent Pen Cultivation Sixty Spring"), this is the voice of Li Yuanrong, and it is also the common voice of many Hong Kong writers.
Canadian Chinese writer Lu Zhaoling (pen name Lu Yin), when talking about Mr. Liu Yiman's concern and cultivation for him, his gratitude could not be suppressed, and he could not cry for more than ten minutes. (See Han Wen 's "Famous Pen Cultivation Degree Spring and Autumn Liu Yiman: Silent Pen Cultivation Sixty Spoons")
In the article "Modern Novelist Liu Yiman", Ye Si wrote: "For many years, Mr. Liu Yihuan has been a modern novelist in my mind. This 'modernity' comes not only from the work, but also from his attitude towards life. I began to write a column in the Express in the past seven0 years, I didn't know the editor, the first time I went to collect the manuscript fee, I was considered too young by the accounting department, didn't believe what I wrote and didn't want to pay the manuscript fee, so I wrote for a few months, and then once when I went to collect the manuscript fee, I met the novelist who wore white shoes in summer clothes with the elevator at first. He sat down to talk, while using paste to glue up the manuscript paper to distribute the manuscript, read the manuscript and letter, proofread the sample taken from the typography room, checked out the error, and talked about the literary world in the north and south. Even if it is a daily trifle, such as a car accident on the road when he comes, he can vividly say it in three words. He has a strong curiosity about life, is quick to react, and has a rare sense of humor. Sometimes he lowered his voice and said a joke or two about the sarcastic newspaper. ”
This is the editor of the novelist Mr. Liu Yiju in the eyes of Ye Si, who is also the most literati style and the pedantic modernist writer who is by no means an old-fashioned literati, who is free of humor and insight into the world, but has a strong sense of participation in life.
The novels he has created have always adhered to the principle of caring for social life, seeking the inner truth of objects and images, and paying attention to the combination of nationalization and modernization. Liu Yihuan dedicated the essence of his life to the cause of literature.
After more than half a century of artistic practice, Liu Yiman, with his character and his creative ideas and creative achievements, has transcended the times, penetrated time and space, and nourished the world of Chinese literature.
It can be said that Hong Kong literature shines because of the person Liu Yiman, and it is Liu Yiman's experimental novels that have broadened Hong Kong literature and integrated it with world literature, making it not inferior and lagging behind the world avant-garde literature at all.
Liu redefined the connotation of a novelist for the field of literature with the presence of a mane. In the half-century period when the Hong Kong literary scene was mass-producing popular novels and strange romances flooded the market, Liu Yihuan still held high the banner of serious literature and rushed left and right to fight for a place for serious literature.
At the same time, in the face of the existential crisis, in the crevices in which he was forced to join the production of "popular novels", he still stubbornly and unremittingly explored the possibility of novel innovation and created a large number of "experimental" works, which is particularly valuable in the commercial capital of Hong Kong, and even in the world literary world, it is like a morning star.
This persistence is not blind stubbornness, behind its persistence there is an extraordinary insight and intelligence, and this insight and intelligence comes from Liu Yihuan's grasp of world literature and insight into human nature.
Therefore, what Liu Yihuan has is the confidence that even if the whole world is like this, he will never go along with blind obedience.
The great ancient Greek philosopher Democry famously said that man has two eyes. One can look at the traps under his feet, and one can look at the stars in the sky.
This is a praise and definition of the wise. Mr. Liu Yihuan is such a person.
He had been unemployed from illness, he had written thirteen columns a day for his livelihood, but he did not complain about life, nor did he regret writing seventy or eighty million words of popular novels. Life should give him, he smiled and accepted it, and what he had prayed for in life, he had been silently fighting for.
Therefore, in the interval of writing seven or eight thousand words a day and writing at most more than 10,000 words for life, after extreme fatigue, Liu Yihuan still worked experimental novels and constantly innovated.
In the way of "inner truth", not only describing the past of Chinese literature, but also predicting the embarrassing present day of Chinese literature, in 1962, Liu Yiman wrote a unique narrative that later shook the literary circles at home and abroad - the stream of consciousness novel "The Drunkard".
In 1964, he wrote a poetic novel "Temple Interior" in the form of a novel.
When "Inside the Temple" was published, Liu Yihuan and his wife
On October 1, 1965, he wrote "Interesting Stories" for the "Xinsheng Evening News", and by May 20, 1966, he had written a total of 230,000 words. Combine the writer's wishes, memories, emotions, life details, inner activities with fictional plots to show some "happy or unhappy" events.
Ten years later, a passage about cockroaches was extracted and replaced with a 40,000-word novella. In 1990, "Cockroach" was once again deleted as a short story of 20,000 words.
From 1967 to 1969, he wrote six short stories at the request of the magazine, of which there were quite original: "Chain" is a novel without a story, using the structure of the chain to connect several characters together and reflect the complexity of social life in Hong Kong.
"Turmoil" is mainly based on things, and the monologue of objects records the turmoil of the "May Storm" in Hong Kong in 1967.
"Spring Rain" uses rain as a metaphor for the activity of thought, and is a political fiction.
"Quarrel" is a novel without characters, writing about family disputes from another perspective.
"Chinese New Year's Eve" uses fantasy and reality to form a poignant atmosphere.
From 1970 to 1971, there was chaos in Hong Kong, and people were robbed with knives everywhere. In view of this, Liu Yiman wrote the robbery-themed novel "Knives and Handbags" (changed to "He Has a Sharp Knife" when it was published), writing about the journey of an unemployed young man who goes astray.
The novel adopts the method of mixed description, on the one hand, it uses traditional realism to narrate events: on the other hand, it uses a direct inner monologue to write the "dialogue" between the characters and themselves, alternating the characters' thinking and the development of things, so as to broaden the coverage of traditional realist writing and strengthen the authenticity of the fictional plot.
In 1972, Liu Yihuan developed the concept of writing novels in a "pair-to-reverse" way from a double "Cishou Nine-Point Silver Pair Upside Down" to an old ticket. So "Opposite" adopts a two-line parallel development format, narrating the actions and thoughts of two strangers (a man and a woman) in the same life scene.
From 1973 to 1975, Liu Yihuan wrote the novel "The Island and the Peninsula" in an attempt to use the art form of fiction to annotate the history of Hong Kong.
On November 2, 1980, he wrote a serial novel for ming pao evening newspaper "Hesitation" (in 1985, Huahan Cultural Undertaking Company published a collection of novels for Liu Yiyu, "Spring Rain", and the author's revised "Hesitation" was included in the collection, and the title was changed to "Hesitation").
The novel's innovation lies in the fact that in order to express "inner truth", the author focuses on the inner activities of the novel's characters. He writes differently from "state novels". "State novels" reject plots and events, and writing "Hesitation" not only does not exclude plots and events, but also uses the ideas of fictional characters to promote the plot.
For the author, writing this novel is an attempt.
In 1983, Liu Yihuan used a compound narrative structure to write the miniature novel "Typing Mistake".
After the publication of "Typo", because the narrative structure is composed of two hypotheses, it caused a fairly strong reaction, and it was considered a very creative novel.
In 1991, in order to express his creative personality, Liu Yihuan created "White in Black and Black in White", which was published in The 84th issue of Hong Kong Literature. The author conceived this novel to use the two colors of black and white to highlight the true side of society, contrasting black and white, and clearly distinguishing between right and wrong, good and evil, good and evil.
In addition, Liu Yihuan poured new wine into the old bottle and created "Pangu and Black", "Temple Interior", "Chinese New Year's Eve", "Borrowing Arrows", "Sun Wukong Makes a Big Fuss", "Snake", "Spider Essence", "Chasing Fish", which belongs to the new story of this type of novel short story.
In 2001, at the age of 83, Liu Yihuan created "This Is an Abstract Painting Depicted in Words".
These are the main works that Have been explored by Liu Yihuan for half a century to explore how the art of fiction can express the inner reality of human beings, and they represent Liu Yihuan's creative ideas and his contributions to Hong Kong literature.
It can be said that in Liu Yiman's experimental novels, almost all of them are different, from content to form, they are seeking innovation, and he has been looking for "unique ways of expression" to make the novel creative.
The pursuit of novelty is something that Liu Yiman has been deeply obsessed with for more than half a century. Liu Yiman does not reject all the expressions of traditional novels, and under the premise of innovation, he still adheres to the basic principles of realism.
But in terms of writing skills, he is bold and innovative, never similar to others or himself. With a series of works such as "The Alcoholic" and "The Upside Down", Liu Yihuan explained to the reader that the novel is a world of the soul and a spiritual scene.
Although the art of this spiritual world is one-sided, he is based on the writer's own deep life experience, integrates his emotions, thinking, and intelligence into the work, and in his own creative practice, emphasizes the exertion of imagination and subconscious, turns the pen to the inner world of the characters, lets the ever-changing and fluttering self-consciousness, conveys it from the depths of the soul, and raises the feelings experienced in life to a metaphysical, human emotional experience to taste, to explore the soul, thus forming his creation in content Technique and formal ingenuity.
Mr. Liu Yiman
Liu Yiman's contribution to Hong Kong literature and even the world's Chinese literature is obvious to all, and Hesi has a pertinent and appropriate evaluation of Liu Yiman: "Not only me, but our entire generation is probably benefiting from Mr. Liu's 'stubbornness' and 'persistence', and he alone rescued a piece of work from the overall situation controlled by literature and political kitsch, so that we have a new understanding of modern Chinese literature." (See Ye Si's "Modern Novelist Liu Yihuan").
The unique path of novel creation pioneered by Liu Yiman has attracted a hundred flowers of Hong Kong literary literature, and the innovative concept of literature and art he contains is enough to nurture the growth of generations of literary people.
The connotation of Liu Yiman's works is vast and broad, not only is his writing style "reversed" between reality and modernity, but also a kind of spiritual foundation they contain, that is, it is called the modern spirit, not a generation, a few critics can fully understand and comprehend, the kind of light that penetrates people's inner world, early across the times and regions, in the time and space reversal, people are more and more favored by Liu Yihuan's novel works.
And his painstaking works, experimental novels, will be staged again and again in the present and future time and space, because the results of Liu Yiman's literary exploration not only belong to the current Chinese world, but also belong to the future human literary world.
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(Note: This article was serialized in the Hong Kong Literary Review Magazine Heung Kong Literary Circle, No. 4-7, 2002)