The War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was the first large-scale war experienced by the mainland since the founding of the people's republic, and this war played a decisive role in the construction and development of new China by striking out the national and military prestige of the mainland. The literary and artistic works based on this war reflect the strong will of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. In 2021, since the publication of "The Dawn of The Linjin River" by Beiyue Literature and Art Publishing House, a subsidiary of Shanxi Publishing and Media Group, it has received rave reviews. Baidao Network interviewed the author of the book, Cao Guochen, and the editor-in-charge Han Yufeng, and asked them to introduce the creation and publication story of the book.
"The Dawn of the Linjin River (Volunteer Army Resisting US Aggression and Aiding Korea)
Publisher: Beiyue Literature and Art Publishing House
Author: Li Qian
Publication date: August 2021
On July 10, 1950, the "Chinese People's Committee for Opposing US Aggression and Taiwan's Korean Movement" was established, and the Anti-US And Aid Korea Movement began. In October, the Chinese Volunteer Army went to Fight in Korea, kicking off the prelude to the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, the Volunteer Army received the full support of the whole army of the People's Liberation Army and the Chinese people, and the cooperation of the socialist camp headed by the Soviet Union.
After three years of heroic fighting, the Chinese Volunteers finally drove the U.S.-led "United Nations Army" from the Yalu River to the vicinity of the 38th Parallel, defending the security and construction of the nascent People's Republic of Korea and restoring the territorial integrity and dignity of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. This is a great victory in China's modern history. In July 1953, China and the United States signed the Korean Armistice Agreement, which ended with the victory of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. In 1958, all the volunteers withdrew to China.
During the war, from the autumn of 1951 to the autumn of 1952, the PLA's position defense and counterattack operation in the mountainous area of the Korean Peninsula stabilized the strategic situation favorable to our side and dealt a fatal blow to the enemy, and the enemy suffered more casualties than in previous battles. In 2021, the book "Dawn of the Linjin River" published by Beiyue Literature and Art Publishing House, a subsidiary of Shanxi Publishing and Media Group, mainly recounted the combat history of a infantry regiment of the Volunteer Army from the spring to autumn of 1952, which focused on the combat life of the regiment's reconnaissance team on the banks of the Linjin River.
The author of this book, Cao Guochen (pen name Li Qian), joined the army in 1949, participated in the Guangxi Liberation Campaign, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, was admitted to the department of Chinese of Peking University in 1956, taught in the northeast after graduation, joined the team for many years, and then transferred to Wuhan University to teach. When participating in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Cao Guochen successively worked in the propaganda unit and the reconnaissance unit, and became familiar with the comings and goings of each scout in the day and night, life and death, and communism; their preferences, worries, and joys gradually fell in love with this group of lively, brave, and joking "night owls." They were active almost every night in the open land on the banks of the Linjin River on both sides, and sometimes sneaked into the enemy's front-line positions or behind them, capturing prisoners, understanding the enemy's firepower settings, minefields, and forward defense facilities, effectively guarding the safety of the regiment's forward positions. Open the way or make a side response for the main detachment to attack.
"Seventy years have passed, and we have all become elderly people, but the every move, laughter, and laughter of this group of young scouts in those years are still fresh and unforgettable, and they always hope that when the story of their fighting and life on the linjin River, the mother river of the Korean nation, can be truly recorded, brewed for a long time, and finally boldly wrote this documentary war novel when commemorating the seventy years of our army's battle across the river." Cao Guochen said this at the end of the book, "Words After the Book".
Baidao Network interviewed Cao Guochen, author of "The Dawn of the Linjin River", and Han Yufeng, the editor-in-charge, and asked them to introduce the creation and publication story of this book. Through this book, perhaps we can explore a corner of the war style from the words of the ninety-two-year-old man, and the bitterness of the soldiers' lives.
"The Dawn of the Linjin River" by Cao Guochen
"The Dawn of the Linjin River" is responsible for the editor Han Yufeng
On the 70th anniversary of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea,
The book is listed as an annual project selection plan
Han Yufeng met Cao Guochen in 2018 during the editing of "The Unnamed Love of This Life and This Life". In the process of editing this book, it was necessary to take a photo and a recent photo of the author's youth, so Han Yufeng communicated with the author by phone, so that he had contact with Cao Guochen, and there were some benefits in the content of the manuscript, and he became acquainted with it after a long time.
In the course of the exchange, Cao Guochen said that he had a long novel in hand and did not know whether it could be published, so he sent a letter with a printed copy of "Dawn of the Linjin River - A Scout's Record". Han Yufeng saw that this manuscript belonged to the theme of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and there were no newly published books on the market, so he did not hastily agree to publish it, and replied that he should "precipitate and precipitate first, and wait for the opportunity." On October 24, 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping made an important speech to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Chinese Volunteer Army's war to resist the United States and aid Korea, and gave high praise to the confrontation with the United States and aid Korea. Han Yufeng felt that the theme of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea would become a hot topic in the market, so he declared the 2021 annual topic for the book, and the Beiyue Literature and Art Publishing House included it in the annual topic selection plan.
Interestingly, today, when "Dawn of the Linjin River" was successfully published, the author and editor-in-charge of the book had never met, and they were basically contacted by phone. "The author is ninety-two years old, listens to voices, is amiable, physically fit, has a venerable appearance, and is humble." Han Yufeng said.
Why did the old man write this novel? This is a question that keeps every reader curious. Cao Guochen told Baidao.com that he will never forget the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea that he personally experienced, "Especially in 1952, our army (39th Army) and our regiment (347 regiment) fought almost every day in the defense and counterattack of the Linjin River position, which I will never forget." "During the war, Cao Guochen wrote some reports and features. In 1953, he participated in the writing of "Volunteer Army Day", "I loved literature and writing when I was young, and I also studied literature at Peking University, so I long brewed to write a long novel in this regard." ”
Cao Guochen, 1954
When reviewing the war novels (including Korean War novels) after the liberation of the mainland, Cao Guochen found that they were mostly written by writers or journalists, which can be said to be a kind of interview or heroic chronicle, coupled with the influence of the popular character simplification tendency and excessive criticism of human nature, he felt that the realism, historicity and depth of these novels were insufficient, so he wanted to make a difference in this regard. However, Cao Guochen believes that writing novels is not enough with practical experience, but also requires certain political, cultural, literary accomplishment, and more importantly, more creative practice. After decades of hard work, he realized that he had some conditions in these aspects, so he completed this difficult and pleasant creation with enthusiasm and perseverance.
In fact, "The Dawn of the Linjin River" is the last book published in Cao Guochen's "Quest" trilogy. The three novels in the series, "The Red and the Black," "The Three Musketeers– The Unforgettable Sixties," and "The Dawn of the Imjin River," were published in 2001, 2012, and 2021, respectively, reflecting a period of about thirty years from 1947 to 1976. The trilogy mainly reflects the arduous and complicated struggle and development process of the mainland revolution and the more than twenty years after the founding of the People's Republic of China through the long-term life, political and military tempering endured by the intellectual youth Xie Yijian in pursuit of social truth, and specifically describes some major historical events, such as the Battle of Hengbao in 1949 and the subsequent campaign to encircle and annihilate Jiang Gui's army in southern Guizhou to liberate Southern China; the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea; and the "Cultural Revolution" that lasted for ten years in the 1960s and 1970s.
The book is called "Dawn of the Imjin River" because the location of the battle is on the banks of the Imjin River, and this river is not connected to the Datong River and the River River, it runs through the north and south of the Korean Peninsula, and is the mother river of the Korean people, where the protagonist of the novel has endured war, trauma and emotional entanglement. Our army (the 39th Army) broke through the Linjin River twice, once in the Chinese New Year's Eve 1950 and once in the autumn of 1952, and both times with major achievements. The battle in the novel ends at dawn, which not only symbolizes the victory of this battle, combined with the victory of the volunteer army in the central battlefield (including the Battle of Shangganling, etc.), but also symbolizes the final victory of the three-year War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
A field record,
A "new realism" novel with a strong sense of realism
"Dawn of the Linjin River" is a work commemorating the 347th Regiment of the 39th Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Han Yufeng pointed out that it has carried forward the patriotism, collectivism and dedication of our army through small incisions and big perspectives, and spreads positive energy. The focus of this book is on truly and closely reflecting war and people, that is, the combination of "the truth of the trenches" and the "truth of human nature," which is concretely manifested in the patriotism, collectivism, and dedication of our army's commanders and fighters under the extremely difficult conditions of military germ warfare, poison gas warfare, and anti-tunnel three-dimensional warfare.
In Han Yufeng's eyes, this book has two major highlights. First, this is a field record of volunteer scouts, and it is also a hero's hymn to the most adorable people. One of the central contents of the work is to reflect the combat and life of the regimental reconnaissance team, creating the image of scouts with different personalities. The author himself was working in the Reconnaissance Unit at the time, participating in the main life and combat events in the novel, and restoring the scenes at that time. Therefore, it can be said to be a scout's battlefield record, avoiding the subjective fabrication of traditional war novels, the lack of human performance, and the accumulation of formulaic, conceptual, and simplistic drawbacks.
Second, the novel deals well with art and reality. In order to seek the truth of art, the author adopts the principle of limited perspective or fixed-point perspective; attaches great importance to the depiction and analysis of the subjective psychology of the characters, and partially adopts the method of stream of consciousness. The novel also uses symbolism to reveal themes such as the, which is both a physical object and a symbol of freedom and peace. For example, the novel not only points out the number of our army, but also mostly changes the place (the same is true of personal names); for example, the "Manchurian Regiment" did participate in this battle and suffered a severe blow from our army. This is conducive to the reader's association with the humiliation suffered by the people on the mainland over the past hundred years and realizing that the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was essentially a continuation of the mainland people's war of anti-aggression and national liberation over the past hundred years for the mainland. For another example, the work reflects the reconnaissance and capture activities of the Three Mountains Battle and the Reconnaissance Team, and most of the main characters in the novel have one or more archetypes as a frame of reference, which strengthens the typicality of the creation.
The most attractive thing about Han Yufeng in "The Dawn of the Linjin River" is the author's background and theme. Cao Guochen's experience is full of legend, he participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, worked in the reconnaissance unit, has combat experience, making this book have a sense of scene and history; coupled with his high-achieving students at Peking University, he has a deep literary foundation, and is engaged in literary creation, and a number of literary works have come out, thanks to this, this is a very good novel to read. Judging from the theme, this is a battlefield record reflecting the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and it is like the author's war diary one after another, which is full of warmth, there is no smoke of gunfire, there is no war, and there is no tragic scene like "Chosin Lake". The author reflects this war from the perspective of a scout, each individual is alive, flesh and blood, and can find archetypes in reality, with typicality and authenticity. Han Yufeng said that this is the way the author advocates the "new authenticism".
The "Quest" trilogy and the exploration of "New Realism"
Cao Guochen believes that the "Quest" trilogy generally belongs to the category of realist non-fiction novels that are now popular, but has some of its own characteristics, so he calls it a "new realism" novel. In the "Words After the Book", Cao Guochen wrote: "This kind of novel has some similar characteristics with the Italian 'realism' born in the late 19th century, the 'naturalism' in France, the 'private novel' in Japan, and the post-war "neorealist" art in Italy in the middle of the twentieth century: for example, they all emphasize the principle of authenticity of art, oppose the conceptualization and stereotyping of characters and environments and events; advocate the scientific nature of literature, and emphasize the writer's personal experience or personal hearing and his own experience and discovery." He often uses first-person writing and the use of 'limited perspective' in his works; pays great attention to excavating the deep psychological activities of the characters; pays special attention to reflecting the fate of ordinary people or small people from the perspective of theme, sympathizing with the suffering and helplessness of the lower classes, and so on. ”
"Their defects and limitations are: excessive attention to documentary, attention to the particularity and authenticity of details and neglect of the typicality of literature; attention to the fate of the lives of small people and neglect of the broader social class and their active struggles, so the works often exude a depressed and pessimistic mood, and the 'scientific nature' of naturalism often confuses social laws with natural laws and physiological laws... Today's new realism, because the author's conscious scientific view of social history and world view makes them attach importance to the basic contradictions and positive aspects of real life, while attaching importance to documentary (authenticity), the details of characters, events and situations are true, but also pay attention to their typicality and universal value; not only pay attention to the realism of the novel, the truth of the details, but also the selection and processing of art, the important role of fiction in the creation of the novel, and so on, so that it avoids many drawbacks of the old realism. ”
"New Realism" was summarized by Cao Guochen as a tributary of the realist creative method, which has three distinct characteristics in art. First, a strong sense of reality: the reality of art and life, the truth of history is highly unified, fully display the charm of life, history itself, its expressiveness and artistic tension. Second, in connection with this, it places great emphasis on the truth of details and techniques, such as the unity of the narrator and the protagonist of the novel, the use of quantitative (limited) perspective, the mastery of plot, language, and action measures, and so on. Third, highlight the revelation and excavation of psychological truth and deep complex feelings. As it derives, the stream of consciousness language stream of consciousness technique reveals the rigidity, the complexity of human nature and the depth of the depth..." The use and effect of this creative method can be clearly seen from the 'Quest Trilogy'. Some of my short stories can also see the use of this method. Such as "Birthday", "Unnamed Lake Whirling", "When She Dies" and so on. ”
Cao Guochen said that this kind of creative method and technique is more conducive to expressing two aspects of the subject: first, historical practice or other major sudden and representative practice, certain historical figures... The second is the trivial but extremely deep feelings and enlightenment reveals of the common people as reflected in Japan's "private novels". The limitations of this method of creation are also clear: it is limited in terms of ordinary artistic generalization, typicalization, and the development of the writer's imagination. Therefore, it is impossible to replace other realist and non-realistic methods. In addition, this kind of creation should have two prerequisites: first, the author personally experiences the event or grasps the first-hand information of the event and the characters in detail; second, the author should have regular, meticulous observation and depth of perception, both of which are indispensable. "It should also be pointed out that it is not a pure documentary work, it is a novel, it is inseparable from artistic fiction, and it still needs to enrich, polish, select and cut the material, but it must be carried out within the framework of the reality of events and characters."
Thanks to the creation method of "New Realism", in "Dawn of the Linjin River", this group of lovely scouts and their joys and sorrows, their liveliness and bravery, are particularly real. One of the scenes is still fresh in Han Yufeng's memory - the protagonist Xie Yijian is injured, his eyes are almost blind, he is arranged to recuperate at the home of a North Korean compatriot Kim Hwan-hee, and in the process of getting along, there is a hazy love, but because of the disciplinary issues involved, Xie Yijian silently leaves after the injury and returns to the front line. "The narrative of the story came to an abrupt end, but what happened later? Readers will ask, and readers can only imagine for themselves! This kind of emotional and ceremonial treatment is in line with both the identity of the character and the reality. He said.
The novel pays tribute to the scouts on the Linjin River seventy years ago,
Historical pictures are precious
As a veteran who personally experienced the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and as the creator of this novel that pays tribute to the scouts on the Linjin River seventy years ago, how does Cao Guochen view this war? In this regard, he said: In essence, this war is a continuation of the war of resistance of the Chinese people against foreign aggression for more than a hundred years, and a patriotic war in which the hegemonic forces of Western imperialism attempted to contain and stifle the revolution and construction on the mainland when the new country was first established. "In the three-year war, the Chinese and the Chinese army paid a huge price, but won a decisive victory, defended the new China, and maintained a peaceful international environment for more than seventy years. It has also inspired the national wars of independence and liberation around the world, and naturally it has also greatly promoted the modernization and revolutionization of the People's Liberation Army. ”
Cao Guochen himself often pondered a question: Why was our army able to continuously defeat the US imperial army that was completely modernized and occupied the air and sea supremacy under such harsh conditions? He believes that there are three main reasons: First, as Chairman Mao said, this is determined by the nature of the war, which is a patriotic war for the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and their patriotism is indestructible; second, the organizational force, that is, the strength of the Communist Party, and the People's Liberation Army has a collectivist ideology; third, the Chinese army has a fine tradition of using flexible strategies and tactics, which the enemy does not possess.
"For this war, what I miss most is comrades like Shi Yuzhu in the novel. I also participated when they went out for the last time, and I was very touched by the fact that 'Shi Yuzhu' finally completed the task and made heroic sacrifices. Such a person, I also hope to get the attention of the industry and readers. Cao Guochen said.
On the cover of "Dawn of the Linjin River", you can see the rising red sun, the fluttering red flag, and the quiet Linjin River, which herald the dawn of victory and the arrival of peace. Han Yufeng explained that the cover of the book also echoed the end of the novel, the three mountains (the three peaks of the Linjin River, that is, 122.9, 155, 134) the battle ended, the sun rose in the east, the red flag flew, and the sparkling Linjin River: "Xie Yijian's eyes in the eyes of the rising sun ghost, Zhao Hui, who was descending the mountain, suddenly stopped and turned back to the eastern sky and shouted: 'Old man is out!'" "Zhao Hui's far-sighted eyes clearly saw through the filtered morning sky that there was a red dot on the summit of the island—that was the red flag planted on the mountain after our army occupied it." Zhao Hui once again saw the Linjin River floating in the corner under the 134 Mountain, with its glittering jumping golden scales."
The illustrations in this book are all collected and arranged by Cao Guochen, and these historical pictures are very precious and relevant to the contents of this book. Several frames of photographic illustrations in the book are taken from the "Commemorative Album of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea" donated by the Political Department of the Headquarters of the Thirty-ninth Army of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, the "One Day of the Volunteer Army" published by the People's Literature Publishing House, and the "History of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea" published by the Military Science Publishing House. After the publication of this book, Beiyue Literature and Art Publishing House has made a lot of recommendations and publicity for this book, and at present, Italian publishers have decided to translate and publish this book.
Although Cao Guochen is a senior old man, he is in good health, his voice is cheerful, and his smile is always open. Speaking of publishing plans, he said that he would strive to complete the writing and publication of his anthology of short and medium stories this year, "Notes on Ancient and Modern Anecdotes".
Author: Liu Ruili
Edit: Daozhi
Final: Ling Jia