Liang Xiaosheng talked about the new work "Chinese Tao Li": Literature can also cultivate professional ability

Mr. Liang Xiaosheng is not only a famous writer, but also teaches at the School of Humanities of Beijing Language and Culture University, and is a very responsible and affectionate Chinese teacher, who often recalls campus life and cares about students' careers and families. Recently, he published a new book called "Chinese Peach and Plum". Liang Xiaosheng said that every teacher wants his students to be happy, this book is created for students, and hopes that Chinese profession will benefit them for life, which is also the meaning of the title.

"I am Teacher Wang in the book"

"Chinese Tao Li" tells the story of two post-80s students who graduated from the department of Chinese love and kill each other emotionally, from confusion to understanding the truth academically, and from stumbling to a better state in the workplace. In the novel, there is a Chinese teacher surnamed Wang, who has an "interesting soul", and does not analyze the literary works themselves in class, but guides the students to discuss some issues, such as, is "The Little Girl Who Sold Matches" meaningful to the progress of human society? ——Teacher Wang told the students that when a child reads "The Little Girl Who Sells Matches", the seeds of sympathy will sprout in their hearts, and as they grow up, they read "Happy Prince", "Tess", "Les Misérables", "Then if he becomes sheriff, maybe he will not be Shavert; as a parliamentarian, he may pay special attention to charity work, so that the homeless boys and girls who sell matches and flowers will be cared for and no longer freeze to death... Yes, I think literature has indeed played such a trivial role in promoting social progress, little by little, influencing the hearts of the people of the world for a hundred years."

Liang Xiaosheng said that Teacher Wang was himself, and the words in these classes were reproductions of the original sounds of his teaching at the Language University. He said, "Students with high Chinese level have almost no modern novels that they can't understand, but they have different ways of understanding." So I think the best way to take classes is to get students to think by reading a piece of literature, and it's the most valuable of these topics of thought and their extended discussions. For example, discuss with students who "The Little Girl Who Sold Matches" was written to, and how "The Daughter of the Sea" in "Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales" and "Wang Liulang" in "Chatting with Zai Zhiyi" resonate... These discussions and reflections are the meaning of learning Chinese. ”

Liang Xiaosheng deeply felt that from the 1980s to the present, the Chinese Department has experienced a process from prosperity to decline, and its students are also facing confusion and dilemmas in their studies and workplaces. He said that in the years he taught Chinese at Beijing Language and Culture University, more than 200 people came to take big classes during the boom period, but in the decline period, not only were there fewer people attending classes, but there were especially few boys, and at the least there were only two or three boys. "If the boys are very introverted and do not speak, it leads to the discussion being heard from the same gender point of view, which is a pity for the discussion itself." When we discuss issues, we often say that there must be different views of various voices, including one point - gender, how men see it, how women look at it, and this collision is also very meaningful. ”

When students graduate, Liang Xiaosheng sees that except for Chinese majors do not correspond to high-paying jobs, and even because literature has become increasingly marginalized, graduates are struggling to find the right job, and it is difficult to make a living in a big city like Beijing. But Liang Xiaosheng said that on the one hand, the marginalization of literature has improved at present, on the other hand, we must also realize that the cognitive and comprehension ability obtained in the Chinese department is also a kind of ability. "We talk about literature, say that it influences us, cultivates us, etc., but in fact it can also be applied to the profession. With this 'professional ability', we also need to see how society tests its own ability, how it applies this ability, and what confusion we face in the process of application and how we think. ”

Not long ago, when Liang Xiaosheng was doing a reading program, several post-80s friends who communicated with him were all Chinese department, one of whom was both a magazine editor and a writer, and also examined the history of various streets in Beijing, becoming one of the youngest scholars in Beijing's literature and history. This shows that the Chinese can completely obtain excellent "professional ability". In "Chinese Tao Li", Liang Xiaosheng also designed the male protagonist to go through twists and turns, and finally successfully obtained the opportunity to work in the TV station with his Chinese ability.

Only the energy of books cannot be monopolized

The heroine in "Chinese Tao Li" said that life can be divided into song, poetry, prose, reportage, and epic, and she finally chose a reportage-style life. This is actually Liang Xiaosheng's own way of life.

Liang Xiaosheng said: "This is my idea as a person who has come here. I haven't experienced a poetic life, and I haven't even thought about it that way. I may have been destined from my youth to be a reportage, a realistic one, not to be romantic, abstract, or false. At that time, the family was very difficult, the father was in the province, the mother was weak and sick but supported the family, and there was a sick brother, and there was nothing else. So I very much agree with the heroine, she is the daughter of a vegetable farmer, so her life is also destined to be reportage. ”

But he added that most ordinary people have no resources, no prominent family background, and no large inheritance to inherit. But "there is a wonderful thing that can surpass any kind of family wealth, and can also be left to the children of the vast majority of ordinary people, that is, books, which no individual or family can monopolize." The children of ordinary families can also gain strength from the cultural source of books left by their ancestors, and they will grow up from generation to generation. Many writers grew up in this way, although in the 17th and 18th centuries, when the culture was enlightened, writers were aristocratic, but later returned to the common people, and writers, scholars, and professors could also be produced among the commoners. So the book belongs to us, it depends only on how far you read it. Speaking of this, Liang Xiaosheng added with a smile: "Of course, there is another way - to meet a teacher like me, you should benefit a little more." ”

Liang Xiaosheng spoke at the opening ceremony of a middle school in Beijing. Courtesy of the New Vision of the Northern Evening

Liang Xiaosheng said that he is more than 70 years old, after such a long life, he will always think, what is the pursuit of people in this life, what is the most important? Come to think of it, in addition to the truth, goodness and beauty, the others are indeed passing clouds. "Snowflakes fly very high, but life is not like this, and I feel like I can see what else I can do when I'm about to melt." It was his wish to write a book for his students, which is why he wrote "Chinese Peach and Plum" in the first person, which he found particularly kind. "I'm sometimes complacent, and even though I'm in my 70s, I can still write about the love of young people." (Editor-in-charge: Zhang Yuyao)