Such a color to do the future - read Wang Xufeng's new work "Wangjiangnan"

"WangjiangNan" is the latest novel created by Mao Dun Literature Award winner Wang Xufeng in the past 26 years. The novel tells the ups and downs of the Hang family of the Jiangnan tea family and the fate of the characters in the nearly 20 years before and after the founding of New China. Writers write about tea people and tea, in the earth-shaking era, write about the choice and opening, integration and progress of Chinese in the midst of jiangnan smoke and rain; in the excitement of the times and the thunder of the wind, the novel is far low and swinging back to the intestines, writing out the aroma and tea nature, writing the poetry and power of Jiangnan culture, and writing about China's demeanor, feelings and character. The story of the Hang family is also a Chinese story, which integrates historical memories and emotional imagination, which is not only a reconstruction of the passing time, but also an exploration of the modern inheritance of cultural traditions. The novel provides a new narrative of the upheaval and permanence of Chinese life and spirit, witnessing a century-long China in personal history, family history, and national history. - Editor

The spring equinox is a good day for "Wangjiangnan", and it is also a good day to enjoy reading "Wangjiangnan". The early spring in Jiangnan has passed, but the spring in the north is late, when it is still possible to coexist with the extended version of the spring, receiving Wang Xufeng's novel with tea people as the protagonist, with Hangzhou as the background, and presenting the history of the home country with personal destiny, seeing the light green cover of the book, the heart is the same as the spring in the wilderness, the wind and the sun, spring and Jingming, reading the works of a friend for many years in such a mood is indeed a pleasure.

The book has changed its manuscript several times, but the degree of completion is very high. From October 2020 to September 2021, although the completion span is only one year, the actual ideation and writing time is much longer than indicated in the book. On the cover of "WangjiangNan", it is said that the author has completed it after 26 years of diving, which is accurate. 25 years is a quarter-century, and a quarter-century plus another year, spanning such a large span. Placed on the author who does not have such a deep emotional investment in this subject and story, he may not have such patience and persistence for a long time, but Wang Xufeng is different. "WangjiangNan" gives people the feeling that the sword is not old, and it can't even give people the concept of "old" or "not old". With the accumulation of time, this knife - this pen - sharpened more and more sharp.

The overall style of "Wangjiangnan" is clean and elegant, the characters are round, calm, calm, and relaxed, and the children in the big times are played one by one in the narrative of the whole book. Perhaps their mission and responsibility are not the same, but Wang Xufeng's writing conveys to us a big era, or the fate of a generation in the span of time from the mid-to-late 1940s, to the 20-year span of time from the mid-to-late 1960s. The third generation of tea people of the Hang family lived in the stormy meeting on the eve of the revolution and the fate of the characters before dawn, such as the main characters on the painting board, but on this large drawing board, we also saw sketches of real people such as Zhou Enlai, Chen Bray, and Chen Yi. In the novel, between the virtual reality, the characters and events are also staggered. As the main part and main character of the whole book, the book is more of a description of the revolutionary Hang Jiaping and the tea people hang Jiahe, and of course, there are tea people like Wu Juenong. The appearance of Wu Juenong at the beginning gives this novel a real feeling. The characters of the great transition era appear on their own, but in these times, people in this ups and downs are adhering to their own unchanging beliefs, and the ups and downs of the characters' respective destinies are also closely related to the grandeur of the big times, and the ups and downs of the characters' love are also closely related to the ups and downs of the big times. Among them, the love between Cao Jiayuan and Hang Pan is lamentable. The setting of real people in history is intended to present the truth of the background of the times, and the fate of the two brothers of the Hang family and their respective families, whether purely fictional or self-based, is a kind of literary narrative, and this literary narrative is soothing, clean and elegant, such a very decent work can only be written with calm and leisure. Writing about the fate of characters under the general trend of history, this kind of upright atmosphere and unhurried demeanor is precious. Only with a positive heart and a positive temperament can the appearance of the work show a dignified charm.

The specific setting off the dignified and elegant style of the whole book also comes from the author's own knowledge and cultural connotation. Xu Feng is not only a writer, a writer who graduated from the Department of History, but also a tea expert, a professor and researcher of tea culture, so her narrative rhythm is different from that of ordinary writers and has the confidence of professional knowledge.

For example, writing about Nine Streams and Eighteen Streams, writing about Benshan and Longjing Tea, writing about the Earth Tea Orchid Rhyme and Dragon Bone Phoenix Marrow in the White Sand Soil of Shifeng Mountain; for example, writing tea bubble rice, Laba Congee, writing several dishes in the outer building of the building, writing about the vinegar fish in the West Lake and the tea strips of Nizhu Tea, and the color of tea soup; for example, writing about the Five Entrance Courtyards of Hangfu, using the "Map of Tateshin Zhuang" of the Tongcheng Sect Dai Mingshi in the Qing Dynasty, and borrowing from Zhang Dai's "Tao'an Dream Memories" in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties; for example, one entering the courtyard, "born with a living room", the second courtyard, "flower and wood deep room", the third courtyard "Amanda Room", and the fourth entry" Ganlu Brothers House", wujin "Qingtang Beiye", all have a use of the code. Also, such as the Ru kiln, the legend of the Song Huizong Imperial Approval "Rain over the sky and blue clouds break, such a color to do the future", all have a use of the code. Another example is sheqian tea, Mingqian tea, rain tea, etc., I think the knowledge point is very good. It turned out that I only knew that there were Mingqian tea and rain tea, and sheqian tea refers to the knowledge point of tea during the spring equinox, so that readers can understand traditional Chinese culture more deeply. Of course, these writings are not dropped books, but are naturally embedded in the narrative of the novel, including the Song Dynasty's "five famous kilns" of the Ding, Jun, Guan, Brother, Ru, including the style of the pot stone scoop, acacia, hat, gourd, well bar, etc.; as well as the book wrote about the Jizhou kiln's wooden leaf cup and the relationship between tea and Zen; as well as green, yellow, black, white, red, green six major tea production methods, etc., these are called the treasures of Chinese culture, but also the essence of the Chinese context. In short, it is the place where the cultural spirit of a nation lies. Therefore, the purity, elegance, grace and dignity in "Wangjiang South" contain this profound meaning.

Xu Feng's writings on her own are not isolated, and we can read them along with her Tea Man Trilogy. In fact, this new work also makes the timeline described in the "Tea Man Trilogy" have a complete presentation. It complements the writer's previous writings about the tea people, reading through the whole book, giving people a feeling of greenery. After 26 years, Xufeng's original intention for tea and tea people has not changed, and it can be said that his love for Chinese culture is still strong. "Wangjiangnan", like the "Tea Man Trilogy", writes about the inheritance of Chinese culture, and also conveys the admiration of a contemporary writer who has long been immersed in Chinese culture and is endlessly nourished by it.